Behind the Fish

Alex Acree caught the entrepreneurial bug a few years ago and is still alive to tell about it. He's the CEO of UpGuppy, before which he helped start a legal outsourcing company, internet fashion magazine, community bank, and nonprofit community organization. Alex is one of the many Yalies on the team having earned his J.D. and M.B.A. there.

Logan Beirne became handy with power tools in January after developing an unhealthy addiction to home improvement shows. He has over seven years of finance experience in investment banking and private equity positions at JP Morgan, UBS and GE Capital. He holds a J.D. from Yale Law School and can write with both feet.

Alex Budnitz loves to draw pretty pictures and does some version of that in his day job as senior art director at Stoltze Design in Boston, where he works with a diverse group of national-level clients. His work has earned him numerous trophies and has been featured in many a glossy publication.

Ethan Fletcher is a Boston sports fan who still can't believe the locals came within a freak David Tyree catch of winning all three major sports championships in a row (sorry, hockey). He has a professional background in entrepreneurship, progressive politics, and business strategy. Ethan holds a J.D. from Yale Law School and graduated from Tufts University (go Jumbos!) longer ago than he cares to admit. He often signs his emails "UpGuppily yours" and is widely considered the funniest member of the team, but then looks aren't everything.

Justin Jannise is an English literature major at Yale College. A lifelong ranking addict, he has experience in print journalism, radio broadcasting, museum management and flipping burgers. Justin is also an award-winning Meryl Streep impersonator.

Joey Kiernan is a sophomore at Williams College where he's studying computer science. Joey currently divides his time between UpGuppy, studying and rowing. He also occasionally eats (when he has the time).

Arun Mohan is a doctor surrounded by lawyers. He's often scared during meetings. Before UpGuppy, Arun was a co-founder at PictureRx, a healthcare software company. His good looks and charisma (not as tantalizing as Ethan's) have earned him recognition as one of Georgia's "Top 40 Under 40." Arun apologizes for having once stolen and raffled off his best friend's car while a student at Swarthmore College.

Daniel O'Shea does double duty as our in-house technology God and CTO. Before coming to UpGuppy, Daniel was the Co-Founder, Sr. Vice-President and CTO (lots of titles) at Foldera.com. When he's not writing killer code, Daniel lives and breathes the Lakers (much to the dismay of Ethan who loves the Celtics).

Dave Wilkinson is a Jedi master of grassroots marketing having run an 8,000-member nonprofit where he did exactly that. Dave has also led successful efforts to launch a $25M bank and an innovative $75M housing finance pool. If you haven't already guessed, Dave also earned his J.D. from Yale Law School, but is a Virgina Cavalier at heart. There is nothing funny about Dave.

Benedict Wong is our marketing queen and in-house early adopter. Not surprisingly, Benedict is an engineer by training and recently finished business school. She has had several stints at hi-tech companies like Motorola where she is a product manager.