Our Executives
Dr. Leah Cohen: President, Lyon & Katz Capital
Dr. Leah Cohen is a highly respected legal mind and a transformative leader in the financial sector. As President of Lyon & Katz Capital, she steers the firm's strategic vision, dedicated to proving that capital investment can be a powerful engine for both profit and responsible, ethical growth.
A graduate of Yale Law School, Dr. Cohen began her career as a corporate attorney, where she earned a reputation as a fierce advocate for ethical compliance, particularly in healthcare law. This foundation drives her current philosophy: to use the power of finance to build better, more equitable systems.
Under her leadership, Lyon & Katz has undergone a significant modernization, implementing ethical lending guidelines that prioritize the long-term viability and community impact of its clients. She is committed to deploying the firm's resources to fund the next generation of innovative and socially conscious entrepreneurs.
Dr. Cohen is recognized for her ability to balance rigorous compliance with groundbreaking strategic thinking, ensuring that Lyon & Katz remains a leader in financing responsible progress.
Leah grew up in a vibrant, close-knit Jewish community in Philadelphia. Her father was a beloved but struggling small-town pediatrician, and her mother was a retired accountant. From a young age, Leah saw the financial and regulatory hurdles that prevented her father from helping some patients—issues that had nothing to do with medicine and everything to do with law and policy. This sparked her passion. She excelled academically, earning a scholarship to Yale Law School.
Leah's work with small medical practices and start-up healthcare tech companies exposed her to a critical bottleneck: capital. She realized that having the law on your side was meaningless if you couldn't secure the financing to scale. She wasn't just fixing legal problems; she was helping them secure their initial operating and expansion loans. She pivoted her focus, learning the language of finance, credit risk, and institutional lending.
Lyon & Katz Capital, a respected but somewhat traditional loan brokerage with a good history, was facing a crisis of reputation and relevance. Their old-school methods were failing to keep up with the rapid pace of specialized, ethical lending needs in the modern economy (especially in tech and healthcare). They needed a bold, outside perspective that also understood strict compliance and regulation. Leah was brought in initially as a Chief Operating Officer to "clean house" and modernize their risk assessment protocols.
Nicholas Russ: Founding Partner/Senior Broker
Nicholas "Nico" Russ is the driving force behind the innovative operational model at Lyon & Katz Capital (LKC). Known for his accelerated career trajectory, Nico combined years of high-volume financial expertise with a vision to redefine the efficiency and ethics of the commercial loan brokerage industry.
Nico’s early career in high-stakes accounts receivable for the luxury hospitality sector provided a masterclass in complex financial flow management and contract negotiation. He swiftly transitioned to the lending space, where he demonstrated a profound mastery of underwriting, risk assessment, and legal documentation. In a career sprint that saw him move from Senior Account Manager to a position on the Underwriting Committee at a major firm in less than four months, Nico became known for his ability to build and optimize systems that others could not.
The founding of LKC was born from a realization: the lending world was too slow and too fragmented, often penalizing ethical businesses with unnecessary layers of bureaucracy. Today, as Founding Partner, Nico leverages his unparalleled knowledge of direct lender expectations to streamline the entire process. He established LKC on the principle of transparent, ethical leverage, creating a one-stop-shop that maximizes commissions for brokers while guaranteeing fair, long-term deals for clients.
Nico’s mission is to ensure that LKC remains a leading-edge firm—one that moves capital faster and smarter than the competition, always anchored by a commitment to the success of its client partners.
Sam Goldstein: Director of Account Management
Sam Goldstein is a seasoned sales and client relations executive with over 30 years of experience dedicated to building lasting, trust-based partnerships. A graduate of Tulane University, Sam spent the majority of his career leading high-performing sales teams in financial software and B2B services, where he developed a reputation for impeccable integrity and a deep commitment to client success.
As Director of Account Management at Lyon & Katz Capital, Sam is responsible for implementing an ethical, client-centric engagement model. His team focuses on proactive management and nurturing relationships, ensuring that Lyon & Katz's lending solutions align perfectly with clients’ long-term goals and responsible growth. Sam is the driving force that translates the firm's mission into genuine, positive client experiences.
Sam grew up in a comfortable, albeit competitive, Jewish household in Dallas, Texas. His father was a successful, self-made entrepreneur in commercial real estate, and Sam inherited his natural charm and knack for negotiation. He attended Tulane University, studying business with a focus on marketing and sales. New Orleans during his college years instilled in him a love for vibrant culture and the art of connection—skills he'd hone throughout his career.
