Touch Ahead Software

Touch Ahead Software is a CRM solutions company focused on bringing the benefits of advanced technology to the alternative asset community. Those benefits include dramatically reduced total cost of ownership and time to implementation combined with dramatically higher user satisfaction and organizational profitability.

Nancy Keddy, a 20-year veteran of both the alternative asset and IT industries, founded Touch Ahead alongside cofounder and chief technologist Timothy Lasonde — both of whom conceived the original design on which EquityTouch was built.

EquityTouch began as a software project by NSK Inc, the custom software development company that spun off Touch Ahead in 2008. The project started in 2006 with the objective to upgrade an existing CRM solution at a major private equity firm. The PE firm wanted a new front-end interface that would display information in a more intuitive, performance-oriented format.

The result was the core code on which EquityTouch is based — software its designers believed had far-reaching market implications beyond these original projects. They launched Touch Ahead to continue EquityTouch development and pursue those greater possibilities.

As an independent company, the founders believe, Touch Ahead is well positioned to take advantage of game changing technologies like SaaS, AJAX, cloud computing and social networking — and in the process reinvent best deal making practices in the alternative asset community. This insight, based on a deep experience and understanding of the industry, ultimately led to EquityTouch as it exists today — a truly best in class solution within the alternative asset CRM space.

Touch Ahead’s mission is to provide the fastest, most innovative web-based applications.

We are constantly pushing boundaries and redefining the software model. Touch Ahead is a software development firm that develops fast, useful and affordable CRM SaaS. Our custom web applications are designed for performance, stability and an exceptional user experience.

We develop solutions that enable your business to:

• Get more done in less time
• Implement new strategies right away
• Track the right information
• Make software easy to use
• Avoid excessive upfront costs
• Reduce data entry requirements

Nancy Keddy CEO & Co-Founder

With over a decade of experience as a business women and entrepreneur in the technology and software arenas, Nancy Keddy is an expert in business technology and software development needs. Leveraging that knowledge, Nancy Keddy co-founded Touch Ahead Software in November 2008. As co-founder and CEO, Nancy oversees the company, and the product development vision.

Prior to the launch of Touch Ahead Software, Nancy founded NSK, Inc. in 1995, an IT Consulting Services firm specializing in onsite IT services and custom software development. While working at NSK Inc. Nancy was instrumental in creating and planning multiple custom software development projects for the financial services community.

Nancy also co-founded Everon Technology Services, LLC in Boston, Mass in 2003, a Managed IT services firm and is currently a board member.

Tim Lasonde Co-Founder

Tim co-founded Touch Ahead Software with Nancy in November 2008. Timothy and Nancy have been working together since 2001. In 2005, he took the role of partner and Chief Technologist to assist in growing NSK Inc. Tim is responsible for managing the technology services division of Touch Ahead Software. His duties include managing the technology staff and working with customers to design, manage and implement their software solutions.

Tim has a BS from the University of Massachusetts. Prior to joining NSK Inc, Tim worked as a network and systems administrator for Oncogene research products, a cancer research facility in Cambridge.

Robert Thibeault Director of Sales

Robert has over twenty years of sales experience in the financial and business advisory industries. He has extensive experience in new account development, management and training new sales representatives. Robert is responsible for the overall planning and executing of Touch Ahead Software’s sales and business development worldwide.

Robert has a B.S. degree in finance from the University of Massachusetts. Prior to Joining Touch Ahead Software, Robert was the Managing Director, Europe for Brighton House Associates, an institutional sales and marketing company that supports alternative investment firms.

Keith Mitchell Software Architect

For Keith Mitchell, web architecture is all about exceptional performance, fastidious best-practice coding, and team development. Our current primary web architecture is an original 4th-generation asynchronous XHTML, XML and javascript (AJAX) light-object persistent framework with dynamic templates, which has produced three patent applications and dependable praise from our customers.

Keith studied at Cornell, M.I.T. and Texas A&M, and has a mature history in emergent technologies, including sales management, project management, and systems design. Keith has been architecting scalable high-performance web frameworks, with Microsoft technologies, since 1999. During the dot-com explosion Keith managed and delivered web projects for many high-visibility clients. Nancy and Keith met in 2006, while Keith was writing data interfaces and management systems for distributed consumer and B2B e-commerce platforms.