We’re excited to announce that Justin English has been named chief executive officer at Salt Blockchain Inc., parent company to SALT Lending. Co-presidents Rob Odell and Dustin Hull, who have been working together for the past six months to fill the CEO role and onboard English, will remain co-presidents and will continue to support SALT in their respective roles as chief product officer and chief financial officer.
English brings more than 15 years of senior management and board experience across the private equity, early-stage venture capital, consumer products, supply chain, manufacturing, distribution, and consumer services industries. Having founded three companies, he has extensive entrepreneurial experience with a specific focus on capital raising, financial modeling, and developing go-to-market strategies.
In addition to these areas of expertise, English currently serves as co-managing partner of First Catalyst Ventures, a US-based alternative investment firm focusing on early stage B2B technology companies. He also brings several years of board member experience to his new role, having previously served on several non-profit boards and on the board of SALT. Currently, he serves on the board of a non-profit private school as well as on the board of Elite Mining Inc., a crypto mining operation focused on clean energy and green mining.
Appointed to SALT’s board of directors in October 2019, English immediately did a deep dive of SALT’s talent, partnerships, brand, product offerings, and everything in between to determine the company’s potential. He began thinking about the ways in which it could grow and scale, and in doing so, played a significant advisory role in guiding SALT’s executive team in its decisions throughout his time on the Board. “It became evident that Justin was a natural fit for the CEO role,” said Joe Perry, chairman of SALT’s Board of Directors. “He has a strategic mindset and a proven ability to identify, understand, and execute on the necessary actions that will lead SALT to success.”
English has been a serial entrepreneur throughout his entire career and has extensive experience working with start-ups. This experience was a major factor in his decision to accept the role as chief executive officer. “I’m excited to take on this challenge for a couple of reasons, the first being that SALT is a start-up and start-ups are what I know,” said Justin English, chief executive officer, SALT.
“Second, SALT is well-positioned to challenge the conventional ways of thinking about finance — that’s something I’m really passionate about because so many of us go through life making decisions that have been historically viewed as correct, when in reality there’s so much more we can be doing to build and preserve our own wealth. With that in mind, I want to take this opportunity to build something that not only helps our customers lead better financial lives, but that gives our team a sense of purpose regarding the work they’re doing each day.”
With the addition of English as chief executive officer, SALT’s executive team now consists of six members: Dustin Hull as chief financial officer; Rob Odell as chief product officer; Dirk Anderson as chief technology officer; Alex Fader as chief legal officer; and Debra Johnston as chief people officer.
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