Advanced Equities

Keith G. Daubenspeck, Chairman and Co-Founder, is a 22-year veteran of the securities industry. He started his career working at the Chicago offices of Lehman Bros., Oppenheimer and Bear Stearns. In the mid-1990’s he co-founded Madison Securities. Recently named to Forbes magazine’s Midas 100 List, a prestigious list of the world’s best global deal makers in technology and life sciences, Mr. Daubenspeck serves as the head of the firm’s venture capital investment banking activities. He also sits on the Board of Directors for several of AEI’s portfolio companies, including Alien Technologies, Motricity, and MetricStream and Force10 Networks.

Mr. Badger is our Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer and has served as a director of Advanced Equities, Inc. since he and Mr. Daubenspeck co-founded the company in 1999. From 1997 to 1999, Mr. Badger was Managing Director of Institutional Sales for LaSalle Street Securities, LLC, a Chicago-based broker/dealer. Prior to joining LaSalle, Mr. Badger served as Chief Executive Officer of Kress USA. Mr. Badger is also a General Partner of Innovative Technology Partners, a late-stage venture capital fund based in Chicago, Illinois.

Mr. Crowe is the Chief Financial Officer of Advanced Equities Financial Corp, and COO of Advanced Equities Inc. and brings 20 years of experience in the financial services industry. He spent nine years at LaSalle Street Securities, LLC where he co-founded the Capital Markets Group. Prior to LaSalle, Mr. Crowe was Senior Vice President for Madison Securities focusing on Institutional Sales.

Michael is the President of Advanced Equities, Inc. [AEI]. Advanced Equities is a boutique investment bank that specializes in private late stage equity funding. Prior to joining AEI, Michael was a Senior V.P. with the Royal Bank of Canada, Capital Markets group. Michael has more than 35 years of securities experience, to include 25 years at the senior managing director level at such publicly traded firms as Lehman Brothers, Bear Stearns, and Credit Suisse, providing investment banking services to corporate, institutional, and substantial private investors. Michael’s background includes both graduate and undergraduate degrees specializing in economics and operational management from Wabash College and the Kellogg Graduate School of Management at Northwestern University, where he served as the president of the graduate management association. Michael was commissioned as a 2nd Lieutenant in the United States Marine Corps.

Mr. McDonnell has more than 25 years of experience in the financial services industry. Mr. McDonnell founded McDonnell, Inc. in 1985 and served as President and CEO until 2006. McDonnell, Inc. was a full-service broker/dealer and a member firm of the Chicago Board of Options Exchange and the Chicago Mercantile Exchange. Prior to that, he was SVP/International Arbitrage with Drexel Burnham Lambert. Mr. McDonnell holds a Bachelor’s degree from Georgetown University.

Mark Finckle joined AEI with more than 10 years of investment banking industry experience. Prior to joining the firm, Mr. Finckle served as a principal in the Media, Internet & Communications Investment Banking Division of Thomas Weisel Partners in New York. Prior to that, Mr. Finckle was a member of the telecommunications investment banking teams at Bear, Stearns & Co. Inc. and Paine Webber. Mr. Finckle also has held positions at Ameritech and Coopers & Lybrand. Mr. Finckle holds a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Iowa and an MBA degree from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University.

Mr. Schmidt brings more than 17 years of corporate finance and securities law experience to AEI. Previously, Mr. Schmidt was Of Counsel with the Pedersen & Houpt law firm in Chicago. Prior to that, he was a partner and co-chairman of the Corporate and Securities Group at the law firm of O'Hagan, Smith & Amundsen. Mr. Schmidt is the former chairman of the Chicago Bar Association Subcommittee on Mergers & Acquisitions and is a member of the American Bar Association’s Securities Law Committee. He graduated with honors from Northwestern University's Medill School of Journalism and received his law degree, cum laude, from the Loyola University Chicago School of Law, where he was a senior member of the Loyola Law Review.

Mr. Rogers has 10 years experience in the financial services industry, serving retail and institutional clients, including gaining extensive knowledge of alternative investments, private placements, and shareholder communications. He was a co-founder of Celeritas Group, where his primary focus was consulting public and private companies on effective shareholder communication strategies. He also served as Vice President of Corporate Communications for CellPoint, Inc., a publicly traded global telecommunications company based in Sweden, where his role included overseeing worldwide marketing and investor relations. Shawn graduated with a B.A. from the University of Illinois and served in both the United States Marine Corps and the Illinois National Guard.