Leadership

Neal Desai is the Chief Executive Officer & Co-Founder for Kafene. Under Neal’s stewardship, Kafene has been named to Forbes’ list of America's Best Startup Employers of 2023, Built In's Best Places to Work in New York City list for 2023, and LendIt Fintech’s 2022 Industry Awards as a finalist. Prior to Kafene, Neal served as the CFO of specialty financing company Octane Lending – now a unicorn – where he began as the 11th employee. Before Octane, Neal spent 15 years on Wall Street as a derivatives trader for Susquehanna International Group, Merrill Lynch, Hard Eight Holdings, and Summit Securities Group. He received his bachelor’s degree from Princeton University in molecular biology, and his MBA from University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School. Outside of Kafene, Neal is a member of the New York City Board of Trustees for Success Academy Charter Schools and recently took up martial arts.

James Schuler is the Chief Technology Officer & Co-Founder for Kafene. Prior to Kafene, James served as co-founder and CTO with Atlas Holdings, where he spent time living in London and Africa working in microfinance while also creating the first crypto debit card. Before that, he was co-founder and CTO for FundElevator and Eligible.com – the latter of which he took part in Y Combinator with before he’d graduated high school. James bypassed a traditional college education after winning $100,000 via a prestigious Thiel Foundation Fellowship to help young entrepreneurs pursue big ideas immediately after high school. Outside of Kafene, James is passionate about track and field (especially pole vaulting) and loves collecting and talking about watches.

Roland Jeon is the Chief Financial Officer for Kafene. Prior to Kafene, Roland was an investor at various private equity and credit firms such as The Blackstone Group and Atalaya Capital Management. He began his career as a member of the financial institutions investment banking team at Citigroup after receiving his bachelor’s degree in finance and comparative literature from the Schreyer Honors College of the Pennsylvania State University. Outside of Kafene, Roland is a passionate runner and reader who often rewatches The Wire, which he firmly believes to be the best TV show of all-time.

Jonathan Kurzner is the Chief Revenue Officer for Kafene, where he oversees the commercial team and go-to-market strategy. Prior to Kafene, Jon served as CRO of Cint, a global leader in digital insights and research technology. Before that, he led the commercial team at Earnest Analytics, a fintech company providing alternative data products that help investors and companies make decisions. Jon also previously worked for Bridgewater Associates and GLG (Gerson Lehrman Group). He received his bachelor’s degree from Vanderbilt University in political science and history. Outside of Kafene, Jon spends the bulk of his time chauffeuring his two daughters to birthday parties and cheering on the New York Giants.

Joe Wang is the Chief Risk Officer for Kafene, where he is responsible for AI modeling and credit & fraud risk strategies for both merchants and consumers. Prior to Kafene, Joe gained his end-to-end risk management knowledge by driving significant profitable growth in subprime/prime consumers & small business lending industries across American Express, JPMorgan Chase and OneMain Financial. He received his MBA and dual bachelor degrees from Shanghai Jiao Tong University, where he studied finance and supply chain management, as well as his PhD in Operations Research from University of Pittsburgh. Outside of Kafene, Joe is active in his church, and he is a passionate reader and outdoorsman who enjoys fishing, hiking and playing baseball with his son.

Vin Thomas is the General Counsel for Kafene. Prior to Kafene, Vin was general counsel and corporate secretary for private and public companies in the financial services sector such as TMX Finance, CURO Financial Technologies Corp, and PROG Holdings Corp. Most recently, Vin was an attorney at Troutman Pepper, LLP, a national law firm with 23 offices across the United States, focusing his practice on providing fractional general counsel services to private and public companies across the financial services and other sectors. Vin received his bachelor’s degree from the University of Georgia, and his J.D. from Mercer University School of Law.