Leadership Team

Andrew Paradise is the CEO and Founder of FIRY (NYSE: FIRY). He founded Skillz Inc. (re-branded to Firy Inc. on June 18, 2026), the leading mobile games platform for fair and fun competition, and the first publicly-traded mobile esports platform in the world. A pioneer of the idea of skill-based competition, under Paradise’s leadership, Skillz has become an industry leader in mobile gaming.

Paradise has been the founding inventor behind companies in technology sectors ranging from eCommerce to image recognition. His passion for innovation and tech started early. At the age of seven he learned to program by hacking a video game. He began his professional career in private equity and venture capital, but in 2008 pivoted into tech when he founded his first business, Double Picture, an advertising technology firm. He sold the company to MPA, Inc. in 2010.

In 2010, Paradise founded AisleBuyer, best known for pioneering mobile self-checkout prior to its sale to Intuit in 2012. That same year, along with his fellow AisleBuyer executive Casey Chafkin, he founded Skillz, with the mission of bringing out the best in everyone through competition. The Skillz platform helps developers build multi-million dollar franchises by enabling social competition in their games. Leveraging its patented technology, Skillz hosts billions of tournaments for millions of mobile players worldwide, and distributes millions in prizes each month.

Paradise earned his B.A. in English Literature from the University of Massachusetts and a Bachelor’s of Commerce in Economics from the University of Auckland. A sought-after thought leader, he has been featured in such outlets as Forbes, The Wall Street Journal, BBC, Bloomberg, Fast Company, and CNBC. In 2018, he was named to the San Francisco Business Times’ “40 Under 40 Class.” He has also spoken at preeminent conferences including SXSW, CES, and GDC.

Gaetano joined FIRY in January 2024 and is transitioning out as Chief Financial Officer of FIRY with Alex Walsh assuming the position on July 13, 2026. Prior to joining Skillz, Franceschi was the Senior Vice President and Head of Finance of Compass, a real estate technology company. Prior to Compass, he served as CFO of Amazon Games, CFO of AWS Data Center General Services and served in a variety of operational finance positions at Citi and American Express.

Franceschi holds a Master’s in Business Administration from Columbia University and a Bachelor of Science in Industrial Engineering from Northwestern University.

Alex joins FIRY as Chief Financial Officer on July 13, 2026. He brings 20 years of progressive financial leadership across gaming, consumer products, manufacturing, and eCommerce. Most recently, Mr. Walsh served as Chief Financial Officer of Aristocrat Gaming, the largest business segment of Aristocrat Leisure Limited (ASX: ALL), where he led a global finance organization across more than 300 jurisdictions across the globe. Prior to Aristocrat, he was Head of Finance for the Americas at The LEGO Group, and before that spent nearly eight years in senior finance roles at The Procter & Gamble Company.

Mr. Walsh holds a Master of Business Administration in Finance from Xavier University and a Bachelor of Science in Business Economics from Indiana University Bloomington. He was named to the Las Vegas "40 Under 40" list in 2025.

Todd serves as the Chief Accounting Officer for FIRY. Prior to joining FIRY, he served as the Senior Vice President, Corporate Finance and Tax & Chief Accounting Officer of Everi Holdings Inc., a gaming supplier that provides casino operators gaming and financial technology products and services, from September 2015 to July 2025.

Prior to that, he served as Vice President of Corporate Finance and Investor Relations for Everi Holdings Inc., among other responsibilities, from September 2011 to September 2015. Mr. Valli holds an active Certified Public Accountant license in both the State of Nevada and Alaska. Mr. Valli received his Bachelor of Science in Business Administration with a concentration in Managerial Finance and his Master of Business Administration with a dual concentration in Finance and Marketing from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.

Nicole is the Chief Human Resources Officer at FIRY. In her role, Nicole leads all people-centered initiatives for the company including hiring, onboarding, and performance management. Under her guidance, the People Operations function is dedicated to increasing overall employee engagement, productivity and efficiency.

Prior to joining FIRY, Nicole served as the Vice President of Organizational Transformation for Groupon. Previously, she was the Human Resources Director across Zappos Family of Companies. While at Zappos, she specialized in Human Resource Business Partnering, handling everything from hiring and benefits to compliance and employee relations. Nicole received her Bachelor’s Degree in Public Administration from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. She is currently completing her MBA from Babson F.W. Olin Graduate School of Business.