About Roofstock

Gary Beasley, CEO & Co-Founder

Gary is the driving force behind Roofstock’s goal to power the future of real estate investing. Gary brings a valuable perspective on using technology to disrupt incumbents through his deep industry expertise leading various real estate, hospitality, and tech companies.

“Disrupting a historically fragmented segment is no small feat - but well worth doing. Critically challenging the way that things have been done and solving for it are pieces of the puzzle, but staying motivated and constantly thinking of ‘what’s next’ is how you truly succeed.”

Gary has a proven track record of starting and launching successful companies, having led two companies through IPOs: ZipRealty as CFO and Starwood Waypoint Residential Trust (now a part of Invitation Homes, the largest single-family rental home REIT in the United States) as co-CEO. In addition, Gary was instrumental in acquiring and integrating more than $800 million of resort properties for KSL Resorts and also served as CEO of Joie De Vivre Hospitality, then the second-largest boutique hotel management company in the United States.

Gary was named a 2019 Top 50 Fintech CEO by Financial Technology Report and HousingWire’s 2018 HW Vanguard. He earned his BA in Economics from Northwestern and holds an MBA from Stanford, where he regularly participates as a guest speaker.

Gregor Watson, Chairman & Co-Founder

An entrepreneur at heart, Gregor is constantly examining the ways to enhance and improve Roofstock’s platform and expansion across domestic and international markets as Chairman and Co-Founder. A founder of multiple enterprises, Gregor brings over 15 years of experience in real estate to Roofstock.

“We founded Roofstock because we wanted to change the way that things were done - identifying the inefficiencies and delivering a focused digital answer for the real estate industry wasn’t a ‘nice to have,’ but a ‘need to have,’ and I’m proud of the solution that we’ve built.”

In addition to Roofstock, Gregor is co-founder at 1Sharpe Capital, an investment firm focused on US and global credit and equity markets with $1 billion in AUM. Gregor is also the founder of 643 Capital Management, which has invested $1 billion in SFR homes nationally and sold his company Dwell Finance, one of the first lenders for the SFR market, to Blackstone in 2015.

Gregor is a member of the 2018 San Francisco Business Times’ 40 Under 40 ranking and was also selected as a HousingWire Rising Star in 2019. He received his BA from Regis University in Denver, Colorado.

Rich Ford, Chief Development Officer & Co-Founder

As Chief Development Officer, Rich is a driving force behind Roofstock’s rapid growth, spearheading the implementation of new services and tools intended to make the Roofstock platform a seamless experience for the end-user.

“I hold the firm belief that technology is a necessary force in optimizing and democratizing the SFR industry. Working with our talented product, engineering and data teams, I’m committed to solving for the chronic friction that the industry has experienced and enable all investors to experience the benefits of SFR investing.”

Rich has more than 20 years of M&A and capital raising experience, which has been a critical element of laying the groundwork for Roofstock’s supply and industry-leading analytics and underwriting models. Prior to Roofstock, Rich was a Managing Director at Jefferies, where he incidentally organized the first Single Family Rentals industry-conference. He has also held positions at Bank of America Merrill Lynch, the Royal Bank of Canada, Morgan Stanley, and Lehman Brothers.

Rich is a 2019 HousingWire Insider, having been recognized as a pioneer of single-family rental investing and driving force behind Roofstock’s growth. He holds a BS from the University of Victoria, an MS from the London School of Economics, and an MBA from the University of Chicago.

Suresh Srinivasan, Chief Marketing Officer

Suresh is responsible for the overall growth of Roofstock’s consumer business and is charged with bringing real estate investing to the masses. Suresh oversees the company’s retail sales function along with its marketing, branding, strategic communications, and external affairs.

“If you have good ideas, the right tools and a little bit of attitude, technology makes it much easier to take on the establishment. I want people to know they have the power to break out of old systems and blaze a new trail.”

Suresh brings more than 20 years of experience in tech leadership, marketing and product development to Roofstock. Just prior to Roofstock, Suresh was on the leadership team at Xome, where he helped build the online real estate marketplace into a category leader with hundreds of millions of dollars in annual revenue. Before that, Suresh founded and grew several tech companies that reached acquisition. Early in his career, Suresh helped lead brand management at Activision/Blizzard through the company’s launch of the groundbreaking WarCraft, Diablo and StarCraft games.

Suresh earned his BA in Economics from Stanford University.

Ketan Babaria, Chief Product Officer

As Chief Product Officer, Ketan is at the helm of the fintech’s innovation and product strategy, continually finding new ways to make real estate investing radically accessible and simple.

“Coming up with a great idea is only half the story. Picking the right team and defining the right execution model is equally important. A lot of startups master the first step, but fall short on their follow through. The companies that change the world not only have great ideas but pair those with customer obsessed, metrics driven teams who excel at execution.“

Ketan has more than 15 years of product innovation and leadership experience at financial services and consumer companies including LifeLock, Capital One, PayPal and eBay. As Head of Product at LifeLock, Babaria oversaw a $800+ million product portfolio and led a team of product managers, engineers, designers, researchers and data scientists. Ketan led the international expansion of the company's products and also led a digital transformation overhaul during his tenure at LifeLock. At Capital One, Babaria served as Senior Director and Head of Product, where he pioneered a mobile-only and data-driven product for the credit card division that used machine learning and ‘recommendation engine’ on the back-end to deliver new value to cardholders.

