# David Hamel

> Financial planning coach, product leader, and AI-native builder based in Berlin, Germany.

Personal website: https://davidhamel.co
Email: hello@davidhamel.co
LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/david-hamel-11baa841
GitHub: https://github.com/davidhamel
Booking: https://calendly.com/david-chh/call

## What I Do

I run three practices:

1. **Financial Coaching** for expat professionals in Germany and Portugal. Independent, fee-based, no commissions.
2. **Product Leadership** on contract for startups and scaleups. Strategy, roadmapping, team coaching, go-to-market.
3. **AI Building** for SMBs and financial services firms. Custom AI agents, web applications, and full product builds.

I am also the founder of Alba Wealth, an AI-powered financial planning platform for expats.

## Experience

### Alba Wealth — Founder (2025 – Present)
AI-powered financial planning platform for English-speaking expats in Germany. Solo founder responsible for product strategy, UX design, full-stack development, financial modeling, customer research, and coaching.

### Ziggma — Co-Founder & COO (2023 – 2024)
Portfolio management SaaS platform for retail investors. 35,000 users, €1.5 billion in linked assets, €10,000 MRR. Led operations, fundraising, product strategy, business intelligence, and data pipeline infrastructure.

### Impactive Tech — Venture Consultant (2023)
SaaS platform for institutional investors to manage stewardship and shareholder engagement. Advised on strategy, product positioning, and go-to-market targeting asset managers and institutional investors.

### DeRisk — Co-Founder & CEO (2021 – 2022)
SaaS platform for institutional investors to manage portfolio relationships and systemic risks. Piloted with €1.5 trillion+ in AUM represented (NBIM, Barings, CCLA). Led product strategy, go-to-market, and business development from zero to pilot.

### Buena — Senior Product Manager (2020)
Proptech marketplace for tenants and landlords. Led the product function. Redesigned contract generation system from <5% to 100% automation. Introduced agile processes, established product roadmap, managed a team of 9 developers.

### Carly — Product Manager (2020)
Car diagnostics e-commerce platform. Led product for the e-commerce function. Designed new sales funnel that increased conversion by 25%. Built analytics and BI infrastructure from scratch. Established agile product organization.

### Porsche Digital Lab — Product Owner (2018)
Blockchain-based product for classic car provenance. Validated prototype and scaled to full product. €6.5M funding secured. Led hiring and managed a team of 12 engineers and designers. Ran sprint planning, defined roadmap.

### Digital Partners — Founder & CEO (2015 – 2022)
IoT consulting and venture building firm for industrial clients. 30+ consulting and engineering projects delivered across automotive, manufacturing, and mechanical engineering. 10-person team (7 engineers, 3 partners). Key clients: Viessmann, Porsche, Koerber. Operations in Berlin and San Francisco.

### ABN AMRO Bank — Intern, Commodities Trade Finance (2015)
Internship at ABN AMRO in Amsterdam. Financial and political risk analysis in the Commodities Trade Finance division.

### Side Projects
- **Rootlocaly** (2025): Local events discovery platform built as an AI-native development showcase. Designed and built the entire application solo using Claude Code.

## Education

- **MSc Finance and Investments** — Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University (Cum Laude)
- **BSc International Business Administration** — Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University (Cum Laude)
- Exchange semesters at EDHEC Business School (Nice) and Singapore Management University

## Key Metrics

- 8+ years building products and leading teams
- 4 companies co-founded
- 30+ consulting and engineering projects delivered
- 35,000+ users (Ziggma)
- €1.5 billion in linked assets (Ziggma)
- €6.5 million in funding secured (Porsche Digital Lab)
- €1.5 trillion+ in AUM piloted (DeRisk)
- +25% sales conversion improvement (Carly)
- 15+ countries lived in or traveled to

## Languages

German (native), English (fluent), French (conversational), Spanish (conversational)

## Services

### Financial Coaching
Independent, fee-based financial coaching for English-speaking professionals in Germany and Portugal. Covers tax optimization, insurance review, investment strategy, pension planning, and holistic financial planning. No commissions, no product sales. Built with Alba Wealth platform.

### Product Leadership
Contract-based product leadership for startups and scaleups. User research and discovery, product strategy and roadmapping, product-market fit, agile team coaching, technical architecture guidance, stakeholder alignment, and go-to-market support. Flexible commitment from a few days per week to full-time.

### AI Building
Custom AI agents, web applications, SaaS platforms, marketing websites, AI-powered features, and internal tools. AI-native development process: discovery, build, launch and evolve. Fixed build fee with optional monthly retainer. Tech: Astro, Next.js, React, TypeScript, Tailwind, Supabase, Vercel.