Gary Stone founded FireStone CFO in 2012. He is a proven “roll up your sleeves” financial leader, with more than 25 years of successfully growing ventures in both the US and Japan. He has worked in public and private companies in all stages of development from pre-revenue to over $100M. He began his career at Deloitte & Touche and earned his CPA from the state of California.

Gary has a results oriented style with ability to work with all levels of professionals and employees. He has successfully helped high profile Colorado based companies raise convertible notes, Seed rounds, and Series A rounds.

BEFORE FIRESTONE CFO

Earlier in his career he helped The Disney Stores expand internationally, take a VoIP software company public, turnaround a software subsidiary of a public company and help two Colorado companies through their acquisition.

Most recently Gary served as CFO at Rachio, a VC backed IoT company that was recently honored as a Colorado Company to Watch and recognized by the DBJ as a Best Place to Work in 2016. As one of the first 5 employees, Gary wore many hats and covered not only Finance and Accounting, but also HR, Admin and Operations. He was instrumental in raising 2 Convertible Notes, the Series Seed and the Series A.

Gary also wrote the Colorado AI Grant that yielded $250k in 2015 and led the company’s 2016 conversion from Quickbooks to Netsuite. Rachio also completed their 1st year audit with no adjustments or material weaknesses.

Gary’s particular strengths include:
* Leadership
* Business development
* Raising capital
* Resource allocation and preservation
* Dashboards for executive decision-making
* Cash forecasting
* Organizing and managing accounting operations.

Joshua Sroge has been with FireStone CFO since 2014 and its Managing Partner since 2016. He has worked with a wide variety of businesses over his 25-year career: chemical, energy and biotech, software and IT distribution, blockchain technology and cryptocurrency, medical and sports equipment manufacturing, and service industries.

Joshua is a Certified Bitcoin Professional, certified by the CryptoCurrency Certification Consortium (C4).

BEFORE FIRESTONE CFO

Starting out in New York City, part-time in the mailroom of a music agency, he worked his way up to Controller prior to relocating to Colorado in 1995. Joshua has been in both financial and operational leadership capacities with local companies such as Kryptonics, Image Guided Technologies, Access Graphics, Spatial Corp, and ShapeShift. He has worked with these companies to successfully raise capital, develop infrastructure, and enable commercialization.

* Accounting, financial reporting, and process expertise
* Multi-entity and multi-jurisdictional environments
* Blockchain technology and cryptocurrency
* Complex tax situations
* Business scaling expertise
* Legal and compliance issues
* Growth and equity strategy
* Project management and process improvement
* ERP & IT systems
* HR & organizational engineering

Jenna has worked as a contract bookkeeper for 14 years. Forming Natural Bookkeeping Solutions LLC in 2003 and obtaining her QuickBooks Pro Advisor certifications. Since then, she has had the opportunity to work with a wide range of companies from startups to multi-million dollar corporations and a few global brands.

In addition to offering full charge bookkeeping services to her clients, she has been working with small businesses as a QuickBooks Pro Advisor.

She helps streamline her client’s accounting using Quickbooks in a training capacity. Jenna is friendly and approachable and prides herself on taking the scary part out of accounting systems.

Jenna’s areas of strength include:

* QuickBooks Desktop
* QuickBooks Online
* QuickBooks set up and training
* Small business accounting systems
* Clean up, streamlining, and continued support
* Full charge bookkeeping

Jenna lives in Northern Colorado with her husband and three children. When she’s not working, she enjoys the beautiful outdoors of the Colorado mountains with her family. However, usually she can be found on the sidelines of a youth sporting event supporting her kids or else hunting for the perfect treasure to restore at an antique sale.

Kameron is a CPA, active in Colorado and inactive in Texas and California, with 16 years of accounting experience. Most recently, Kameron was the Controller at Shane Co., a private retail jewelry company with 20+ brick and mortar stores in 13 states and an online store. Before that, Kameron was the Accounting Senior Manager for a green energy supplier where she supervised month-end close, financial reporting, payroll, A/P, A/R, taxes and treasury, and the SEC Reporting Manager for a public company where she prepared the company’s SEC filings including 10-Qs and 10-Ks.

Kameron started her career in public accounting as an auditor, first working for Arthur Andersen and then PricewaterhouseCoopers.