Ketan excels at turning big ideas into products people love and launching them on a global scale. Ketan earned an MBA from the University of California at Berkeley. He also has an MS in Systems Engineering from the University of Maryland and a BS in Ocean Engineering & Naval Architecture from the Indian Institute of Technology.

Mark Halstead, Chief Technology Officer

Mark is a key architect of Roofstock’s future and powers the heart of Roofstock’s business: technology. He leads technical innovation and IP generation, maintaining Roofstock’s position as a leader in the fintech transformation of the real estate investment industry.

“Phrases like ‘innovation’ and ‘industry transformation’ are thrown around liberally in the fintech space. When you look under the hood of companies, the technology always separates the talkers from the doers. To drive forward tangible change, experiment often, pivot quickly, and cultivate a culture of constant improvement.”

Before taking the reins at Roofstock, Mark held positions at Microsoft, Apple, and other successful startups in the Bay Area. He brings to Roofstock his deep experience building and leading technology groups, formerly holding the roles of CTO, Chief Architect, and Technology Advisor.

Mark received his PhD in Computer Science from the University of California at Berkeley.

Amit Akhouri, VP of Engineering

Amit is responsible for data science and engineering at Roofstock, bringing innovative products and services to life that make real estate investing accessible to everyone. Amit led the launch of Roofstock’s proprietary Neighborhood Ratings, the Rental Genome project to map all 90M+ single family homes across the US, and the engineering infrastructure and product foundation upon which Roofstock’s marketplace runs.

“Focus your energy on building what people can’t envision yet, but will one day wonder how they lived without. The best production innovations anticipate how to improve an end user's experience before they even think to ask.”

Amit is an experienced leader with 20-plus years of achievement in creating successful online marketplaces and eCommerce solutions. In addition to leading engineering teams at Ingenio, YP.com and AT&T Interactive, Amit's extensive experience in product and general management gives him the unique ability to drive innovation and scale new business ventures from the ground up.

Amit was top of his class in Computer Science & Engineering from the Birla Institute of Technology and graduated with distinction from Cornell Johnson Graduate School of Management.

Navneet Arora, VP of People

Nav cultivates Roofstock’s talented team and oversees the evolution of Roofstock’s culture as the company grows. With a powerful combination of drive and empathy, Nav is committed to maintaining Roofstock’s reputation as a great place to work, where people feel they belong and can do their best work.

“A great company culture doesn’t happen by accident. It starts with a blend of excitement and compassion at the leadership level that inspires people to join a cause, contribute ideas, and put their heart into building something remarkable.”

Most recently, Nav headed up the talent function at Bank of the West, where he helped build the senior leadership team and created effective leadership programs across all levels within the company. Before finding his calling in HR, Nav started his career at KPMG and also did a stint at Wells Fargo helping to manage their HR Technology team.

Nav is a Canadian Chartered Professional Accountant and a Certified Public Accountant. He received an MBA from the Carlson School of Management at the University of Minnesota.

Renee Dorner, General Manager, Streetlane Homes

Renee ensures every property owned by Roofstock and its institutional partners is expertly and professionally managed. She leads the operations and business strategy for Streetlane Homes, a Roofstock subsidiary providing high-quality property management services.

“The most successful relationships between landlords and tenants are grounded in mutual respect and a sense of collaboration that feels more like an agreement between neighbors than a strictly transactional relationship. Outstanding service comes when this philosophy and attention to detail can be consistently applied at scale.”

Renee brings more than 25 years of executive experience in real estate and finance to Streetlane Homes. Prior to Streetlane, Renee was an Executive Vice President at Carrington Holding Company, a real estate services company where she successfully led more than 2,000 employees, spearheaded the launch of new business lines and transformed struggling divisions into profitable, core components of the company.

Renee is a part of HousingWire 2013’s Influential Women in the Housing Industry and was recognized as a 2017 Leading Lady in Housing by MReport.

Kristine Radhakrishnan, VP Controller

Kristine oversees Roofstock’s accounting, financing, strategic financial planning, reporting and tax responsibilities.

“The potential to scale comes from creating structures that are robust, yet flexible. Figuring out how to incorporate fresh ideas into existing patterns is critical for a growing organization, keeping it at the forefront of an industry without losing the foundation of its success.”

Before joining Roofstock, Kristine spent more than 20 years working in various financial management roles. Most recently, she was a Vice President and US Controller at Blackhawk Corporation, directing all aspects of corporate and revenue accounting functions, in addition to developing a strategic working capital model and numerous scalable financial solutions for the company. Kristine is also experienced with valuations and M&A and assisted Blackhawk with more than 20 acquisitions.

Kristine has a BS in Business and Accounting from Indiana University and holds a CPA.

