ADVISORS
HALLIE ASTON, Advisor
Hallie Aston currently serves at an advisor at Whisper after a decade of experience across investment banking, venture investing, operating roles.
She began her career in investment banking at J.P. Morgan where she advised financial institutions and FinTech clients on capital raises and strategic transactions.
She went on to serve as VP of Product at Truleo and subsequently as an investor at Burch Creative Capital where she supported consumer-focused growth investments and strategic, business development transactions for key portfolio companies.
Hallie’s background brings a unique blend of transaction expertise and hands-on operating experience to our clients at Whisper.
MATT BALL, Advisor
Matt Ball is the Chief Strategy Officer of XBOX. He is also a Senior Advisor to Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. (KKR & Co.), Venture Partner at Makers Fund, and founder of Epyllion, an investment and strategic advisory firm that has supported many top entertainment companies, franchises, and creators globally. Ball has also co-founded several companies including the game studio Spliced, UGC gaming studio Prosimetrum, and the Roundhill Ball Metaverse ETF on the NYSE ($METV), which was the single largest sector ETF launch of 2021, with Ball ringing the closing bell in November of that same year.
Ball was previously a Recurring Contributor to The Economist, Senior Advisor to McKinsey & Company, SVP Strategy & Digital at Illumination Entertainment, Head of Strategy at Amazon Studios, Director of Investments and Business Development at The Chernin Group’s Otter Media, and an executive at Accenture. His first book, The Metaverse, was a national bestseller in the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, and China, was selected as one of the best books of the year by Amazon, Apple, ByteDance Toutiao, Fast Company, FT China, The Guardian, Hudson Booksellers, and Politico, and blurbed by Tim Sweeney (Founder/CEO of Epic Games), Reed Hastings (Founder/CEO of Netflix), Mark Zuckerberg (Founder/CEO of Facebook/Meta), Phil Spencer (CEO of Microsoft Gaming), Kenichiro Yoshida (CEO of Sony), and John Riccitiello (CEO of Unity).
Ball is a Summa Cum Laude graduate of Ivey Business School in Canada and began his career as a full-time wildfire fighter.
SARAH BERNARD, Advisor
Sarah Bernard is a seasoned digital media executive, strategist, and operator with deep knowledge of and experience in the content and media space. Sarah specializes in building online audiences and stewarding ideas from concept to high-growth ventures.
During President Obama’s first term, Sarah was appointed by the White House as Deputy Director, Office of Digital Strategy where she drove its online communications work and led the White House’s digital properties and partner collaborations, including oversight of whitehouse.gov, email, petitioning platforms, and all social media.
Most recently, as an independent consultant, Sarah advises C-suite executives and non-profits on growth-focused content initiatives. Her clients have included TED Conferences, TYT (The Young Turks) Network, TIME’S UP, Tribeca Film, and the Biden White House-launched, Dignity.us.
Before building her consulting practice, Sarah co-founded a multi-platform production company funded by A+E Networks that produced unscripted and non-fiction projects ranging from branded content to feature documentary; built and scaled two, news-focused startups during the transition from search to social as founding GM of The Huffington Post and President of IAC’s 23/6; advised Viacom for their re-launch of MTV News from its linear TV focus to a 24/7 digital focus; launched and helmed AOL’s first line extension for small businesses, and developed online classified products for The Washington Post during the early Craigslist disruption period.
Sarah holds an MBA from NYU and a BA from UCLA and is currently a Community Advisory Board member for PBS SoCal.
WALTER DELPH, Advisor
Walter Delph is a highly regarded international business leader with experience across public, private, and growth equity-backed companies. His expertise spans operational improvement, private capital raising, and developing innovative digital products, demonstrating his comfort with both driving core business enhancements and navigating digital disruption.
He has spent his career in influential companies like Boston Consulting Group, Twentieth Century Fox and Verizon, developing technologies that have impacted the digital age. Additionally, he has served in leadership positions at major brands like Burberry, AEG, Magic Leap and Time Warner, helping them to harness the power of technology.
Walter, who resides in Los Angeles, holds an MBA from Harvard University and a BA from Middlebury College. He is married with two daughters. Walter and his wife, Anamaria, are dedicated to philanthropy, serving in governance roles on the Westside Guild of Children’s Hospital, the Harvard Business School Alumni Association Board, and the Cedars Sinai Medical Group.
KYLE SOLOMON, Special Advisor
Kyle Solomon is an accomplished leader with a successful 30-year career history in the financial industry. Kyle has extensive experience in investment banking, public and private markets, and scaling businesses.
Before Whisper, Kyle was a Managing Director at TD Cowen. Kyle led their Derivatives and Merger Arbitrage division for 10 years, until transitioning to become a Senior Relationship Investment Banker.
Kyle received his B.A. from the University of Pennsylvania. Kyle is based in New York City. Kyle is a Registered Representative of Finalis Securities, LLC, Member FINRA/SIPC
BEN STAHL, Executive in Residence
Ben Stahl is a seasoned software engineer turned general management executive, with deep expertise in media, marketplaces, and financial technology.
Before joining Whisper, Ben was the GM of International and Emerging Businesses at Care.com. His earlier career includes leading engineering at Vimeo, where he built the fastest video upload pipeline on the internet. He went on to lead both product and engineering at Soundcloud, where he brought two new products to market that doubled their creator business. As an executive, Ben has a proven track record of incubating new revenue streams in established businesses, with many multi-million-dollar success stories.
Ben holds a BA in Economics from Connecticut College. Raised in western Massachusetts and now resides in Hudson, NY.