Neal is CEO & Co-Founder of BEGiN, one of the fastest growing companies in early learning.  BEGiN has built an early learning program that supports children and their families in their learning journey by delivering foundational skills across literacy, math, SEL, STEM, and creativity through digital learning, tangible play, group classes, and one-on-one tutoring.  BEGiN was named to the prestigious GSV EdTech 150, HolonIQ Ed Tech 100, GFEL Ed Tech 50, and was chosen by Fast Company as one of the ten "Most Innovative Companies Globally in Education in 2021".  Its investors and partners include Sesame Workshop, LEGO, Fisher-Price, Gymboree, and others.  At BEGiN, Neal is responsible for developing the company’s long term vision and strategy, recruiting exceptional talent, and managing its Board and Investor relationships. 

Neal is also a Founding Partner at [212]MEDIA, which builds consumer media ventures in fragmented markets alongside major media companies. [212]MEDIA and its ventures have been profiled in the Wall Street Journal, NY Times, TIME, Variety, MSNBC, and CNN for their innovative approach to building industry-leading ventures and have a collective enterprise value of over $3.5BN. Neal began [212]MEDIA by launching Saavn, the largest South Asian streaming music service globally, which was recently acquired by Reliance Industries, the largest conglomerate in India, in a transaction valued at over $1.2BN. Saavn reaches 160MM consumers today and was chosen by Forbes as one of “America’s Most Promising Companies”. In addition to Saavn and BEGiN, Neal also co-founded LeagueApps and LiftMetrix (acquired by Hootsuite) within [212]MEDIA. 

Neal began his career as an Investment Banker in an upstart unit of Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette that advised media & telecom companies. 

Neal earned a B.S.F.S. in International Relations at the Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University where he served as the President of the School of Foreign Service Academic Council and received the prestigious Dean’s Citation for excellence in Academics and Leadership. Neal is a regular speaker at conferences hosted by CES, O’Reilly, The Paley Center, NAB, and NAMIC and teaches digital strategy and storytelling classes for General Assembly, Stern Business School, and Columbia Business School.