Case Study Details
Investor Financing Prep for Seed Stage Startup
#startup #smb
📝 Overview
A health data platform that accelerates clinical research across multiple therapeutic areas had recently completed its pre-seed round and was preparing for a seed financing. The company had built early partnerships and launched several disease registries but needed a formalized financial model to support investor discussions and clearly articulate its growth trajectory.⚙️ Approach
I partnered closely with leadership to translate a complex, evolving business model into a clear financial framework and a fundraising narrative aligned with seed-stage investor expectations.🔎 Understanding Business Model & GTM Strategy
Built a dynamic model projecting revenue and cash flow based on historical performance, payer mix, visit trends, and staffing plans. The model updated with monthly actuals and supported scenario testing across service lines and contracts.🤝 Assumption Development
Translated the forecast into clear financial thresholds that triggered new hiring decisions—ensuring cash flow could support headcount growth and reducing the risk of premature expansion.🛠️ Custom Financial Architecture
Created visual dashboards and reports tailored for board review, designed to inform capital planning, staffing strategy, and new service line development.🏦 Fundraising Advisory
Translated the forecast into clear financial thresholds that triggered new hiring decisions—ensuring cash flow could support headcount growth and reducing the risk of premature expansion.📆 Scenario Planning & Investor Readiness
Translated the forecast into clear financial thresholds that triggered new hiring decisions—ensuring cash flow could support headcount growth and reducing the risk of premature expansion.🎯 Results
Delivered a dynamic two-year forecast integrating project and subscription economicsClarified links between GTM strategy implementation, recurring revenue expansion, and margin improvementEnabled testing multiple fundraising and growth paths based on pricing, conversion, or launch timingProvided sales and hiring plans tied directly to revenue generation and productivity assumptions
💡 Value Add
The final model became the backbone of the company’s seed financing preparation—offering a clear, structured view of how registries scale, how recurring revenue grows, and how capital translates into execution. It equipped leadership with a narrative and a toolset that elevated both investor discussions and internal planning, replacing uncertainty with clarity and confidence.Transforming Financial Operations for Multi-State Telehealth Clinic
#smb #nonprofit
📝 Overview
A multi-state virtual care provider preparing for further expansion was hindered by outdated systems and inefficient financial processes. Payroll was managed through Paylocity—a platform too complex and expensive for the team’s needs—while accounting was handled via a patchwork of spreadsheets. These tools limited financial visibility, slowed reporting, and created friction across the organization at a time when leadership needed streamlined operations and reliable data to support growth.⚙️ Approach
I led a systems transformation that modernized payroll, accounting, and reporting infrastructure—improving day-to-day efficiency and enabling more strategic oversight.💼 Payroll & HR Modernization
Replaced Paylocity with Gusto, reducing complexity and cost. I designed a new timesheet process, managed employee communications, and ensured a seamless company-wide transition.📘 Accounting System Upgrade
Implemented Xero to replace manual spreadsheets. I customized the chart of accounts, integrated banking and payroll feeds, and trained internal users to manage the platform with confidence.📊 Consolidated Financial Reporting
Developed a centralized P&L and extended forecast model reflecting the value-based care (VBC) operating model that allowed leadership to track performance, test growth scenarios, and make proactive budgeting decisions.🎯 Results
Reduced time spent preparing financial reports by over 50%Cut costs by transitioning to leaner, more effective toolsDelivered the company’s first extended forecastIncreased clarity and confidence across the leadership team
💡 Value Add
By simplifying the financial tech stack and introducing scalable, user-friendly tools, I helped the organization plan growth initiatives. The new infrastructure not only reduced administrative burden—it also gave leadership the visibility they needed to plan state-by-state expansion confidently, communicate clearly with stakeholders, and make timely, data-informed decisions.Cash Flow & Headcount Forecasting for Series C Startup
#startup #smb #nonprofit
The Situation
A health data platform had just closed its pre-seed round. The company had built early partnerships and launched several disease registries across multiple therapeutic areas — real traction, real momentum. But the seed raise was coming, and the financial story wasn't ready.The model didn't exist in any structured form. Revenue was a mix of project-based and subscription economics that nobody had untangled yet. And leadership was spending investor conversations explaining the business instead of demonstrating it.Here's what I mean by that. When a founder can't hand an investor a model and say, "Here's how the business works, here's what drives revenue, here's what happens at different growth rates" — the conversation defaults to narrative. Narrative is necessary. But it can't replace structure. Investors at the seed stage want to see that you understand your own unit economics, even if the numbers are early.That's the gap we needed to close.The Approach
