Co-Founder & Chief Executive Officer

Tedd Smith is the Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer at FirstClose. In this role, Smith is responsible for setting the overall direction and managing the firm’s performance.

Smith has more than 20 years of experience in the mortgage origination and settlement services space. He launched FirstClose with his brother Tim in 2000. Earlier, Smith was the CEO of Home Equity Loan Corporation. Smith started his mortgage career as head of Marketing for Flood Zones, Inc., an automated flood zone determination technology platform that was acquired by TransUnion.

Smith holds an undergraduate degree in Business Management and Marketing from The University of Texas at Austin.

Co-Founder & Chief Growth Officer

Tim Smith is the Co-Founder and Chief Growth Officer at FirstClose responsible for overseeing the company’s Business Development team.

Smith has more than 20 years of executive experience in the mortgage origination and settlement services space. Smith launched FirstClose with his brother Tedd in 2000. Earlier, Smith was Vice President of Flood Zones, Inc., an automated flood zone determination technology platform that was acquired by TransUnion.

Smith attended Texas Lutheran University before joining and serving in the United States Marine Corps for four years.

Chief Financial Officer

Jim Bolger is the Chief Financial Officer at FirstClose responsible for all aspects of the company’s financial affairs including reporting, budget planning, capital raising and financing the company’s aggressive growth strategy.

Bolger has more than two decades of experience in leading the financial operations of mortgage and financial services firms. Prior to joining FirstClose, Bolger was the Chief Financial Officer of ClosingCorp. During his tenure, ClosingCorp experienced significant client and revenue growth which eventually led to ClosingCorp’s acquisition by CoreLogic. Bolger was also Chief Financial Officer of PTI Marketing Technologies, a cloud-based intelligent marketing solution provider, where he was responsible for all aspects of financial operations, including mergers and acquisitions, tax and treasury. Earlier in his career, Bolger held senior financial positions at Accredited Home Lenders and GreenPoint Credit Corp.

Bolger holds a BS in Finance and a MSBA in Finance from San Diego State University.

Chief Technology Officer

Dan Kellett is the Chief Technology Officer at FirstClose responsible for overseeing the company’s information technology and strategy spanning applications, data, cybersecurity and infrastructure.

Kellett brings a wealth of experience delivering new products with next gen technologies and running highly efficient and successful technology teams. Most recently he was the Head of Technology and Architecture at Blink UX where he was responsible for designing software systems, collaborating with senior leadership on strategic initiatives and providing technical guidance to the product development teams. Previously, Kellett was CTO of MarcomCentral, a marketing software firm.

Kellett received his Bachelor’s Degree in Computer Engineering from San Diego State University. He is also a Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP) and holds a certification with the International Information System Security Certification Consortium (ISC²).

Chief Operating Officer

Corey Smith is the Chief Operating Officer for FirstClose responsible for overseeing the daily operations of the firm.

Smith has more than 30 years of technology and operational expertise. Prior to joining FirstClose in 2009 he was the CEO and Founder of Snapwire, a software development firm for the commercial real estate appraisal industry. Earlier in his career, Smith was the Founder and COO of Mall.com, an online virtual shopping network targeting online retailers. Smith started his career as Co-Founder and Vice President of Technology for Flood Zones, Inc., where he pioneered the automation of the flood zone determination technology platform that was acquired by TransUnion.

Chief Product Officer

Ramiro Castro is the Chief Product Officer at FirstClose responsible for defining and executing the company’s product vision and strategy and leading product development and implementation efforts.

With more than 20 years’ experience, Castro has a well-rounded information technology and product background. He has a successful track record of overseeing customer elicitation to solution delivery and is known for developing high quality business and financial solutions to scale.

Prior to FirstClose, Castro held several leadership positions with Atlassian where his infrastructure monitoring and observability knowledge was then augmented with SDLC tool implementation and support. Castro brings a wealth of experience to his current role having started with Logic Monitor in enterprise infrastructure and network security.

Ramiro holds several Atlassian Certifications across the Atlassian suite as well as an Advanced Certified Scrum Product Owner Certification.

Chief Revenue Officer

John Aslanian is the Chief Revenue Officer at FirstClose responsible for leading FirstClose’s go-to-market activity, business development, sales, account management and the continued evolution of the FirstClose partner ecosystem.

Aslanian has more than 25 years of experience leading sales teams in the mortgage technology / SaaS space.

Before joining FirstClose, Aslanian was the Senior Vice President of Sales for nCino, a leading mortgage and real estate point of sale platform where he led the sales organization. Aslanian was also Chief Revenue Officer of SimpleNexus prior to its acquisition by nCino.  Previously he was the Vice President of Sales for ICE Mortgage Technology where he led the mid-market and strategic accounts teams. Earlier in his career, he VP of Sales of Del Mar DataTrac, a leading loan origination system that was acquired by Ellie Mae (now ICE Mortgage Technology).

Senior Vice President of Human Resources

Katie Smith is Senior Vice President of Human Resources at FirstClose leading the human resources department core functions in talent acquisition, performance management, organizational effectiveness, payroll and benefits administration, compliance and ensuring alignment of strategic goals.  

Smith has 20 years of experience leading human resources in the technology / services / SaaS space.  She is passionate about fostering collaborative teams and cultivating a strong workplace culture that empowers employees, drives innovation and enhances overall organizational success. 

Before joining FirstClose, Smith was SVP of HR at Sonim Technologies, the leading provider of ultra-rugged mobile devices, designed specifically for workers in demanding and hazardous environments where she led the global Human Resources department including the United States, China & India. 

Smith holds a BS in Healthcare Administration from Texas State University – San Marcos and is SHRM-CP certified.  

Vice President of Marketing

David Bolin is the Vice President of Marketing at FirstClose leading the marketing department which includes branding, product positioning, public relations, communications, social media, events and demand generation.

Bolin has 20 years of experience leading marketing teams in the FINTECH / mortgage technology / SaaS space.

Before joining FirstClose, Bolin was the Director of Strategic Marketing at nCino, a leading cloud-based financial solution and data provider where he led the global product and partner marketing organizations. Bolin also held the same title at SimpleNexus prior to its acquisition by nCino where he had additional responsibility for internal and external communications, public relations, social media and customer marketing. Previously he had marketing roles with Optimal Blue, Finastra, D+H, FIS and Metavante.

Bolin holds a BS in Marketing and an MBA from Marquette University.