Aaron Applebaum: Human Resources Director
Aaron and Nico's paths first crossed at Tulane University. While Nico was deeply immersed in his business studies, driven by an almost palpable ambition, Aaron was charting a different course. He was a quieter, more observant student, engaged in community work, notably as an Advocate for The Salvation Army, where he developed an early empathy for people in challenging situations and a keen understanding of group dynamics under pressure. They weren't necessarily best friends, but they shared classes and often found themselves in the same social circles. Aaron saw Nico's raw drive and unconventional thinking, while Nico recognized Aaron's grounded perspective and innate ability to connect with people. Their bond wasn't built on shared ambition for finance, but on mutual respect for their distinct strengths.
Aaron's professional journey began formally with an HR Internship at Marriott Hotels in New Orleans. This immersive experience in a high-volume, people-centric industry taught him the intricacies of recruitment, employee relations, and the vital role HR plays in maintaining a positive, productive environment.
As Nico was forming Lyon & Katz Capital, he knew his audacious, fast-paced model would require more than just financial acumen. It would need a robust, ethically sound human resources foundation to attract top talent, foster a high-performing culture, and manage the intense dynamics of a rapidly growing firm. He remembered Aaron—his thoughtful approach, his unwavering ethics from their Tulane days, and his impressive track record of five years at Rogers Corporation.
Nico reached out, explaining his vision for LKC. He pitched a role not just in HR, but in building the very culture of the company. Aaron, despite his stable and successful career at Rogers, was intrigued by the opportunity to build something from the ground up, aligning HR with the core mission of ethical and transparent growth, rather than just managing existing structures. He saw a chance to implement people-first strategies that genuinely empowered employees and brokers, a stark contrast to the often impersonal "churn and burn" culture of some financial firms.
Priya Sharma: Director of Data Analytics
Priya's professional journey is rooted in an obsessive mastery of numbers and patterns. Her time at Tulane University for her undergraduate degree in Statistics was foundational, followed by a deeper dive into advanced analytics during her Master's program at FAU in Boca Raton. South Florida became her professional home, where she spent over 15 years navigating the dynamic landscape of the region's tech and finance firms.
During this period, Priya established herself as a leading expert in predictive modeling, risk scoring, and data automation. Her unique talent was not just in crunching numbers, but in translating complex data sets into clear, actionable business strategies. She learned that in high-stakes finance, the future wasn't just about instincts; it was about the precision of the algorithm.
Priya's path crossed with Nicholas and Aaron Applebaum through a shared Tulane University professional network, and introduced by a mutual colleague at a university alumni event.
She initially connected with Aaron through professional development seminars, admiring his focus on sustainable organizational growth and his belief that good business depended on ethical, measurable results—a principle she valued as a statistician.
Priya later met Nico, who immediately recognized that his aggressive, systems-based approach to loan origination was fundamentally limited without next-generation data analysis. Nico had the "how to close the deal" system, but Priya offered the "who and when to deal with" system.
As Director of Data Analytics, Priya designed and implemented LKC's proprietary Risk & Opportunity Model. This system goes far beyond traditional credit scores, analyzing hundreds of data points to identify promising entrepreneurs and businesses that are overlooked by risk-averse institutions. This gives LKC a unique competitive edge in finding profitable, yet responsible, deals.
Priya’s most significant contribution was immediately turning LKC into an international entity. Leveraging her deep personal and professional connections in Kolkata, India; where her family maintains strong roots, she identified a talent pool of world-class data scientists and financial analysts.
Wesley Finch: Director of Research & Development
Wesley Finch is the strategic architect behind Lyon & Katz Capital’s proprietary R&D investment models, serving as the firm's Director of Research and Development.
Wes brings a powerful combination of technical rigor and operational expertise. He holds a degree in Engineering from Northwestern University and a Master’s in Applied Mathematics from Tulane University. This foundation in systems logic and stochastic modeling is complemented by nearly a decade spent as a Project Manager at General Electric (GE), where he specialized in translating complex data into deployable, efficient systems.
Wesley was introduced to the founders through the Tulane alumni network, where they quickly recognized his ability to manage large-scale, intricate projects. He is responsible for building and scaling the firm’s proprietary R&D initiatives and investments in energy production and propulsion engineering.