Mike Kerns
Founder & CEO

Mike founded PROTRADE in 2004 on his vision of a predictive market for athletes that would be powered by sports fans. As CEO, Mike is focused on developing strategic relationships and partnerships, helping to guide corporate and product strategy, and evangelizing PROTRADE to the world.

Mike began his career as an Associate at Angel Investors, L.P. In 2001, he became the Chief of Staff at Steinberg & Moorad Sports Management, a premier sports representation firm, where he led new business efforts for the firm, assisted in player contract negotiations, and helped manage operations. Mike is a graduate of the University of California Los Angeles with a BA in history.

Jeff Ma
Co-Founder & VP, Research

With a tremendous passion for sports, Jeff co-founded PROTRADE in 2004 and is a tireless evangelist for the PROTRADE mission. He has been the technology lead for two internet startups and was an options trader on the Chicago Board of Options Exchange. He gained notoriety as the protagonist, under the name Kevin Lewis, in the New York Times bestseller Bringing Down the House, the story of the MIT blackjack team.

Jeff is a graduate of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology with a degree in mechanical engineering.

Steve McClelland
VP, User Experience

Steve joined PROTRADE in 2004 and initially served as the company's chief architect, and then moved over to the product organization to drive product strategy and site design. He joined PROTRADE from Interdimensions, a company he founded where he designed and architected a range of advanced products including online game engines, web publishing systems, web site registration systems, and personalization engines.

A die-hard Steeler fan, Steve received a bachelor's degree in electrical engineering and biomedical engineering from Duke University.

Mark Kamal
Director, Corporate Development & Research

Mark Kamal joined PROTRADE in 2005 and runs PROTRADE's corporate development and research efforts - the analysis like Win Probability you see on the site and on PROTRADE Live. Prior to PROTRADE, he worked at Bain & Company in San Francisco as a management consultant with a focus on technology clients. Mark holds a B.S. in Electrical Engineering Computer Science (EECS) from the University of California, Berkeley, an M.S. in EECS from MIT, and an MBA from MIT. He is an avid fan of Cal football and the Washington Redskins, both of which he watches from his basement which features 14 televisions, a 110" HD projector, and about 10,000 miles of cables.

Justin Rowe
Director, Engineering

Justin joined PROTRADE in May 2005 and is responsible for all aspects of the Engineering department. Justin has 10 years of experience in database technologies, enterprise Java applications and leading successful engineering teams at a wide range of companies: StarCode Software, Be, Inc., netLibrary, Inc. and a four-year stint in the financial services industry. He has many more years of experience as an avid Red Sox and Broncos fan. Justin is a graduate of Stanford University with a degree in Computer Science and a lifetime membership in the Stanford Basketball 6th man club. He has been involved with the Society of American Baseball Research and wishes he had more time to study the world's greatest game.

Rachael Parsons
Director, Marketing

Rachael joined PROTRADE in March 2006 from NYC-based Zagat Survey where she ran consumer marketing for the company, including the direction of product, marketing and design for Zagat.com. She helped convert the site to a subscription model in 2002 and led the redesign of Zagat.com several years later.

Rachael received an MBA from the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth College and a BA from Pomona College. She's happy to be back in California where she never has to worry about where she's going to watch the next Niners' game.