Kameron’s areas of strengths include:

* External GAAP/SEC reporting
* Internal management reporting
* Technical accounting research and documentation
* Month-end close
* Reconciliations
* Internal controls
* System implementations

Kameron enjoys living in the mountains where she likes to ski and mountain bike with her husband and two sons.

Jolene is passionate about entrepreneurship and loves working with clients at any stage. After several years in corporate finance and banking Jolene learned that her skills are best suited for companies that are high growth and results driven. This includes implementing systems, streamlining processes, managing cash, and tracking toward goals.

She enjoys following industry leaders, attending startup events, going to demo days, and discussing business strategy and trends over coffee.

Jolene’s areas of strength include:

* Financial models and cash flow projection
* Metrics and dashboards, reporting and analyzing
* Converting financials from cash to accrual basis
* Streamlining business processes for clients, implementing web-based tools
* Training bookkeepers or controllers to be more efficient and effective
* Organizing large amounts of data into valuable business insights
* Due diligence preparation

As a Colorado native Jolene enjoys trail running, skiing, mountain biking, and being active outdoors. Jolene often travels internationally including a year exploring Central America and Southeast Asia solo. She earned an undergraduate degree from the University of Northern Colorado and an MBA from the University of Colorado Denver while working full time.

Based in Colorado Springs, Dan Dueber is a Colorado-licensed CPA with over 35 years of executive business experience, primarily as a CFO of medium and small companies.

He started his career in St. Louis as a Senior Auditor with Price Waterhouse, and quickly rose to executive positions in the book publishing, newspaper, independent review board and SaaS industries.

Dan’s areas of strength include:

* Mergers and acquisitions (M&A), due diligence process
* Strategic planning
* Executive and board of directors presentations
* Leadership
* Budgeting and forecasting
* Profit and loss (P&L) management
* Expense control
* Operational streamlining and reengineering
* Policy development
* Staff development and management
* Small business ownership

In his free time, Dan enjoys the Colorado outdoors by hiking, skiing, landscaping, Red Rocks concerts and photography. He and his wife, Susan are the proud parents of three daughters who live in the Denver area.

Drew is an innovative leader in the fractional finance and accounting space. With years of experience in the financial services industry, and experience in the traditional and alternative energy industries, industrial manufacturing, and software industries, he is able to provide a strong suite of services and perspective to clients.

Drew is a graduate of the Leeds School of Business at the University of Colorado at Boulder, where he focused on finance and accounting. He enjoys mountain and road biking, wood working, painting, and hiking all the trails that beautiful Colorado has to offer.

Drew’s areas of strength include:

* Thought leadership and developed strategic and operational planning for growth
* Operational efficiencies and processes
* Financial and accounting system optimization
* Budgeting and forecasting
* Profit and loss (P&L) management
* Cost control and process improvement
* Process control and policy enhancement
* Small business ownership
* Small and medium-sized business (SMB) strategic marketing

Veronica (Ronni) Malinowski has been with FireStone CFO since May 2015. She has accumulated a wide variety of experience and knowledge through her work with public and private companies of various industries and sizes in over 20 years of accounting. She maintains her CPA license in the state of Colorado.

Ronni started her career with Price Waterhouse and earned her CPA in the State of Colorado. She uses her varied experience with public accounting, public industry and private business to help clients. Ronni works with her clients on current issues, to clean-up historical records and implement proper processes to ensure timely and accurate reporting to investors.

As a public accounting auditor, she focused on small business clients from many industries. She then joined and advanced to Controller of Exabyte Corporation, a public high-tech company in Boulder, CO. Later, she worked as a Controller at Flatiron Constructors, Inc., a private construction company. Her work with a variety of industries, client types and client sizes has resulted in a wealth of experience and with accounting and business issues.

Ronni’s areas of strength include:

* Accounting and financial reporting
* Revenue recognition and deferrals
* Reconciliations
* Daily accounting processes and procedures
* Collection of receivables

Ronni is married to Mark, who she met during her time with Price Waterhouse. He left the accounting world and now works in the natural gas industry. They have two children Jake (13) and Abby (10). For many years, she has volunteered at her local schools including PTA fundraising and treasurer positions, reading with students and judging the science fair.

Scott Morris is a Colorado licensed CPA with over 10 years of CFO experience. He has served as interim or fractional CFO of numerous companies in industries such as SAAS, technology, e-commerce and manufacturing while working at First Capital Ventures.

