
Financial Technology Analyst
San Francisco Bay Area

Financial Technology Analyst
San Francisco Bay Area
In-depth knowledge of financial technology software, from high-end accounting to personal finance.
Author of 13 detailed annual reviews of online brokers for Barron's, analyzing 25-33 offerings at a time. ConsumerSearch ranks my online broker industry analysis #1 in credibility in evaluating, testing and identifying the category’s best products and services. The 2008 edition of this review is scheduled for the March 17 issue.
My website, InvestorBrain, focuses on online brokers and investing tools. It contains an archive of my work in Barron's, plus additional comments from time to time.
Early adopter of online communication, including running discussion groups.
Author of two books on online investing.
(Sole Proprietorship; Myself Only; Online Media industry)
March 2006 — Present (2 years 5 months)
Expanding on the topics covered in my "Electronic Investor" column in Barron's. Site is currently being developed, but the goal is to provide readers with online broker reviews and recommendations, and ongoing news about the state of the financial services industry online. Check out http://www.investorbrain.com.
(Writing and Editing industry)
1999 — Present (9 years)
(Public Company; 201-500 employees; Newspapers industry)
1995 — Present (13 years)
Author of "The Electronic Investor" column, which appears in the Technology section of Barron's. Author of the annual review of online brokers, which is featured every March.
(Writing and Editing industry)
1990 — Present (18 years)
(Sole Proprietorship; Myself Only; Writing and Editing industry)
August 1984 — Present (24 years)
From 1984-1992, my primary focus was consulting to small businesses, setting up their accounting applications. While helping run several of the Ziff-Davis forums on CompuServe and PC MagNet in the late 80s, several editors hired me to write reviews of small-business accounting software. That turned into feature articles about financial technology, and the end of my consulting career.
(Online Media industry)
1992 — October 2005 (13 years)
Editor of eWEEK.com's Finance Industry channel (http://finance.eweek.com).
(Writing and Editing industry)
1988 — 2001 (13 years)
(Wine and Spirits industry)
1981 — 1984 (3 years)
Keeper of the corporate crystal ball. Duties included ongoing analysis of the industry, company performance, and price elasticity of demand. My responsibilities encompassed forecasting everything from grape acreage 25 years out to the number of cases of 375ml vermouth to bottle next week. I pestered the IT people until they gave me my own PC.
When RJ Reynolds took over our parent company, eventually killing it off, it was time to turn those PC skills into a new business.
(Privately Held; 11-50 employees; Management Consulting industry)
1978 — 1979 (1 year)
M.S., Applied Economics, September 1979 — August 1981
M.S. awarded With Distinction. Member, Beta Gamma Sigma honors society.
B.A., Economics, 1973 — 1977
Coaching volleyball (currently coaching the Stanford men's club teams), playing volleyball, playing softball, travel. Lair of the Bear. Lived in Tokyo Japan.
American Volleyball Coaches Association, Internet Press Guild, Big C Society, College Women's Association of Japan