Chris Joe

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Chris Joe brings over 20 years of senior finance and accounting leadership experience from the technology, distribution and service industries. Chris has held CFO positions at both public and private companies. He has experience in managing cash, raising capital, and working on strategic initiatives. His responsibilities have included: finance, accounting, administration, human resources, legal, and IT.

Before joining TechCXO, Chris most recently served as CFO at L2C, Inc., a leading provider of advanced consumer scoring and analytic solutions using alternative payment and asset data to create predictive credit, marketing, and collections scores. Chris managed the company’s strategic process leading to the sale of L2C to TransUnion.

Prior to joining L2C, Chris served as CFO at SED International, a publicly traded, multinational distributor of computer technology, consumer electronics, and small appliance products. SED had operations in the U.S. and Latin America. Prior to joining SED International, Chris was CFO at ADAM, Inc., a leading provider of health information and benefit technology solutions.

Chris is a CPA and earned a Bachelor of Business Administration in Accounting from the University of Georgia. At TechCXO, Chris is focused on providing CFO-level services to small and mid-size companies.

Joe Jessup

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Joe Jessup is an accomplished C-Suite executive who uses his broad business and finance experience to solve funding challenges, execute against bottom-line profit/cash flow objectives, drive the creation and implementation of strategic plans, and rethink/restructure operations and finances in times of need. He bridges the gap between effective, detail-focused leadership of essential financial / operations management functions and big-picture strategic thinking.

Joe brings a unique level of insight and analytical skill to the table, quickly grasping key business drivers and taking a hands-on approach to solving problems for his high-growth, venture-backed clients, who are principally in consumer products, eCommerce, and SaaS businesses.

Among his accomplishments, Joe served as:

CFO & C-Suite Advisor – As an interim and Fractional CFO for startups and businesses in strategic transition, Joe has partnered with multiple founders and CEO’s of high growth Venture and PE backed businesses. His clients have included multiple food & beverage brands, food & beverage manufacturing, food service ventures, metal fabrication, SaaS startups, government contractors, and training / education companies. Joe has been instrumental in raising more than $50m for multiple clients (equity, venture debt, and other financings).

CFO, Scentbird, Inc. – Scentbird is a Y Combinator-backed, $60 million, high-growth, eCommerce consumer products company in the perfume, beauty, and wellness space. During Joe’s tenure as CFO, the business grew from $18m to $60m in annualized MRR, expanded the product line 10-fold, and brought all outsourced operations in-house (packaging and fulfillment). He oversaw a $20m A Round and put in place a $5m venture debt facility. Joe also built out the 8 person finance team from scratch, implemented inventory tracking and reporting, completed Scentbird’s first audit, and directed the combined efforts of tech and finance to create business analysis, KPI tracking, and periodic financial reporting.

President & CEO, Sawin Company – Joe led this financial advisory practice, supporting investment or fund-raising activities of business owners in real estate, technology, consumer products, and medical services industries.

Global Corporate Banking, Citigroup – Joe held several executive positions over a 15-year banking career. These included Vice President, Citicorp Real Estate, where he was instrumental in the sale of a $2B multifamily real estate portfolio. He also served as Vice President, Citicorp International in London, where he coordinated capital raising for Citicorp VC’s first Mezzanine debt fund and was responsible for numerous client-focused corporate finance transactions in the shipping industry. As VP for Citibank Institutional Recovery Management, he worked with troubled agribusiness, shipping, and other companies, completing hundreds of millions in restructurings and loan recoveries.

Joe is a CFA, and he received his BA in Economics from DePauw University and his MBA in Finance from Indiana University.

James Jackson

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James Jackson is a financial professional with significant experience in public accounting and private industry. James is known for rapidly identifying problems and developing creative solutions. Formerly a CPA partner in a public accounting firm, James had several clients that he provided professional services for over 20 years. The clients’ loyalty was primarily driven by his responsiveness and consistent delivery of positive results. James provides high quality professional services in a timely and efficient manner. Whether through a M&A transaction advisory role or addressing accounting or control issues, his clients receive tangible results with real value.

Keith Heffron

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Keith Heffron is an innovative financial leader, business owner and transformative CFO who specializes in scaling emerging companies. He has experience in companies from start-ups to over $3B in revenue.

