# Farshid Tafazzoli

> Farshid Tafazzoli is the Los Angeles-based co-founder and Chief Business Officer of Material Bank, a design-materials marketplace built around fast search, consolidated sampling and next-morning delivery. Born in Tehran and brought to the United States at six, he began working at thirteen, entered college at sixteen, and helped build an early electronic brokerage before moving from finance into design technology.

- **Role:** Co-Founder and Chief Business Officer at Material Bank
- **Organizations:** Material Bank, SANDOW, TradeStation Group, onlinetradinginc.com, TradeStation Securities
- **From:** Tehran, Iran
- **Nationality:** American
- **Education:** Bachelor of Science in Administrative Studies, Nova Southeastern University
- **Known for:** Co-founded onlinetradinginc.com, an electronic brokerage later combined with Omega Research to form TradeStation Group., Served as a TradeStation Group director and vice president of brokerage technology., Helped build Material Bank from its earliest days into an international materials marketplace.

## Career timeline

- **Childhood** — Born in Tehran and moved to the United States with his twin brother at age six.
- **Teens** — Started working at thirteen, entered college at sixteen, and met an institutional-investor mentor while working in a computer store.
- **1995** — Co-founded onlinetradinginc.com and served as a director and chief information officer.
- **2000** — onlinetradinginc.com combined with Omega Research; he became a TradeStation Group director and vice president of brokerage technology.
- **2001** — Left his employee, officer and director roles at TradeStation Group.
- **2010s** — Built other technology-based financial-data ventures and later worked with SANDOW on Beauty DNA.
- **2019** — Helped launch Material Bank as co-founder, initially working as chief technology officer before leading business growth and partnerships.
- **2022** — Material Bank raised a $175 million Series D and acquired Architizer; Tafazzoli publicly described the company’s international expansion plans.
- **2023** — Presented Material Bank’s model and its design-industry role at industry events including C.Next and NKBA’s Leader2Leader.
- **2025** — Discussed Material Bank’s European expansion, sustainability and design access on the OLISE podcast.
- **2026** — In a new interview, described Material Bank as operating in 37 countries and discussed its Archiproducts partnership, consumer products and hybrid physical-digital model.

## Achievements

- Co-founded onlinetradinginc.com, an electronic brokerage later combined with Omega Research to form TradeStation Group.
- Served as a TradeStation Group director and vice president of brokerage technology.
- Helped build Material Bank from its earliest days into an international materials marketplace.
- Led or supported corporate growth initiatives, strategic partnerships and acquisitions at Material Bank.
- Helped develop a consolidated overnight sample model supported by a 400,000-square-foot robotics-powered warehouse near the FedEx Memphis hub.
- Spoke publicly on design technology, material sourcing and sustainable sample logistics at industry events and podcasts.

## Latest updates

- **2026-06** — Appeared on the Just A Moment podcast to discuss immigrating from Iran, entering finance young, career setbacks and building Material Bank.
- **2026** — Said Material Bank operates in 37 countries and described its partnership with Archiproducts as its exclusive sampling partner.
- **2026** — Discussed the consumer-facing Samplize business and the launch of Design Shop in an OLISE interview.
- **2025-12** — Appeared on the OLISE podcast to discuss innovation, sustainable sampling and Material Bank’s European expansion.

## Links

- Website: https://materialbank.com
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/farshid-tafazzoli-59897118a

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/farshid-tafazzoli
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-09-27