Geoffrey Thompson, General Counsel

Geoff leads legal affairs for Roofstock. With nearly 15 years of experience in corporate and finance law, Geoff advises Roofstock on partnerships, product innovation, fundraising, deal structuring, real estate matters, securities law, international expansion and all other legal and compliance matters.

“Fintechs are innovators: we’re actively pushing the envelope to expand access to financial products and services while at the same time improving quality and reducing costs. Being a leader in this field means thinking creatively about how to achieve those goals while fully upholding our promises to customers and responsibilities to regulators. Successful innovators aren’t afraid to take risks, but they also understand that to inspire change and earn trust, it’s critical to foster a culture of doing things the right way.”

Geoff built his career at top tier law firms practicing in the areas of capital markets, banking and credit, structured finance, private equity and cross-border transactions. Before joining Roofstock, Geoff served as General Counsel at ApplePie Capital, where he was instrumental in helping the company originate over $500 million in small business loans in three years. He previously practiced law at Simpson Thacher & Bartlett, White & Case and Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe. Prior to attending law school, Geoff was an associate at McKinsey & Company.

Over the course of Geoff’s career, his work has garnered national recognition. A Financial Times publication named a real estate asset securitization Geoff led “Structured Finance Deal of the Year.” Geoff received two additional “deal of the year” awards for a US$5.5 billion follow-on equity offering and a €500 million “green bond” offering. Geoff has an undergraduate degree from The American University of Paris and a Masters in International Economics from SDA Bocconi in Milan. He earned a JD and LLM from the Duke University School of Law.

Bode Beasley, Chief Canine Officer & Director of Training

Bode brings over five years of experience in the canine services industry. His expertise in chasing after his tennis ball, tirelessly begging for food, playing tug-of-war during meetings and taking long afternoon naps in the sun is unmatched. As our de-facto Director of Training, he is starting with attempting to train the team not to leave any food unattended in the kitchen or on their desks (or even think about putting anything edible in their waste baskets). Success so far, frankly, has been mixed!

Gregor Watson, Chairman & Co-Founder

Gregor is a serial real estate and technology entrepreneur who has founded multiple enterprises. He is a founding member of 1 Sharpe Capital and is the Chairman of 643 Capital Management, which is a co-owner of Streetlane Homes — a top 10 owner of single-family rental homes in the US. In addition to serving as a board member at Streetlane, Gregor currently ​serves as​ chairman of Roofstock, ​overseeing the platform’s development and strategy as well as the company's expansion efforts in domestic and international markets. In 2018, he was honored to make the San Francisco Business Times Class of 40 Under 40. Prior to co-founding Roofstock, ​Gregor​ built and sold Dwell Finance, the largest national bridge lender at the time.

Gary Beasley, CEO & Co-Founder

Gary has spent most of his career building businesses in the real estate, hospitality and tech sectors. After earning his BA in economics from Northwestern, Gary ventured west to earn his MBA from Stanford, where he caught the entrepreneurial bug and still serves as a regular guest lecturer. Previously Gary was instrumental in acquiring and integrating more than $800 million of resort properties for KSL Resorts, and spent five years as CFO of online brokerage pioneer ZipRealty, which he led through its successful IPO in 2004. Gary also served as CEO of Joie de Vivre Hospitality, then the second largest boutique hotel management company in the country. Immediately before starting Roofstock, Gary led one of the largest single-family rental platforms in the U.S. through its IPO as co-CEO of Starwood Waypoint Residential Trust, now part of Colony Starwood Homes.

David Weiden, Khosla Ventures

David is a partner at Khosla Ventures, where he focuses on Internet software and services. A number of his investments have led to significant acquisitions or achieved initial public offerings including Climate Corporation [acquired by Monsanto], OnDeck Capital [NYSE ONDK], RingCentral [NYSE: RNG], Yammer [acquired by MSFT] and YuMe [NYSE: YUME].

Matt Harris, Bain Capital Ventures

Matt is based in New York City and focuses on investments in financial technology and services. He sees a huge amount of revenue, profit and market cap shifting from regulated financial institutions to entrepreneur-led insurgents, across payments, lending, capital markets and insurance.

Will Kohler, Lightspeed Venture Partners

Will joined Lightspeed in 2014 and focuses on investments in the areas of SaaS solutions, enterprise IT, and cloud-based services and applications. Will has over 10 years of venture capital experience and before entering venture capital he co-founded and was an Operations Manager at Pointe Communications (d/b/a PointeCom), a facilities-based Integrated Communications Provider that grew to over $40 million in annual revenues and was later acquired.

Paul Hsiao, Canvas Ventures

Paul Hsiao is a General Partner and founding managing member of Canvas Ventures. His active Canvas investments and board seats include eporta, Everwise, Fluxx, KIDBOX, Roofstock, Thrive Global, Transfix, and Zola.
Prior to Canvas, he served as Partner at NEA. At NEA, he has worked on many great investments like Salesforce, Tableau Software, & Atheros
Mr. Hsiao co-founded Mazu Networks (acquired by Riverbed Technology, NASDAQ: RVBD). He began his career at Medtronic and McKinsey. Paul received his MBA from Harvard Business School and a bachelor’s degree in engineering from MIT.