The Management

Select Sole is guided by a small but experienced management team, supported by an active Board of Directors and Advisors. The Company continues to augment its ranks as business progresses, emphasizing footwear and general business success as significant criteria.

                   Ian Hamilton

 Select Sole is led by its President and CEO, Ian Hamilton whose remarkable career at Nike in addition to other accomplishments places this Company in capable hands.

 Mr. Hamilton has served up a portfolio full of aces during his impressive career in sports marketing. Mr. Hamilton served as Global Director of Tennis Sports Marketing for Nike, Inc. for 14 years during which time he was responsible for creating more than one billion dollars in product sales, as well as signing and promoting a roster of high-profile Nike luminaries such as John McEnroe, Andre Agassi, Pete Sampras, Jim Courier, Mary Pierce, Lindsey Davenport, Monica Seles, as well as managing Nike’s interests in such global events as Wimbledon, the French Tennis Open, and the U.S. Tennis Open. The overall integration of professional athletes into the Nike “marketing machine” was a key ingredient in the development and phenomenal growth of one of the world’s most popular and best-known brands.

 Proving that effective sports marketing techniques can be applied to almost any product or service, Mr. Hamilton joined the Planet Hollywood International team to serve as interim president of their Official All Star Cafe restaurant division and delivered major branding partnerships with sports superstars. He continued his success and proved his versatility when he later assumed the role of Commissioner of the Professional Bowler Association. Mr. Hamilton quickly negotiated, created, and produced a new national PBA television tour on ESPN that resulted in record high ratings for bowling and increased membership to new levels.

 Prior to joining Select Sole, Mr. Hamilton operated nonbox Hamilton Sports Group which offered its clients sports sponsorship strategies, endorsement packages, television negotiation and events, league branding and promotions, sports event creation and production, and athlete endorsements. He continues to work with organizations like Nike, as an advisor in the tennis sports marketing division, Agassi Enterprises, U.S. Sports Camps (board of directors), Champps Entertainment (board of directors), etc. Mr. Hamilton is a former professional tennis player.

                  Ash Gupte

Executive Director, Ash Gupte leads the Company’s strategic direction drawing on his uniquely broad business and management background developed over twenty-five years of working in the technology arena with large corporations as well as startup ventures. Most recently, Mr. Gupte has been a senior partner in Key West Technologies, an international business and technology management consulting firm. He works with companies in the US and abroad that are seeking to expand their footprint into new geographies and market segments. Prior to that, Mr. Gupte was at etrieve, Inc., a company he founded and where he served as the President and COO and as a member of the Board of Directors.

Among his prior roles, for 14 years Mr. Gupte provided Intel with finance and business development expertise. There, he structured deals with start-ups to Fortune 50 companies, ranging from technology and product licensing to investments and company acquisitions in the US and abroad. This experience is complemented by his operational experience in big and small businesses at Intel. He also co-founded and served as Vice President of Business Development for The Palace, Inc. which was a joint enterprise between Intel, Time Warner and Softbank. Mr. Gupte is active as a Board or Advisory Board member of a number of new businesses. He has an MBA from Wharton and a Bachelor’s in Technology from the Indian Institute of Technology.