Fractional strategic CFO

For the decisions ahead, not the books behind. Forward-looking models, capital plans, board reporting and deal evaluation, from someone who has held the COO/CFO seat and raised the money. Your accountant keeps the books; I plan where the money goes next.

When it makes sense

A raise is six to twelve months out and the plan behind it does not yet hold up to an investor’s questions.
The board wants scenarios, runway and a capital plan, and the CEO is doing the CFO’s job at night.
An acquisition, partnership or outsourcing deal needs a business case, diligence and an integration plan.
A large investment, AI included, needs a business case someone can check a year from now.
The company has outgrown its model: growth, a new product line or a new market has broken the old spreadsheet.
A turnaround: cash is tight, costs have outrun revenue, and the business needs to refocus on what makes money.

What I take on

The forward-looking model: drivers, scenarios, runway and a capital plan tied to milestones.
Capital strategy and fundraising: equity rounds, SAFEs and bridges, private placements, Reg CF crowdfunding, and grant funding planned alongside the equity.
Board and investor reporting that looks forward: what changed, what it means for the plan, and the decision needed.
Operating plan and budgets built from the model, with owners and a monthly rhythm to track against them.
Deals: target evaluation, diligence, the business case and the integration plan, and on the other side, preparing a company to be bought, including positioning it for private-equity buyers.
Investment decisions: which projects to fund, fix or stop, and whether they paid off.

What stays with your accountant

Bookkeeping, the monthly close, tax and audit stay with your controller, accountant or outsourced accounting firm. I work alongside them, use their numbers, and make sure the plan and the books agree. Where the finance function itself needs fixing, I set it up: the right controller or firm, financial controls that fit the company’s size, and modern AI-native accounting tools where they speed up the close.

Steel structure under a bridge, photographed from below

Background

Why a CFO who has run the business

Held the seat

COO/CFO of businesses inside Optum (UnitedHealth Group), running their business and financial strategy and operations, with a finance and operations team of about twenty. Later ran capital allocation and value assessment for AI investment across UnitedHealth Group.

Raised the money

Led more than $4M in fundraising for a therapeutics company across crowdfunding, a private placement, SAFEs and equity, including bridge financing. Have presented plans to boards, owners and investors more than ten times, and helped a virtual mental health company reposition from a raise to a private-equity sale and build that pitch.

Built the models

Hundreds of forward-looking financial models: new businesses, acquisitions, pricing, capital plans. MBA in corporate finance and entrepreneurship from the University of Minnesota Carlson School of Management.

Terms

Fractional: one to three days a week, month to month, remote with time on site for board meetings and key sessions.

Project: a raise, a plan or a deal, scoped with a clear end.

Interim: full-time for three to six months while you hire. I am also open to the right permanent role.

Start with a conversation

A 30-minute call

You describe the situation: a workflow, an operation that needs a leader, or a plan that needs a CFO. I tell you what I would do first.

Get in touch