Experience

Built and scaled data-rich SaaS in demanding markets.

A career across founder work, product leadership, technology leadership, financial data, cybersecurity, wealth-tech, and enterprise SaaS. The common thread is turning complex workflows into products customers can trust.

Market Presence

Close to the financial data and wealth-tech ecosystem.

The work behind AdvizorPro and PlanPro sits inside a market shaped by asset managers, ETF issuers, data providers, advisors, sales teams, recruiting teams, and enterprise buyers. Staying close to that ecosystem keeps product decisions grounded in how the industry actually moves.

Hesom Parhizkar at a financial services and wealth-tech industry event

2018 to Present

AdvizorPro / PlanPro

Co-founder & CPO, transitioned from CTO

Bootstrapped wealth-tech SaaS platform focused on advisor intelligence, financial data workflows, AI, and product-led company building.

Co-founded and bootstrapped the company from inception to market with zero outside funding.
Owns product, technology, innovation, competitor analysis, data management, and applied AI direction.
Helped drive consistent annual growth of 50% by staying close to prospects, clients, sales, customer success, and industry leaders.
Scaled the AdvizorPro platform on AWS Cloud to 99.996% uptime while building around trusted advisor intelligence workflows.

2021 to 2022

SecurEnds

Senior Director of Product Engineering

Identity governance and cybersecurity SaaS environment after a $21M Series A round.

Led onshore and offshore product engineering teams across development, implementation, and QA.
Prepared platform architecture, delivery processes, and team structure for 10 to 20x user and customer growth.
Improved Agile delivery, quality control, automation evaluation, and technical team development practices.

2019 to 2021

Apptega

VP of Technology & Product

SaaS cybersecurity environment requiring product clarity, engineering leadership, and operational execution.

Served as a key executive team member leading product, development, and technology for a pre-seed startup.
Helped grow revenue from $700K to $2.7M without additional technology investment during COVID-19.
Implemented quarterly roadmap planning, Agile Scrum practices, and AWS infrastructure improvements.
Contributed to more than $1.5M in new sales and renewals while helping launch CyberXhange.

2016 to 2019

Wela

Chief Technology Officer

Financial technology company that pivoted from B2C to a B2B SaaS platform for financial advisors.

Led technology, product, and operations as a member of the executive team.
Built Benjamin, a SaaS-based platform for financial advisors, within six months.
Scaled the platform user base by 550% while reducing monthly AWS costs by 33%.
Established the first product team and reduced development budget by 50% while improving capacity and delivery velocity.

2018 to 2019

Prima Edge

Executive Advisor

Advisory role for a UK business expanding into the United States.

Helped establish the US entity vision, roadmap, and operating plan.
Recruited, coordinated, and hired the first three US-based employees.
Advised on legal, regulatory, benefits, hiring, and relocation considerations.

Earlier career

eVestment / Nasdaq

Senior Vice President, Technology and earlier leadership roles

Financial data platforms and enterprise software serving institutional investment workflows.

Joined as the 17th employee and helped guide the company as it grew to 400+ employees.
Worked through revenue growth from $10M to $100M, six acquisitions, and eventual acquisition by Nasdaq.
Directed teams responsible for the flagship product generating $70M in revenue.
Managed 35 direct reports and oversaw 50 to 60 employees per project during major platform migration work.

Foundation

Earlier career and education

Software leadership, teaching, and advisory work

Technology leadership, academic teaching, and formal engineering and IT education.

Served as an adjunct professor at Kennesaw State University and contributed to curriculum modernization.
Managed software development at Pipeline Data Incorporated, automating merchant application onboarding and reducing approval time.
Earned an MS in Information Technology from Southern Polytechnic State University and a BS in Electrical Engineering from Georgia Institute of Technology.
Recognized with four Core Value Awards and named a finalist for Atlanta Tech Professionals Startup Disrupter Award in 2018, 2019, and 2021.

Contact

Experience is useful when it becomes judgment.

For investors, acquirers, founders, and executive teams, the relevant question is how product, technology, data, and market timing fit together.

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