Our Team

Wai is a knowledgeable corporate finance professional with 20 years of hands-on experience in the areas of financial planning & analysis (FP&A), M&A, financial performance management, treasury, cash flow optimization and investor relations. Wai’s experiences at public and private companies combined with his practical knowledge of corporate finance provides him with unique insights into how to help companies tackle business challenges.

Prior to joining MKA Insights, Wai was the VP of Finance at a private equity-backed, retail consumer goods company known as Alex Brands. During his time, Wai oversaw all aspects of finance and accounting – including financial performance tracking, month-end close, budgeting/forecasting and treasury/banking relationship management. Wai managed the core accounting, Accounts Receivable (AR) and Accounts Payable (AP) staff and served as the analytical engine for the FP&A team. As the FP&A leader, Wai created and maintained the company’s 3-Statement Model (P&L, Balance Sheet and Statement of Cash Flows), monitored the company’s debt covenants and led cash management activities. He was also responsible for coordinating with the private equity operating partners to conduct regular profitability reviews, developing strategic options for margin expansion, performing weekly cash flow assessments and analyzing the financial impacts of strategic initiatives.

Prior to Alex Brands, Wai was the Director of FP&A at a private portfolio holding company known as Sovereign Health System (“Sovereign”). Sovereign is a multi-specialty, multi-site healthcare system whose portfolio included approximately 60 independent revenue streams that each operated as independent businesses with separate management teams. During his time, Wai helped to create a standardized management reporting system for each business such that the consolidated portfolio of businesses could be analyzed holistically and performance could be measured consistently across the core business. Additionally, Wai was responsible for creating and maintaining de novo financial models to support the business development team in their onboarding of new medical practices and surgery centers. Finally, he was responsible for implementing a standardized annual operating plan (AOP) process for each portfolio company that was used to set sales targets, complete performance reviews & trend analysis and engage in long-range planning activities. His consolidated efforts resulted in a better understanding of economies of scale, which led to improved profitability.

Before Sovereign, Wai was a Manager of FP&A at Vidyo, a privately held, venture-funded video conferencing software company where he was responsible for financial performance review, margin expansion analysis, pricing strategies, monthly variance analysis, quarterly commission calculations and quarterly board meeting preparation. During this time, he was also responsible for implementing a standardized AOP process used to develop the annual budget and guide resource planning.

Wai started his career in corporate finance at iRobot (NASDAQ: IRBT), a publicly traded company that designs and builds robots used in consumer goods and defense applications. Wai joined as a Senior Associate in the Corporate Finance department in 2009 and was promoted to Finance Manager in 2011 where he was responsible for consolidating and rolling-up the company budget, analyzing total company performance, and managing the financials for the general & administrative (G&A) departments. In addition, he was responsible for calculating Revenue, Earnings Per Share (EPS), and EBITDA guidance and working with the executive leadership team to issue guidance for quarterly earnings calls. Prior to his departure, Wai was asked to take on increasing responsibilities including serving as the finance lead for the Evolution Robotics acquisition, serving as the finance lead for Ava Robotics (a proprietary new telepresence technology developed by the company), presenting at the company all-hands meeting and helping the executive leadership team shift the street’s perception of the company from a consumer goods company to a technology company. This shift in perception helped drive better analyst coverage resulting in improved valuations. During Wai’s tenure, revenue grew from approximately $300M to $500M and the company’s stock price increased from approximately $12 per share to over $30 per share.

Early on in Wai’s career, he held tax advisory positions at KPMG and McKinsey & Company in New York City.

Wai holds an MBA and a Masters in Finance from the Boston College Carroll School of Management as well as a Bachelors in Economics from Binghamton University (SUNY).