Francis J. Nagle

Co-Founder and Principal

Francis (Frank) J. Nagle works with mid-and later-stage startup companies and publicly traded companies to position them as leaders within their respective market segments, creating a recognizable value for angel investors, venture capitalists, investment bankers, analysts, portfolio managers and potential strategic and financial partners. He maintains ongoing relationships with senior executives and research analysts from some of the nation's leading investment banks, as well as venture capitalists. He is a founding partner of Catapult Technology Ventures, which develops, grows and invests in technology based companies in the U.S.

Prior to forming Nagle & Ferri, Mr. Nagle served as a vice president for Omnicom Group’s agency Porter Novelli International, where he launched corporate communications and public affairs groups. He joined Omnicom in 1997 from the New York office of Hill and Knowlton Public Relations and Public Affairs, where he served as a managing director. From early 1991 through 1996, Mr. Nagle managed the public affairs and corporate communications practice groups for Hill and Knowlton San Francisco, spending a brief stint with E. Bruce Harrison Co., a Washington, D.C. environmental communications agency.

Mr. Nagle joined Hill and Knowlton from MacKenzie Communications, a San Francisco-based public relations and public affairs agency, where he specialized in issues management and media relations. He spent three years as a communications officer for the administration of then Massachusetts Governor Michael Dukakis, managing media relations and internal communications for the Department of Revenue.

A native of Boston and a 17-year resident of the San Francisco Bay Area, Mr. Nagle began his career as a reporter and feature writer for the Times & Chronicle, a daily newspaper serving northwest suburban Boston. He graduated in 1983 with a BA from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst.

Leigh Salvo

Senior Consultant

Leigh Salvo offers 20 years of professional investor relations experience, delivering successful financial marketing communication programs for clients in a range of business sectors that extend from micro- to small- to large-cap organizations – both IPO-track and publicly traded. She has served as a senior consultant to Nagle & Ferri for the past five years.

Previously, Ms. Salvo served for five years as Vice President of Investor Relations and Communications for TCSI Corporation, a telecom software company based in Alameda, California. Before that, she was Director of Investor Relations for The American Stock Exchange, where she provided investor relations programs to AMEX-listed companies. Ms. Salvo’s background on Wall Street, as well as in corporate, agency and consulting environments, enables her to offer her clients a broader perspective on the capital market and closer relationships with the investment community, ultimately yielding more effective financial communications programs.

Over the years, Ms. Salvo has worked with notable clients, including: Ask Jeeves, Inc. (Nasdaq: ASKJ); Genesis Microchip (Nasdaq: GNSS); Catapult Communications (Nasdaq: CATP); Symmetricom Inc. (Nasdaq: SYMM); TCSI Corporation (Nasdaq: TCSI); ANTs software.com (OTC: ANTS); Blue Pumpkin Software (Private); GoDigital Communications (Private); Lightwave Microsystems (Private); Operon Partners (Private); OtelNet (Private); Sierra Atlantic (Private); TightLink Corporation (Private); and VisiTalk.com (Private).

Ms. Salvo is a member of the National Investor Relations Institute (NIRI) and has served as a Vice President, Treasurer and Program Chairman. A resident of Berkeley, CA, she earned an MBA and Bachelor of Arts degree in journalism from Trinity University.

Robert J. Ferri

Co-Founder and Principal

Robert Ferri serves as counsel to public and private companies and non-profit organizations. His areas of focus include early-stage and public company growth, investment sales & marketing, investor relations, corporate development, business development, corporate communications and public policy.

Mr. Ferri has helped found, grow and finance a number of companies in the United States and Europe, including online securities brokers, trading and other transaction technology providers, and enterprise solutions companies. He maintains a similar focus as a founding partner of Catapult Technology Ventures, which concentrates on private technology companies in the U.S.

Mr. Ferri has international experience in financial communications, having launched and headed media relations departments for The Nasdaq Stock Market and its parent organization, the National Association of Securities Dealers, Inc., as well as Montgomery Securities, a prominent investment bank focused on growth companies.

At two Omnicom firms, Mr. Ferri launched the San Francisco-based Financial Communications and Investor Relations Practice, which grew quickly to serve publicly traded and IPO-track companies, as well as financial services firms, throughout the United States.

In Washington, D.C., Mr. Ferri was Executive Assistant for Communications to United States Senator John Heinz. He also was a columnist and reporter in the Washington bureau of Thomson Newspapers, Inc., a chain of more than 100 daily newspapers.

Mr. Ferri was Founding Owner and President of The Amherst News, Inc., a weekly newspaper in his native Massachusetts. He also served as Editor of two daily newspapers.

Mr. Ferri, who has a Master’s Degree in Public Administration from the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University, has a wide range of experience in politics and government. A frequent commentator in electronic and print media, he has been a guest lecturer at Harvard University and other institutions of higher education, as well as a speaker to business and civic organizations.

A member of the Dean’s Alumni Leadership Council of Harvard’s Kennedy School, Mr. Ferri serves on the Boards of Directors of the Resource Center for the United Nations and the American Liver Foundation’s Northern California Chapter. At the 1988 Super Bowl in San Diego, Mr. Ferri was a member of an on-field camera crew for NFL Films.

A native of Massachusetts, Mr. Ferri is a resident of Sausalito, CA.