I love startups. I provide fractional / part time support to ambitious firms that need expertise in specific areas but don’t need full time hires for them yet.

What I do:

I am a consultant to startups, offering a range of CFO, General Counsel, and COO support. There are not many people who have all three of my skill sets (exec at multiple startups, lawyer, partner to tons of investors).

I have been working with startups (mostly SaaS companies) full- or part-time since 2012 and have worn every operations, finance, legal hat you can imagine (and done a lot of UX research, product management, and growth work as well).

I’ve also helped investors with commercial diligence for approximately 200 transactions (software and non-software businesses), so I have a deep understanding about how investors and acquirers judge companies. I use this knowledge to help startups focus on what matters and what will create value.

How I work:

Typically, I work with startups for a few hours per week taking things off the CEO’s or management team’s plate so they can focus on building product and growing the business.

The areas I tend to help with fall into the following main categories (expand to see specific examples)

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Legal / General Counsel

I’m a licensed attorney in CA and MA and have experience with all of the day-to-day legal and compliance needs startups face. I either handle these personally, or I have trusted firms that can do work cost effectively for my clients.

“Part time general counsel” work often includes: </aside>

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COO / HR / Ops (and adjacent needs including UX research)

I loved being a full time COO - it’s the “fill in all the other gaps” role!

COO / Ops needs can vary a ton, but frequently I help with things like: </aside>

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Finance / CFO

I’ve noticed that startups often realize that strategic finance support (ie a CFO) would be valuable, but also realize that it’s overkill to hire a CFO early in their company’s life.

I provide the most important parts of the role at a fraction of the time/cost, including: </aside>

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General Coaching (including communications strategy)

I’ve hired >100 people in my career; I’ve also taught communication courses at Wharton since 2018. I’ve developed a bunch of strategies to help leaders communicate more effectively with their teams, boards, and customers.

I provide specific communications coaching as well as general leadership advice to CEOs and management teams.

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Disclaimer: Unless we enter into a specific agreement for legal services, I am not your / your company’s lawyer. Not admitted to practice in New York. Nothing here should be construed as legal advice.