Russell Murphy brings over 35 years of experience as an attorney, corporate finance advisor, and operational executive helping companies navigate critical transitions. After earning his JD/MBA from the University of Washington, he began his career as a corporate securities and banking lawyer at a prominent national law firm.

Later, as a solo practitioner and in partnership with other law firms, Mr. Murphy provided corporate and business transaction counsel services to companies located in the United States, Asia, and Europe and doing business worldwide.

He was a founder of Vantage Capital Advisors, a corporate finance and strategy advisory firm, where he led buy and sell-side M&A transactions and helped clients with strategic investments.

He formed Murcada Ventures, combining investment acumen with hands-on operational leadership in companies, creating superior stakeholder value. This included leading successful turnarounds of companies in distressed situations.

Mr. Murphy has taught university-level courses on Business Law, International Business and Strategy, and has been a speaker on topics such as Venture Capital and Angel Investing and International Mergers and Acquisitions.

Scott Cordell brings over 35 years of experience as a corporate financial advisor and commercial banker. He earned a Bachelor’s degree in Finance from the University of Washington. He is also a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) and has earned a Certified Management Accountant (CMA – inactive)

Mr. Cordell is currently a senior banker with a local Seattle commercial bank. For the last 20 years, Mr. Cordell has held senior commercial banker positions in the Seattle market, where he has been responsible for business development, financial statement analysis and loan negotiations with a broad range of commercial and real estate-based lending products.

He began his career at EDS in Texas. Later he held financial analysis positions working with prominent international CPA and consulting firms.

He was a cofounder of Vantage Capital Advisors, a corporate finance and strategy advisory firm, where he developed sophisticated financial and business valuation models to guide firm clients through M&A transactions and other debt and equity advisory engagements.

Garth Hobson has over 30 years of experience as a corporate financial advisor and investment banker. He earned a Bachelor’s degree in Asian Studies from the Australian National University with an emphasis on Japanese and economics. He developed business proficiency in the Japanese language whilst an exchange student at Kwansei Gakuin University in Kobe, Japan and over 22 years of working and living in Japan.

Mr. Hobson is the founder and Managing Director of HMS Capital Advisors, a boutique investment advisory firm with offices in Tokyo, Japan and Brisbane, Australia. Through HMS, Mr. Hobson has developed an extensive global network of institutional and high-net-worth individual investors and represented both buyers and sellers in corporate equity transactions and transactions involving the sale of commercial and hospitality real estate.

Early in his career he held various positions in economic, equity and fixed income analysis and sales at firms in both Tokyo and Singapore, such as Nikko Securities, Nikko Salomon Smith Barney, and UFG Asset Management.

In 2012, Mr. Hobson was recruited to be the CEO of an investment bank in Ulaanbaatar Mongolia, where he spearheaded wide-ranging improvements in the bank’s operations, leading to the bank being named a top 3 institution in the country, and Mr. Hobson being recognized with a prestigious award of CEO of the Year in 2013.