Meet the Team
Craig Shapiro
Craig has spent the better part of his adult life in the sport – first as a teaching pro, then as a racquet technician on the pro tour, and then as a tv producer working on live broadcasts as well as documentary tennis programming. In 2018 he began hosting his eponymous podcast that is well regarded amongst the tennis community, and in 2021 he began hosting tennis-focused vacations that he dubbed Academies. Additionally, he is a contributor to OPEN, the tennis and art periodical and is recognized as one of the sport’s unique insiders.
President
Amanda Weatherhead
CEO
Amanda began her career working in strategy and growth at two early-stage tech companies, and in marketing and growth for an early-stage Venture Capital firm. She then spent several years in management consulting at Bain & Company, primarily within the Private Equity Group. She is passionate about sports, and after leaving Bain has worked with several firms in the sports sector. She grew up in a tennis-centric household, is a member at Malibu Racquet Club, and is an avid USTA league player. She attended the 2025 Academy in Rome, and began working with Craig after recognizing the Golden Ticket’s unique value and growth potential. She received a BA from Williams College and an MBA at the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth.
Hema Sanghani
Investor, Board of Directors
Hema Sanghani is an investor and philanthropist based in McLean, Virginia. A graduate of Virginia Tech with a Bachelor of Science in Finance.
Hema has built a career spanning more than two decades in consulting and technology services across CGI, IBM, and PwC. She serves on the Board of Directors of the Virginia Tech Foundation, the principal philanthropic and financial stewardship organization for one of the nation’s leading public research universities. Her philanthropic record includes the establishment of the Sanghani Center for Artificial Intelligence and Data Analytics at the university’s Innovation Campus in Alexandria  — supported by one of the largest commitments ever made to the institution — and the founding of The Market of Virginia Tech, a campuswide food access program serving students facing insecurity.
A committed player who competes regularly on a USTA women’s league team, Hema is also a devoted patron of the professional game, returning each year to Wimbledon and the US Open.
She brings to Golden Ticket Tennis a board director’s discipline, a player’s authenticity, and an investor’s eye for ventures where institutional substance meets genuine taste.
Mehul Sanghani
Investor, Board of Directors
Mehul Sanghani is a Blacksburg, Virginia native who built a $1.3 billion federal technology company from scratch, sold it to IBM in the largest acquisition in IBM Consulting history. Mehul and his family are extremely knowledgeable tennis players and enthusiasts and we welcome his business acumen and expertise to The Golden Ticket.