Mike Belsito (MBA '05)

Degree: MBA

Graduation Year: 2005

Current occupation:
Inventor / Startup Advocate / Product Innovation Manager

A sentence about current company/organization:
Lead new product/market initiatives for Findaway World full time; Invented Appstand and promote it part-time; Recently appointed as part-time Director of Startup Lakewood

Company/organization website
www.playaway.com; www.appstandstore.com; www.startuplakewood.com

Awards (professional, academic, community service, etc.)
2011 Northeast Ohio Top 25 under 35

What do you like most about Company/Organization?
I'm passionate about everything I'm involved in because they're all startup-oriented initiatives.

Any advice for future CWRU Alumni in your major or in general?
Get involved in areas you're passionate about. It can only lead to good things.

What does being a Case Western Reserve University alumnus mean to you?
It feels great to be a part of a close-knit community within an area of Northeast Ohio that exudes culture and thought-leadership.

What did you do immedately after graduation?
I joined Findaway World, which at the time was a 3-person consumer-products startup company in Chagrin Falls, Ohio. Findaway now employs over 120 "Findawayers" and was a recent recepient of the Weatherhead 100 Award, finishing in the Top 3!

Where do you live and how do you like living there?
After living in the Warehouse District of Downtown Cleveland, my wife and I moved to Lakewood, Ohio, where we now call home. It really has everything we're looking for -- friendly neighbors, great restaurants, accessibility to other parts of Greater Cleveland, arts+culture, etc.

A favorite website?
Quora.com

Malcolm Gissen (ADL'65)

Current occupation: Mutual Fund/Money Manager at Encompass Fund

A sentence about current company/organization: Our Encompass Fund has ranked as the number 1 international fund for the trailing 1 and 3-year periods and ranked as the number 2 fund in the US in 2010 out of 15,700 funds.

Company/Organization Website: www.encompassfunds.com

Awards (professional, academic, community service, etc.)
I support my wife's efforts in running Handful Players, a free children's theatre for disadvantaged children in the inner city of San Francisco (www.handfulplayers.com).

Any advice for future CWRU Alumni in your major or in general?
Don't be reluctant to change careers and to try new things. I did and it has worked out quite well.

What does being a Case Western Reserve University alumni mean to you?
I received a terrific education at CWRU with excellent professors and small classes. For the first time in my life I was pushed to use my intelligence and challenged. I am friendly today with many of my fraternity brothers, 46 years after graduating.

What did you do immedately after graduation?
Attended law school at the University of Wisconsin and became a civil rights worker in Mississippi in 1966.

Where do you live and how do you like living there?
San Francisco is the best place in America my wife and I could live. I walk to work, walk to my club to exercise, and walk home every day. WE have world class culture, great diversity, and are the most open-minded and innovative city in the world. The weather is excellent and the city is beautiful - what more can one ask for?

A favorite website?
Many financial websites, especially of Canadian brokerage firms because I am very interested in resource companies.

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