Among his specific areas of expertise are:

  • Start-ups
  • Strategic Leadership
  • Turn-Around Operations
  • Mergers & Acquisitions
  • Financial Planning
  • Leadership Development

Owners and executives hire Keith to:

  • Build and refine Finance departments
  • Help them raise funding, prepare for sale, and sell their company
  • Advise from an outside perspective on strategic issues
  • Establish metrics and KPIs to drive the desired organizational behavior
  • Create actionable analysis
  • Work with all stakeholders to ensure alignment buy-in

Keith has been instrumental throughout multiple stages of our start-up company’s growth. His deep expertise across financial and human operations has been critical to our success and is supplemented by a genuine care that delivers deep results. We recommend him without reservation to any looking to refine or grow their operation. – Nick Cybela, CEO, FlowFound

Keith was a transformative leader for my company during a pivotal time. I engaged Keith at TechCXO to assess our Accounting and Finance department and recommend ways we could improve. He took us from being skeptical about financial statements to a high level of confidence and brought an invaluable strategic focus. His approach to Cash Management and our company’s capital structure gives me confidence that we are financially prepared for rapid growth. – Mike Carroll, CEO, Cat 5 Restoration

His distinguished career includes Owner/Founder of Southern Property Restoration where he created a successful property restoration company focusing on disaster clean up and reconstruction for insurance clients. He grew revenue to $5M by year four through rigorous financial analysis and accountability, focus on company culture, and an efficient operating model. He served as Senior Director – Finance for Comcast, providing finance oversight of a $3.5B market. He was Vice President Finance-CFO, West Division for Charter Communications. He oversaw a $1.4B division and 130 employees whose functions included Finance & Accounting, Capital Management, Warehousing & Supply Chain, Credit & Collections, Sarbanes -Oxley compliance & Internal Audit, Support Services including Real Estate, IT & IS.

Keith also served as VP-Finance, CFO for both Adelphia and AT&T Broadband. He received his MBA in Finance from Colorado State University.Keith is also a volunteer mentor at the Woodson Academy, a Title 1 Elementary School in Atlanta.

Client Portfolio

Gerry Hayden

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Gerry Hayden is a Partner in TechCXO’s Nashville, TN practice. As a CFO/strategic finance consultant with over 30 years of multidisciplinary experience, he has served organizations primarily as a Chief Financial Officer. Gerry’s primary area of expertise is healthcare and he has experience in the payor, service, provider and technology sectors of healthcare.

Most recently, he was Senior Vice President, Chief Financial Officer at HealthStream, Inc. (NASDAQ: HSTM) from 2008 to 2019. In addition to his grasp of the traditional CFO responsibilities of reporting, budgeting, financial analysis and staff development, Gerry has extensive background in M&A and capital formation, including a successful IPO. His experience extends to board level experience in both privately held firms as well as publicly traded companies.

At TechCXO, Gerry partners with CEOs, boards, and private equity firms of early- and mid-stage technology and health care companies as well as publicly traded entities. During his consulting tenure, he has been engaged in a CFO level projects with SaaS and healthcare companies such as Preferral, Sy.Med Development, Angel Eye Health and IMAC, Inc. Areas of emphasis include:

  • Strategy
  • KPI/growth metrics
  • Gross margin expansion
  • Product design and pricing
  • Cash flow strategies
  • Customer segmentation analysis
  • Capital formation and accounting.

The business models include SaaS approaches as well as innovative blends of revenue streams.

Prior to TechCXO, Gerry has held a variety of CFO positions in addition to his HealthStream experience. He has been CFO at several healthcare companies including Medavant Health, Covation, Meridian Occupational Health, Envoy, Allied Clinical Laboratories and Peak/Lincoln National Healthplan. Gerry’s background includes public accounting experience in the Boston office of Arthur Young & Co. He was also a board director at HealthStream, Inc. before becoming CFO and holds several board memberships in both private equity and public companies.

Gerry received his M.S.in Accounting from Northeastern University, and bachelor’s degree in Government & International Studies from the University of Notre Dame.

Ron Giaquinto

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Ron specializes in supporting service industry companies and professional services firms.  He increases visibility into company performance through KPI’s and then translates company strategy into targeted financial and operational plans with a constant focus on maximizing enterprise value.

