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Taking the long view

​Ridgeline is a privately funded, high-growth fintech startup determined to fundamentally change the investment management industry. Our founder and leadership team have long and successful track records building values-based companies and enterprise software. The rest of our team brings energy, creativity, and decades of investment management experience.

Ridgeline Founder and CEO Dave Duffield is an accomplished industry entrepreneur with an extensive history of pioneering new ground in business applications. Having founded six companies, he is known for making employees and customer service a top priority. His companies are highly valued for their focus on core values and a strong people-based culture.

Dave co-founded Workday in 2005 and still serves as Chairman of the Board. Prior to Workday, Dave founded PeopleSoft in 1987, which grew to be the world’s second-largest ERP application company. Other companies Dave launched include Integral Systems, Business Software, and Information Associates.

Visionary founder

Privately funded

~180 Employees

2 Offices

Tahoe and NYC

SOC 2 Compliant

Type I

Our core values are the beliefs that are most important to Ridgeline. They're our moral compass and the basis for our decisions and actions. Building and running an ethical, rewarding, fun, and safe business requires commitment and constant vigilance. We feel it’s  important to support each other in being honest, humble, professional, respectful, and in leading by example - all while having a sense of humor.

Employees

Our unconditional commitment to our teammates creates an environment where people are valued and considered family. We communicate openly and honestly; we respect and trust one another, and we lift each other up in the pursuit of shared goals. We aim to provide an enjoyable and productive work experience, a healthy work-life balance, and a family-like team environment.
  • Regardless of role/level, we treat each other with the utmost respect.
  • We go above and beyond to help each other.
  • We give honest, quick, constructive feedback.
  • We are prepared, organized, and reliable.

Customer Service

Customer satisfaction is a direct reflection of our competence, attention to detail, ability to listen, and commitment to our customers’ success. Expect us to be obsessed with delivering reliable products and being accountable, responsive, and proactive.
  • We’re dedicated to making customers’ lives easier.
  • We always consider firms’ perspectives.
  • We respect deadlines; we’re punctual and prepared.
  • We go the extra mile to “put mints on the pillow”.

Innovation

When we think about developing our products and delivering service, we start from a place of open-mindedness, curiosity, and risk-taking. We won’t just keep pace with industry standards; we plan to raise the bar by anticipating challenges and thinking bigger. The result will be solutions that address real business issues, save resources, establish leadership, and inspire progress.
  • We learn from mistakes.
  • We encourage bold thinking.
  • We’re open to diverse thoughts and perspectives.
  • We challenge assumptions and encourage thoughtful criticism.

Integrity

This value draws upon The Platinum Rule: “Treat others the way they would like to be treated.” In all interactions, we emphasize presenting true selves, taking responsibility for actions, and being ethical, honest, and transparent in dealings and decisions. This comes naturally and easily when you are a person, team, and company of good manners and moral fiber.
  • We use our best judgment.
  • We’re transparent and honest.
  • We take personal responsibility and ownership.
  • We do the right thing even when no one is watching.

Fun

As our company evolves and grows, you can bet that we’ll have a lot of fun along the way! We do not take ourselves too seriously, and we continually look for reasons to cut loose, laugh, and create memories together. Families included.

  • We work and play hard - at and away from work.
  • We have a sense of humor.
  • We make reasons to laugh.
  • We are respectful when being goofy.

Profitability

A healthy bottom line enables us to invest in our company, service delivery, innovation, and personal passions. Accordingly, fiscal responsibility and spending company money wisely are always on our minds as we demonstrate our other core values.
  • We balance short and long.
  • We treat company money like our own.
  • We make decisions with data.
  • We keep financial decisions in perspective.

Leadership

Dave Duffield

Founder and CEO

Dave’s distinguished career in business software spans more than five decades. He has founded six enterprise software companies, including the world-class public companies PeopleSoft and Workday. Each delivered software and technology ahead of its time to benefit businesses and institutions across the globe. Dave was an early adopter of core values and the belief that happy employees lead to happy customers.

Chris McClain

President

As president of Ridgeline, Chris is responsible for overall operations and business activities for the company. He brings 25+ years of experience in enterprise sales and operations leadership to Ridgeline, and he believes that hiring the best, earning a customer’s trust, and having a positive outlook are the top three keys to success in building a “built-to-last” company. Chris has held senior positions at Oracle, PeopleSoft, SAP, and DocuSign.

Jack Lynch

Head of Strategy

Jack brings deep knowledge of enterprise technology to his Corporate & Product Strategy leadership role at Ridgeline. A student of disruptive technologies, Jack motivates Ridgeline with his energy, optimism, and personal investment in people, teams, and relationships. Prior to Ridgeline, Jack led a global products and solutions team specializing in industry-specific solutions at IBM Watson.

Danny Johnson

Head of Products and Engineering

Danny brings to our company more than 25 years of building innovative software solutions and leading motivated engineering teams. Early in his career, he managed the Treasury and Cash Management development teams at both PeopleSoft and Oracle. At Workday, he was responsible for the Workday Financials and Workday Student product suites. At Ridgeline, Danny is a champion for a team-first company culture.

