Jeff Ma
Co-Founder of Protrade and Citizen Sports
With a tremendous passion for sports, Jeff co-founded Citizen Sports (formerly PROTRADE) in 2004 and is a tiredless evangelist for the company’s mission. He has helped shape its evolution from fantasy stock market community to its current position as one of the leading digital sports media companies. Citizen Sports creates products for environments where sports fans spend time with their friends - on top social networking sites like Facebook and MySpace and through mobile devices like the iPhone and Android. From fantasy football to filling out a bracket to cheering for a favorite team, Citizen Sports helps millions of sports fans around the world enjoy sports and connect with their friends. Citizen Sports was acquired by Yahoo in April, 2010.
Before Citizen Sports, Jeff was the technology lead for two internet startups, most notably CircleLending.com, the first peer to peer lending network. Ma lead technology and product development for the company’s first four years. CircleLending was bought in 2007, rebranded to Virgin Money and incorporated into Richard Branson’s Virgin empire. Previously, Jeff was an options trader on the Chicago Board of Options Exchange.
Jeff gained notoriety as the protagonist, under the name Kevin Lewis, in the New York Times bestsellerBringing Down the House, the story of the MIT blackjack team and was the inspiration for the movie 21. He also currently consults for the San Francisco 49ers and the Portland Trail Blazers. Jeff has become a much-sought after corporate speaker, showing companies how to harness the power of numbers to make better bottom line business decisions through the lens of his experiences both in blackjack and sports.
Jeff has just completed his first book, entitled “The House Advantage: Playing the Odds to Win Big in Business”, that will be released July 6, 2010. The book explores use of analytics in business with example from the gambling and sports world.
Jeff is a graduate of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology with a degree in mechanical engineering.
Before Citizen Sports, Jeff was the technology lead for two internet startups, most notably CircleLending.com, the first peer to peer lending network. Ma lead technology and product development for the company’s first four years. CircleLending was bought in 2007, rebranded to Virgin Money and incorporated into Richard Branson’s Virgin empire. Previously, Jeff was an options trader on the Chicago Board of Options Exchange.
Jeff gained notoriety as the protagonist, under the name Kevin Lewis, in the New York Times bestsellerBringing Down the House, the story of the MIT blackjack team and was the inspiration for the movie 21. He also currently consults for the San Francisco 49ers and the Portland Trail Blazers. Jeff has become a much-sought after corporate speaker, showing companies how to harness the power of numbers to make better bottom line business decisions through the lens of his experiences both in blackjack and sports.
Jeff has just completed his first book, entitled “The House Advantage: Playing the Odds to Win Big in Business”, that will be released July 6, 2010. The book explores use of analytics in business with example from the gambling and sports world.
Jeff is a graduate of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology with a degree in mechanical engineering.
Jeff Ma is Giving the Following Talks
How I became a TenXer
There's a belief in the valley that your top employees, specifically
software engineers are ten times more productive than your average
employees. The notion transfers to almost any profession - even card
counters. In this talk, I will discuss the tools that helped make me a
tenXer at the blackjack table and will explain how those same tools and
systems can help make anyone a tenXer in their profession.