Ron’s experience spans the core finance areas, business operations, HR, M&A diligence and integration, strategic analysis, streamlining processes, and implementing controls.  He elevates ultimate performance by turning around functions and troubled areas / problem situations.  Ron also stages companies for transaction and exit. From his experience, Ron’s approach is always thoughtful and pragmatic.

Industry and client experience include

  • Consulting firms
  • Engineering firms
  • Law Firms
  • Marketing, PR and Ad firms
  • SaaS / Cloud technology and other B2B

Prior to TechCXO, Ron was CFO for Matrix New World Engineering, served as CAO with DF King Worldwide, an investor public relations and communications firm, and was the Worldwide Controller / Risk Officer at Towers Perrin, an HR consulting firm. He held additional finance and risk management roles with Y&R Advertising, Christie’s and Continental Insurance. Ron began his career as a CPA with ADP internal audit and as an auditor with PricewaterhouseCoopers. He holds a BBA in Accounting from Pace University, NYC.

Ron authored the eBook: Professional Services Firms – 17 Best Practices for Capturing Lost Revenue.  Click to Download (PDF)

Ben de la Cretaz

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Ben de la Cretaz is a former owner and operator who has since used his experience and education to work with founding teams and growth stage companies for all aspects of finance, fundraising and operations. Ben has held CFO and COO positions for growth stage startups, up to 100 FTE’s and specializes in Life-Sciences, HealthTech, B2B SaaS as well as Hardware/Subscription models.

Areas of expertise include FP&A, financial modeling, finance and ops systems evaluation and implementation, multi-company and international subsidiary management, equity management, budgeting and project management, as well as Board communications.

Ben has a BA in Russian Literature from Pomona College in Claremont, CA and an MBA in Finance & Entrepreneurship from Babson College. He is based in Boston where a majority of his clients are and has also managed and consulted on projects remotely.

Jim Corr

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Jim Corr is an accomplished CFO with 30 years of financial management experience. Jim assists software, SaaS and growing technology companies as an interim and fractional CFO and COO.

He has held leadership roles in technology startups, VC and PE owned growth businesses, global financial institutions, and public accounting firms. He possesses a broad range of skills including: raising capital and structuring credit facilities; serving as a strategic partner to boards of directors and senior leadership teams; negotiating complex contracts, leases, and legal agreements; human resources leadership; risk management; treasury management; international tax and compliance. Jim is also adept at:

  • Scaling growth technology businesses
  • Decisive change-management leadership
  • Board of directors and senior management strategic partnership
  • Complex international legal entity structures
  • Broad competencies including finance, HR, operations, business development
  • Expertise in balance sheet management including key relationships with lenders and investors

During his distinguished career, Jim served as:

CFO of Castellan Solutions, Inc., a PE-owned SAAS provider of business continuity management software and services, he oversaw the carveout of the business from Sungard Availability Services in May 2018 and closed two subsequent add-on acquisitions, including one in the United Kingdom. He led the design of all financial and HR processes and systems – including implementing CRM, ERP, and HRIS platforms – while the company became the largest business continuity solutions provider in the world while increasing EBITDA by over 160%.

CFO at Scivantage, Inc., a leading provider of enterprise wealth management and tax solutions to banks and brokerages. At Scivantage, he closed $12M of growth capital and oversaw a multi-year transformation of the business that included upgrading talent, divesting non-strategic assets and joint ventures, reducing debt and stabilizing the balance sheet, and leading the company from operating losses to profitability.

From 2006-2014, he served in a variety of senior leadership roles at Albridge Solutions, a VC-backed SAAS provider of data aggregation and reporting for financial advisors and broker-dealers. He joined Albridge at the pre-revenue stage and served as Controller as the company grew to a “Rule of 40” business before being acquired by PNC Bank. He served as a business unit CFO with responsibility for PNC-owned technology businesses serving broker-dealers and asset managers. In 2010 BNY Mellon acquired all of his businesses from PNC, and he became Chief Administrative Officer in BNY’s Pershing division. As CAO, Jim had responsibility for finance, compliance, sales, relationship management, operations, and product management for technology businesses generating $125M of annual revenue.

Jim began his career in the Philadelphia office of Ernst & Young as a senior auditor. He worked in public accounting and corporate finance before joining Albridge in 2006.

Jim is a CPA licensed in Pennsylvania (license currently inactive). He earned a BS degree in Accounting from the University of Notre Dame and a Master of Government Administration degree from the University of Pennsylvania.

