Why Hire This Fractional CFO
At the Seed to Series A stage, CEOs are often juggling rapid execution with high-stakes fundraising. Investors are no longer betting on potential alone — they want evidence that a business model has traction and can scale, financial discipline that signals maturity, and a roadmap grounded in reality.
This is where I come in.
I operate as a financial translator between your product/tech reality and investor expectations. Whether you’re facing:
Confusion around burn vs. runway vs. growth levers
Misalignment on what “good” metrics look like in your sector
A messy or overly complex model that doesn’t tell your story
Uncertainty about what assumptions will break under diligence
…I bring clarity.
I help CEOs crystalize on the one thing that matters most in the raise — whether that’s payback period, unit economics, margin structure, or revenue quality — and anchor the entire financial narrative around it. I’m not just preparing the deck or model. I’m shaping the story investors will buy into.
With one foot in finance and one in product, I make sure your numbers don’t just add up — they speak.
Background
With 20+ years in financial strategy, capital formation, and analytics, he brings a rare edge: he’s raised capital both as a startup CFO and as a fund manager pitching to LPs — so he deeply understands what investors need to see.
He’s led capital raises, built finance infrastructure, and guided strategic planning for tech startups, including as CFO of an AI company where he aligned financials with go-to-market strategy and CEO decision-making.
Earlier in his career, Stephen co-founded a capital advisory firm that raised institutional commitments for VCs and private equity funds. He also served as a senior equities analyst at top-tier firms like DLJ and Oppenheimer, where he built financial models that shaped market narratives.
Stephen holds an MBA from Wharton and speaks fluent French and conversational Spanish.