Source: Dan Doran, Quantive Business Valuations It’s a logical question from business owners: how long is a valuation good for? The short answer: probably for about a year. The longer answer: it depends. Context is critical According to the professionals from pmi-fr.org, business valuations are always completed for 1) a particular purpose and 2) at […]
Business Valuations – How Long Until Expiration? Read More »
Source: Axial Networks There are many ways to grow a business. When it comes to mergers and acquisitions (commonly referred to as “inorganic growth”), there are two fundamental types of transactions a business owner might pursue. The types of acquisition targets and the integration strategy is what defines such a transaction as either a vertical
Which Way to Grow – Horizontal vs. Vertical Mergers Read More »
Source: Stanford Business Insights Take time to ensure that your earliest hires fit your company culture. Go slow when hiring your team. The wrong fit can hurt your success. Even in the biggest, most stable corporations, putting together a small team can be a perilous process fraught with personality clashes, hierarchical imbalances, and conflicting visions. But
How to Build a Better Team for Your Startup Read More »
Raise debt or equity capital on best terms market will bear
Raise debt or equity capital on best terms market will bear Read More »
Embedded, organic service—100% on-site and hands-on
Embedded, organic service—100% on-site and hands-on Read More »
Flexible, part-time solutions—use more or less as needed
Flexible, part-time solutions—use more or less as needed Read More »
Extraordinarily experienced and efficient professionals
Extraordinarily experienced and efficient professionals Read More »
Source: Gary Ampulski , Midwest Genesis With the economy in a sustained recovery and lenders willing to help, many business owners are considering making an acquisition as a growth option. Most accomplished acquirers will tell you they have learned more from their mistakes than they have from their successes. Current market conditions suggest it is a
Top 10 Mistakes to Avoid When Making an Acquisition Read More »
Source: Hunter Witherington, SSM Partners As SaaS investors, we are often asked by entrepreneurs and others what we think the most important metric is for a SaaS business and what we focus on the most when we evaluate a SaaS company as an investment opportunity. While there is no one single metric that provides a
The #1 Metric for a SaaS Company Read More »
Source: Solomon Brenner, Angel Capital Association Member (Keiretsu Forum Mid-Atlantic) Whether the patent process is worthwhile and beneficial depends on the inventor, the opportunity and the timing. Deciding to go through with the process can be intimidating, costly and time-consuming. That’s why I decided to call Danielle Williams, an attorney at Winston & Strawn who
To Patent or Not to Patent Read More »
Graf Research™ unleashes innovation by developing ideas into disruptive technologies. The Graf mission aims to perform research, provide services, apply analytics, and create products that enable secure, high-performance, embedded, and adaptive computing solutions.
When the Director of Finance for Graf was leaving the company, Graf needed an experienced financial team to get them through the transition. Managing Director Gary Hayes was introduced to Graf and determined that CFO Rendy Richards and Controller John Schefke would be an ideal combination. These two were particularly important because Graf is a U.S. Government contractor, and both Richards and Schefke have strong backgrounds and deep skill sets in this industry.
The two Scale Finance professionals quickly responded to Graf’s time-sensitive need, logically split up the work, learned the DELTEK version used by Graf, introduced more efficient processes and techniques, and helped meet their financial reporting needs. Our professionals also determined that the Senior Staff Accountant was underutilized and helped her grow into a permanent, cost-effective Controller role.
FX HedgePool (FXHP)
FX HedgePool (FXHP) is a New York and London-based highly innovative fintech company. FXHP is an award-winning peer-to-peer matching platform that optimizes the FX swaps market. The Company eliminates market impact and minimizes the effects of volatility – significantly improving outcomes for all investors.
FXHP’s unique credit model separates liquidity from credit, creating a new source of safe and dependable liquidity for the swaps market. The Company exists for the community, guided by the community with a “win-win-win” commitment that helps members, underlying investors, and banks yield safer and better results.
Scale Finance began serving FXHP years ago, providing annual business valuations to support 409A compliance for the Company’s management incentive equity plan. During this period, Scale Finance Managing Director Dave Gilroy advised FXHP about potential strategic corporate transactions. In 2022, the Company decided to raise institutional venture capital. Scale Finance managed this process from end to end, resulting in a highly successful closing of an $8 million Series A equity financing led by Information Venture Partners with participation from Fidelity International Strategic Ventures and NAventures (National Bank of Canada’s corporate venture capital arm).
Scale Finance continues to provide periodic business valuation support.
Heritage Trust
As the first independent trust company in New Mexico, established in 1994, Heritage Trust (HT) uses innovation, experience, and flexibility to meet clients’ needs. HT provides a full range of trust services, e.g., acting as their client fiduciary for their Trust assets, being an executor or personal representative related to the distribution of estate assets, managing and growing financial assets, and preparing annual tax returns for trusted clients.
Co-Founder and Managing Director of Scale Finance Gary Hayes has been providing CFO and managing Controller support since February 2021. We have streamlined their monthly and year-end close process and established budget/forecast capability to support management. Their business has grown over 40% since Scale Finance has been involved with the company’s financial management. Gary has also participated in Board Meetings as and when needed.
Southland Transportation Company
Southland Transportation provides transport, supply chain, and campus management services on a local, regional, and nationwide basis. When Southland contacted Scale Finance, they had a strong accounting staff but no Controller or CFO. After an unsuccessful search for a full-time CFO, Southland engaged CFO and Partner Rendy Richards as their fractional CFO.
Over 18 months, Richards helped integrate a new acquisition, made improvements in accounting and finance processes, developed the company’s first-ever annual budget, helped with the onboarding of a new Controller, and provided business valuations in conjunction with Scale Finance’s Managing Director, Dave Gilroy.
For over six decades, Cooper Electrical has served a wide range of industrial, commercial, and municipal customers across the Southeast, providing best-in-class Electrical Design/Build, BIM, Prefabrication, Instrumentation & Controls, and Calibration services. Cooper’s expertise spans multiple major markets, including bio-pharmaceutical, chemical, water & wastewater, power generation, manufacturing, gas production & transmission, and food & beverage.
When Cooper’s CFO left the company for another opportunity, the owners engaged Rendy Richards as interim CFO while they searched for a full-time replacement. On a half-time basis over eight months, Richards kept the company’s financial organization humming, made improvements in several business processes, initiated a detailed financial forecast, and met with the owners to share his observations and recommendations on the most feasible way to staff their finance and accounting department cost-effectively.
SymmetryRX, LLC
SymmetryRX is a leading provider of eSampling services allowing Pharma Manufacturing companies to access physician practices for the ordering and distribution of drug samples across the US. The Company was acquired in November 2018 from Aptus Health, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Merck. Since then, the company has expanded its robust suite of services that provides pharma manufacturing executives, brand managers, sales managers, product managers, and launch managers the ability to help more patients have greater access to samples, improving medication adherence and healthcare outcomes.
Co-Founder and Managing Director of Scale Finance Gary Hayes has been providing CFO Services to the Company since 2018 and was integral in the acquisition process, facilitated initial financing to support the company with a 7A SBA loan package of $600 thousand and an SBA-backed $300 thousand LOC. Since then, Gary has been actively providing CFO support across financial reporting, budgeting, forecasting, cash planning, and strategic planning.