Kumar Ampapathini

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Kumar Ampapathini is a TechCXO Partner and experienced finance executive who serves clients as C-Suite / Board advisor and an interim and fractional CFO. Kumar manages all financial aspects of his clients’ businesses, including Capital / Revenue Planning, Fundraising, Cap Table Management, Contract Negotiation, FP&A, Strategy, M&A, Audit, Dashboards / Scorecards, Investor Reporting, Payroll, and Taxes.

Kumar’s select current and past clients include Wabbi (Cyber Security, SaaS), Security Journey (SaaS), Schedulicity (fintech, SaaS), MobileWalla (DaaS, SaaS), Delve (Software, Advertising), Pison Technology (Software / Hardware), Pippin Title (fintech, SaaS), GoodUnited (tech, SaaS), Nav.it (fintech, SaaS), Ness (Credit Card), Families in Transition (non-profit), Our Village United (non-profit), genrae (crypto), GeoXEnergy (Geothermal), etc.

Kumar has CPA certification and is hands-on with finance, accounting, and financial tools. Experience in: QuickBooks, NetSuite, Deel, Rippling, ADP, Avalara, TaxJar, Stripe, Workday, Carta, Shareworks, Concur, Expensify, etc.

Kumar has worked with teams in Europe and India and helped expand teams internationally. He developed and maintained relationships with outside auditors, banks, legal firms, vendors, and investors.

He has extensive experience interacting with Board of Directors, investors and has proven track record of building and closely managing rapidly growing organizations. He is a U.S. Citizen and does not need work visa sponsorship.

Kumar’s past experience includes:

VP, Alliance Data Card Services – Alliance Data’s (NYSE: ADS) Card Services business develops market-leading private label, co-brand and business credit card programs for many of the world’s most recognizable brands. Kumar led Mergers & Acquisitions and played a critical role in business development to accelerate growth in key strategic areas. During his time, he executed $3B+ worth of deals.

Managing Director, Guggenheim Partners – Guggenheim Partners is a global investment and advisory firm with more than $280 billion in assets under management. As Managing Director, Kumar was responsible for all aspects of strategic Financial Planning & Analysis, investment evaluation, compensation and headcount planning for hyper growth, expense management, Capital Analysis, and Regulatory / GAAP financials. Kumar played an important role in the realizing operating efficiencies and self-funded many of the new investments from those realized savings. During his time, while revenue grew in double digits, expenses mostly remained flat.

Executive Director – JPMorgan Chase & Co. – JPMorgan Chase is a leading global financial services firm with operations servicing clients in more than 100 countries. As Executive Director, Kumar led credit card partner deals, competitive strategy, supported Fed stress testing (CCAR), investor / board presentations, quarterly business reviews, and built teams across different geographic locations. Played an important role in the $2B expense reduction target in the Consumer & Community Bank.

Finance Leader, Microsoft – As a finance leader in Microsoft, Kumar played an important role in long-range plan and strategic analysis to position Consumer & Online group for growth opportunities.

Kumar’s career includes significant investment banking roles with Citi and Merrill Lynch.  His career began as a technology leader with Cisco.

Kumar holds an MBA from the University of Chicago’s Booth School of Business. He also holds an MS degree in Computer Science from the University of Florida.

Kumar’s expertise includes:

  • Mergers & Acquisitions
  • Capital Raising (Venture Capital / Private Equity)
  • Strategic Planning & Analysis
  • Debt / Equity Financing
  • Cap Table Management
  • 409A Valuation
  • Acquisition Due Diligence
  • Board / Investor Reporting
  • Board Dashboards / Scorecards
  • Cash Management
  • Payroll
  • Sales Tax
  • Accounting / Audit
  • Automation of Accounting / Finance Processes
  • Budgeting and 5-year Forecasting
  • Contract Negotiations
  • Investor Presentations

Ted Stone

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Ted has been CFO for companies ranging in size from start-ups to $2 billion global firms, including public, private equity, employee and angel ownership. Ted uses finance, operations and engineering disciplines to partner with his CEO and leadership team to increase the value of global technology-intensive companies in a range of markets, including software and information services to multiple industries, energy efficiency, logistics, and several manufacturing industries.