I partnered closely with leadership over two months to translate a genuinely complex, evolving business model into a clear financial framework — and a fundraising narrative that matched it.Understanding the Business Model
The first task was getting under the hood. A health data platform with multiple disease registries and a mix of project and subscription revenue isn't straightforward to model. The drivers for each revenue stream are different. Scaling dynamics are different. Margin profiles are different. Before building anything, I needed to understand how the business actually ran — what drove a registry contract, what converted project clients to recurring subscribers, what the cost structure looked like as registries matured.This diagnostic phase is where most financial models fail. People start with a spreadsheet template and retrofit the business into it. We did the opposite.Building the Financial Architecture
Once I understood the drivers, I built a dynamic two-year forecast that integrated both revenue streams — project economics and subscription economics — into a single model. Not two separate tabs stapled together. One model that showed how the business scaled as a whole.The model updated with monthly actuals and supported scenario testing across growth assumptions, pricing, conversion rates, and launch timing. So instead of one "official" forecast, leadership could stress-test specific questions: What happens if registry conversion takes 30% longer? What if we launch two registries simultaneously versus sequentially? What does the seed capital need to accomplish before a Series A conversation is credible?Connecting Capital to Execution
The other critical piece was tying the financial model directly to operational decisions — specifically hiring. I built cash flow thresholds that triggered hiring decisions, so there was a clear, defensible answer to the question every seed investor asks: "How are you going to use the capital?"The answer wasn't a list of line items. It was a logic — here's what we need to prove, here's what that requires in terms of headcount, here's the revenue level that justifies each addition.That's different from a budget. A budget tells you what you planned to spend. This told you why, and what had to be true for the plan to be right.What Got Built
A dynamic two-year financial model integrating project and subscription revenue streamsScenario planning across pricing, conversion, and registry launch timing assumptionsCash flow thresholds tied directly to hiring decisionsSales and headcount plans connected to revenue generation and productivity assumptionsA clear narrative linking GTM execution to recurring revenue expansion and margin improvement over time
The Result
The model became the backbone of the seed financing preparation.Leadership walked into investor conversations with something more than a story. They had a structured view of how registries scale, how recurring revenue grows, and how capital translates into specific milestones. They could answer hard questions — about unit economics, about the path to margin improvement, about what different fundraising outcomes meant for the business plan — without scrambling.That shift, from explaining the business to demonstrating it, is what good financial infrastructure does at the seed stage.Transforming Financial Operations for University Strategy Dept
#smb #nonprofit
📝 Overview
The strategy organization within an academic health system was managing critical functions—clinical revenue, grant funding, expenses, and staffing—across fragmented systems and spreadsheets. Disparate storage of financial records led to inconsistencies, delayed reporting, and limited visibility for executive leadership. Without a centralized view, the organization struggled to evaluate financial sustainability, coordinate planning efforts, or make data-driven decisions.⚙️ Approach
I was brought in to create the organization’s first fully integrated financial reporting and planning toolkit—breaking down silos and equipping teams with the tools and training needed to manage finances more strategically.🔗 Data Integration & Modeling
Consolidated siloed departmental data into a single financial model. The model automated manual workflows and integrated revenue, expense, and cash flow tracking across the organization.📊 Custom Reporting Dashboards
Designed dashboards tailored to the needs of different stakeholders—from high-level executive summaries to granular tools for grant managers and department leads.🎓 Staff Training & Handover
Provided training and documentation to internal operations teams to ensure full ownership of the new tools. This reduced dependence on external consultants and supported long-term sustainability.🎯 Results
Replaced disconnected spreadsheets with a unified, interactive financial modelEnabled coordinated planning across grants, capital projects, and staffingSignificantly reduced time spent on month-end close and budget cyclesIncreased operational self-sufficiency by empowering internal teams with skills and tools
💡 Value Add
This engagement established a repeatable financial management process where none had existed. By embedding financial ownership within the organization and providing practical, user-driven tools, the project shifted the institution from reactive data wrangling to strategic financial stewardship—laying the groundwork for long-term resilience.