Our Story
Ballooning Nest Eggs was founded by a devoted aunt and digital media executive who noticed an opportunity. So many friends and family – from the moment their youngsters enter the world – seek to secure their financial futures. Yet they mostly all seem to be going it alone by squirreling away paychecks into various investments. And, oh yes, often counting on (and secretly praying) the grandparents were doing the same.
Our founder recognized that all the celebrations in youngsters' lives offer a myriad of opportunities for their biggest champions – family and friends who adore those kids – to pitch in. Yet most are standing on the sidelines because asking for, and even giving, financial gifts can make even the most socially-conscious adults cringe.
Ballooning Nest Eggs transforms financial gifting by providing parents with a thoroughly tasteful and modern way to corral their "personal village" and together to reach a meaningful common goal: securing and growing kids' long-term wealth. We're the first platform to truly "take the funny out money" and turn the awkward into memorable awww moments for everyone.
Our Team
Amy Moses, CEO and Founder
Amy has spent over 20 years in media and entertainment at the intersection of consumer engagement and revenue optimization. Before this venture, she founded a boutique business development firm focused on driving incremental revenue for major TV networks and digital brands.
Amy also headed up Turner Broadcasting’s largest ad sales marketing and sponsorship department (TBS), increasing annual revenue 25-fold to over $200 million annually. While there, she pioneered a branded entertainment model that today remains an industry standard.
Amy is the doting aunt to five spirited nieces and nephews. She seeks to inspire them to one day take the leap into the madcap startup world.
MBA, Columbia Business School; BA, Cornell University
Diana Garbarino, Head of Product
Diana excels at developing complex software applications and user experiences from the ground up, from ideation to the finished product. For the past 15 years, she’s built numerous software products, covering all phases of the development lifecycle, including quality testing, project/team management, and software design and engineering for large corporations (e.g., Verizon, Philips, and Harmonic) and Silicon Valley start-ups (including Fintechs) alike.
University of Louisiana and CodingDojo
Kent Wallgren, Project Management – App Development & Financial Firm Partnerships
Kent has an extensive background delivering complex cross-functional technology projects in wealth management and digital transformation for top-tier global financial services firms and startups, including robo-advisors and payments/remittances with Bitcoin. He's immersed in UBS’ launch of its robo-advisory platform. At Morgan Stanley, Kent focused on branch applications for client/account onboarding and financial advisor workstations.
MBA, MIT Sloan School of Management; MS, Chalmers University of Technology
Board of Advisors
J. Rebekka Bonner
Startup Strategy, Fundraising and Regulatory
Rebekka brings deep expertise in financial services and a proven track record in managing and growing global organizations. She’s mentored numerous startups, building products and teams, while advising on regulatory compliance, credit unions and startup fundraising. Earlier in her career, Rebekka served as Assistant General Counsel for Goldman Sachs and Press Secretary for President Joe Biden when he served at Senator from Delaware. Rebekka holds an MBA from Harvard Business School and a JD from Yale Law School.
Bernard Chen
Financial Services - Strategy and Operations
Bernie co-founded and runs Madison Consulting, a boutique firm specializing in operations, innovation and risk management for leading financial firms, such as Merrill Lynch, JP Morgan, UBS and Morgan Stanley. Before that, Bernie held strategic positions in Global Investment Management and Retirement Services for Bankers Trust. Bernie holds an MBA from Columbia Business School (full scholarship) and a BS and MS in Engineering from MIT.
Warren Habib
Acting CTO
Warren has been working with technology for over 25 years and in digital startups since the late 1990s. He has been CTO for four innovative tech startups (Everplans, XGraph, Fotolog, Solbright), three with highly successful exits. From 2008 to 2011, Warren was SVP, head of Online Platform Development, at MTV Networks, overseeing more than 400 websites and apps. Warren holds an MA from Columbia University and a BA from Stanford University.
Philip Farah
FinTech Innovation and Operations
Until recently, Philip headed up Cisco’s global financial services consulting practice to optimize and transform the tech-based performance of leading financial firms. Currently, he is head of Financial Services Consulting for Worldwide Technology. Previously, he was a Senior Managing Partner at Gartner, Director at Capital One Financial and a consultant at McKinsey.
Ken Jackowitz
FinTech Innovation
Ken is a leader in consumer-facing tech innovation in the Financial Services sector. He formerly served as SVP, Head of Customer Innovation, for Bank of America and Merrill Lynch, where he covered all brands and channels within the firm. Currently, Ken is Executive in Residence/Research Affiliate at the Center for Future Banking at the MIT Media Lab.
Nate Landau
Software Development and Startup Operations
Nate has extensive product development and General Manager experience at numerous NYC-based media companies and startups. Currently he’s Chief Digital Officer at New York Public Radio. He co-founded and sold the acclaimed FoodRepublic.com, a content site for adventurous, discerning and passionate eaters. Nate was also Vice President of Product Development for Univision, responsible for all digital and interactive products.
Kivanc Onan
Payments and Operations
Kivanc is an accomplished international strategy and business development leader with cross-functional know-how and hands-on experience in go-to-market, scaling and full P&L ownership of financial services and payments productss. He’s Head of Payments and Financial Products Strategy for Alibaba (B2B, North America). Earlier, Kivanc was Managing Director and General Manager at PayPal for Turkey, the Middle East and North Africa, leading the company’s expansion into the region. Kivanc holds an from MBA, Columbia Business School and B Eng from Istanbul Technical University.