Silvia Johnson

Chief Human Resources Officer

Silvia has led Human Resources functions for various technology companies--from pre-IPO startups to Fortune 500 organizations. In her tenure, she has been a progressive and transformative influence on the employee life cycle; leadership development; and diversity, equity and inclusion. At Ridgeline, Silvia leads the People Operations team as they work to attract, retain, and develop world-class talent in service of Ridgeline's goals.

Patty Pasley

Chief of Staff

Patty has worked alongside Ridgeline CEO and founder Dave Duffield for most of her 30-year career in the enterprise software industry. With a background and education in communications, she has developed, managed, and contributed to a variety of programs, projects, and organizations in which Dave holds a special interest.

Sean O'Connell

General Counsel

Sean has more than two decades of experience as a strategic legal executive for industry-leading companies, including Workday and PeopleSoft. Having worked extensively to establish relationships with enterprise customers in the era of modern cloud computing, Sean has a deep understanding of matters that are increasingly important to Ridgeline customers, including issues surrounding security and privacy.

Product And Industry

Mike Barrameda

Architecture and Technology

As Ridgeline’s chief architect, Mike leads technology for Ridgeline products and architecture. A Cornell Engineering grad, his background includes 9+ years of experience designing and developing enterprise solutions at Workday and JPMorganChase.

Alex Benke

Product Management

Alex leads Product Management across Ridgeline. During the previous 17 years, he held leadership positions at Betterment and JPMorgan Chase. He is also a Certified Financial Planner, a fintech mentor, and a leader who is passionate about technology, efficiency, and automation.

Dave Blair

Accounting and Investment Book of Record

Dave has 27 years of experience in the investment management software with SS&C Advent. At SS&C Advent, he had various roles, including leading multiple product development teams. Dave brings a deep understanding of cloud technologies and the investment management market to Ridgeline, leading product strategy for middle and back-office solutions.

Zach Brown

Investment Accounting

Zach has nearly a decade of experience at Clearwater Analytics building innovative investment accounting, data management, and reporting systems for the buy-side market. Zach’s certified public accountant credential and his experience delivering highly differentiated cloud-based SaaS solutions will serve him well on Ridgeline’s Portfolio Accounting Product Management team.

Chris Flynn

Trading and Order Management

A 27-year veteran in fintech, Chris has led product management organizations at Advent Software, LatentZero, and MyVest, and professional services at InvestCloud. At Ridgeline, Chris leads strategy for trading and order management solutions and approaches his work with eye for creativity and innovation.

Jeremy Hittle

Security, Data Privacy, and Compliance

As Ridgeline’s chief security officer, Jeremy is responsible for building and overseeing all security, compliance, and IT programs and needs at Ridgeline. His 20 years of IT, security, fraud, and compliance experience in both the consumer and enterprise spaces have given him a unique vision that helps Ridgeline place security and privacy at the center of our product, technology, and engineering choices. Jeremy also served as the chief security officer and vice president of Security at Workday before joining Ridgeline.

Larry Lord

Professional Services

For Larry, establishing collaborative, long-term partnerships with customers and solving complex business problems is the cornerstone of a successful Professional Services team, which Larry is building from the ground up at Ridgeline. He has managed consulting teams at technology and service providers for more than 15 years, and he brings a passion for motivating services teams and hands-on leadership to our company.

Jenny Molinelli

Operations and Customer Success

Jenny directs Ridgeline’s Product Management Office, which manages operations for Products & Engineering, technical documentation, and customer support. As a former director at Facebook, Jenny led the organization responsible for workforce operations and learning programs for all technical teams. Her background also includes program management and customer service experience from nearly three years at Dell.

Scott Scherr

Trading and Order Management

Scott has watched the investment management industry and its technology evolve over 27 years as an industry thought leader, and he brings that unique understanding of history and business to Ridgeline’s portfolio construction, order management, and compliance initiatives. Scott spent many years as vice president of Product Development for Advent Software; more recently, he held roles as a managing director of product for Tora Trading and FIX Flyer.

Joseph Souza

Data Management

Ridgeline turns to Joe for all things related to data strategy, particularly custodian, market, reference, clearing, and settlement practices. He has 25 years of experience in leadership roles at prominent financial services technology companies, with a focus in data management, governance, and integrations between large financial institutions and their respective counterparties.

Ali Stewart

Reporting and Analytics

Ali is a CFA charterholder with more than 15 years of experience in product development, marketing, sales, and strategy for financial services software providers, including FactSet and Enfusion. At Ridgeline, Ali is focused on advancing the reporting and analytics capabilities of our solutions.

Brian Stone

Client Engagement and Experience

Brian has more than two decades of experience building industry-specific cloud software and go-to-market teams in the CRM and customer experience industries. Prior to joining Ridgeline, Brian co-founded both Vlocity, Inc., (now Salesforce Industries) and BankSight, Inc., (sold to Bottomline Technologies). He brings an entrepreneurial enthusiasm to his role leading product and marketing strategy for Ridgeline’s front-office solutions.