Source: Peter Delevett, Mercury News After a relatively subdued start to the year, venture capital investments roared back during the second quarter of 2011. Venture capitalists poured $7.5 billion into 966 deals, according to MoneyTree report prepared by Pricewaterhouse-Coopers and the National Venture Capital Association using data from Thomson Reuters. Venture capitalist also invest on […]
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Source: Tom Eisenmann – Professor, Harvard Business School Business model analysis is central to the lean startup approach developed by Eric Ries, Steve Blank, and others. When entrepreneurs “run lean,” they formulate hypotheses about major elements of their business model, then they devise experiments to test those hypotheses with minimal waste of time and resources.
Business Model Analysis: Key Questions Read More »
By Tyler J. Russell, Ward and Smith, P.A. Editor’s Note: Tyler J. Russell is a member of the Creditors’ Rights and Financial Institutions Practice Groups at Ward and Smith, P.A. Since its inception, the limited liability company (“LLC”) business form has provided owners with protection from the actions and the debts of the LLC and,
Limits on LLC Protections Read More »
Gains from selling qualified small business stock (QSBS) issued between now and year end are eligible for a zero (0) percent federal income tax rate. Shares must be held for over five years to take advantage of this unbelievably good deal, and not all shares qualify. Whether you are considering obtaining funding for your own
Qualified Small Business Tax Credit Read More »
Controller schneider (at) scalefinance.com CFO/Senior Controller – diverse SF clients including Captiva Restaurant Group, HepatoSys, Yodil, and others CFO/Controller, Mann Travels, Inc. – family business, 13 branches, 100 employees, managed accounting staff of 5 Accounting Consultant, Accupointe, Inc. – MAS90/200 accounting systems reseller/integrator Controller, Signart/Lockwood Sign Group, Inc. – multi-branch regional manufacturer, designer, and installer of commercial signs Controller,
Introduction This post aims to help startup CEOs optimize their funding strategy by examining how investors value startups, and explaining how to avoid the common cash management pitfalls. Source: David Skok, serial entrepreneur and venture capitalist (Note: The concepts in this post will likely be obvious to experienced CEOs and entrepreneurs. Despite that, our experience
8 Tips for Optimizing Your Startup’s Financing Strategy Read More »
The most important factor in the prevention and/or detection of fraud for a small business is cost efficient control. The tone at the top must be set. As an owner you should express your views to employees that fraud, in any form, is not acceptable. Here are a few suggestions to aid in this mission:
Guidelines for Avoiding Small Business Fraud Read More »
Source: Gary T. Brooks If you follow my posts regularly, you know I often share experiences from my 25-plus years of brokering business sales transactions, usually giving all the good reasons to sell your business – that is, if you’re approaching retirement age or just ready to explore something new in your professional life. But
Why NOT to Sell Your Business Read More »
Source: Fred Wilson, VC and Principal, Union Square Ventures Almost all venture capital firms and many angel and seed investors will require the company they are investing in to issue them preferred stock. The vast majority of equity dollars invested in startups are securitized with preferred stock. So if you are an entrepreneur, it makes
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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.