Ted is a low ego, high integrity executive who takes pride in his ability to collaborate with executive teams and lead finance groups to build and run practical, transparent management operating systems – plans, budgets, timely accountability analysis and prompt corrective action – to drive value creation in a variety of situations, from operational turnarounds to acquisitions to transformational growth opportunities.

Ted brings value to his clients by using his engineering education, his business experience adapting the disciplined financial processes of large companies to the practicalities of smaller firms and his acute listening skills to raise the level of play for everyone else in his companies. His approach tightens the links between the technology team and business leaders to drive the company’s growth and value creation. He uses well-honed project management skills to ensure that projects are on track and being handled with utmost efficiency for successful completion. To do so, Ted prefers to work face-to-face with the CEO and the leadership team to build the necessary mutual trust and understanding of capabilities.

He has extensive experience raising capital and supporting M&A transactions and a multi-decade record of helping his companies increase their equity value faster than their competitors.

Peter Biro

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Peter Biro is an experienced operating and financial executive and entrepreneur with deep experience in enterprises from pre-revenue to $100M. Peter is focused on early-stage infrastructure, software and SaaS businesses in need of assistance in fundraising and transaction execution, scaling their finance and sales operations processes functions, and taking their businesses global.

He specializes in financial transactions, from financings to M&A to optimizing economics of different sales channels, for companies up to $50M in revenue. He also specializes in assisting Israeli-based technology companies.

Peter Biro’s Corporate Leadership Roles

  • CFO of ObserveIT – An Israeli security software company backed by Bain Capital Ventures.
  • VP of Business Development of syndicated data provider Restaurant Sciences (merged with GuestMetrics).
  • COO of of Lyris, Inc. (acquired by Aurea) – A publicly-traded digital marketing software, which he helped create through a number of complementary acquisitions.
  • Co-founder of Five Guys Burgers and Fries – The Northeast’s largest franchise group.
  • Entrepreneur in Residence – General Catalyst Partners. Peter vetted transactions and helped launch Icelandicdata center company, Verne Global.
  • Founder of The Cowper Group – A management consultancy focused on buy-side M&A for middle market technology companies

He began his career in IT on Wall Street. Peter holds a BSEE from Duke University and an MBA from Stanford.

Mike Casey

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Mike Casey serves as Managing Partner of TechCXO’s CFO practice and brings more than 30 years of financial and operational leadership with a proven track record of execution.

Mike’s experience with TechCXO has included a variety of on demand and transformative interim roles including Meridium, Inc., a leader in asset management software, where Mike served as the COO and CFO for several years during a period of rapid growth and global expansion ultimately leading to the sale to GE Digital; LogFire, Inc., a leader in cloud warehouse management software, where he served as COO/CFO, raising expansion capital and the sale of LogFire to Oracle Corporation, and Aptitude Health, Inc., a leader in strategic medical communication and education services, where Mike led the sale of prIME Oncology to Internet Brands and the sale of Aptitude Health to a shareholder.

Prior to TechCXO, Mike served as the CFO at several public software and services businesses through initial public offerings, turnaround and restructurings, and mergers & acquisitions including MAPICS, Inc., iXL Enterprises, Inc., Manhattan Associates, Inc., and IQ Software Corporation.

Mike began his career as a CPA at Arthur Andersen, where he specialized in serving the technology and communications industries. Mike earned a Bachelor of Business Administration degree in Accounting from the University of Georgia.

When he is not working, Mike enjoys time at the lake with family and the occasional bad round of golf.

Kent Elmer

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Kent Elmer is a CPA with more than 20 years of broad-based experience ranging from Big 4 public accounting to CFO level positions at a variety of companies.

Kent began his career at Arthur Andersen & Co. After gaining a strong foundation, he made the transition to the private sector. His public company experience includes various positions, including controller and CFO of a NASDAQ software company (IQ Software Corporation).

He has also been the CFO of a number of early- and growth-stage technology ventures in both software and hardware (Carecentric Solutions, Inc., Digital Furnace, Inc., R.F. Solutions, Inc.).

In addition, Kent spent time on the West Coast with Broadcom Corporation, assisting in the acquisition and integration of over 10 early-stage companies in a 12-month period. Every private sector company that Kent has worked for has successfully navigated its way through the acquisition process.

Through TechCXO, Kent is currently providing CFO and related services to early- and growth-stage technology companies in the Southeast region.