He has prepared his clients for further investment and eventual exits through IPOs or acquisitions. Scott holds a BS in Accounting from the University of Colorado and an MBA from Regis University.

Scott’s areas of strength include:

* Strategic, operational and tax planning
* Accounting and financial reporting
* Budgeting and forecasting
* Investor ready pitch decks and pro-forma financial modeling
* P&L management
* Investor, management and KPI reporting
* Business processes and controls

Scott is the proud father of three children and loves coaching his boys’ competitive basketball teams. He also likes getting outdoors whether it be skiing, hiking or drinking an IPA on a sunny patio and enjoying all that Colorado has to offer.

Izzy Murdy brings expertise in the field of finance, venture capital and investor relations. She is an MBA graduate from the University of Notre Dame with experience in venture capital, early-stage start ups, early-stage investing and finance.

She has experience in building early stage company infrastructure from the ground up by assisting in strategic planning, financial planning and analysis, capital raise and diligence preparation as well human resource oversight.

After receiving her MBA from Notre Dame, she worked in the wealth management sector prior to working for early stage companies as acting CFO and CAO.

Izzy’s areas of strength include:

* Corporate governance
* Capital financing and structure
* Strategic planning and execution
* Contract negotiation
* Due diligence and merger and acquisition (M&A) preparation
* Company investor relations
* Financial management
* Human resource management
* Investor and management KPI reporting
* Budgeting, forecasting, profit and loss, and variance
* Policy and procedure development

Charlie Nilan has more than 13 years of accounting and finance experience in a small business context.

Since 2003, he has provided a wide variety of services to small and large businesses in the Denver / Boulder area including financial management and support, bookkeeping and accounting, payroll, implementation and management of retirement plans and other benefits, and data reporting and analysis.

Charlie earned both an MBA (finance) and an undergraduate degree from the University of Colorado. He is passionate about solving finance-related problems and helping business owners better understand their numbers in order to achieve smart growth.

Mark Olivier has spent most his professional career in Cleveland, Ohio but recently relocated to Boulder, Colorado. He has multiple years of accounting and finance experience in both public accounting, with Price Waterhouse, and in private industry.

His private industry experience includes, accounting manager and controller positions in both the manufacturing and service industries. He has also held senior management positions in start-up ventures.

Mark was the President and an owner of Profit Recovery Systems for more than 20 years. While there, he assisted his clients in lowering their operating and overhead costs and recovering overpayments erroneously made to their vendors.

Marks areas of strength include:

* Strategic planning
* Transactional accounting
* Financial analysis and reporting
* Budgeting and forecasting
* Cost reduction initiatives
* Customer relationship management
* Contract negotiation
* Litigation support

Mark moved to Colorado to pursue his outdoor passions which include, climbing, hiking, skiing and biking both on and off road. He has climbed over 20 mountain peaks in Colorado at altitudes 14,000 feet or higher. He has also climbed Mt. Kilimanjaro in Africa, Orizaba in Mexico and Mt. Rainier in Washington State. Mark enjoys just about anything that gets his heart rate elevated and lungs pounding. He has been married to his wife Kathy for almost 30 years and has two adult children (Matt and Lauren) who both live and work in in Colorado.

Experienced Accountant with a demonstrated history of working in the accounting industry. Skilled in Internal Audit, Office Administration, Invoicing, Finance, and Forensic Accounting.

Strong accounting professional with an MBA focused in Business Administration with a minor in Accounting.

Shauna has over 20 years of finance and accounting experience working internationally and domestically, both internally and as a consultant. She most enjoys working with small and medium size companies where she can help implement and enhance policies, processes, and strategies to prepare the company for growth. Her experience includes strategic planning, executive management, financial modeling and all day-to-day financial management activities (e.g. budgeting and forecasting, expense management, general ledger maintenance). Given some of the start-up environments in which Shauna has worked, she has also managed legal and human resources functions. Her industry experience spans CPG, retail, tech, manufacturing, professional services, and nonprofit, among others.

Shauna received her BS (summa cum laude) in Finance from Miami University in Oxford, Ohio and her MBA from the Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania. She has visited 45 countries and counting and has lived in two foreign countries (including two years in a yurt in Mongolia!). In her free time, Shauna continues to explore the world and enjoy the outdoors (running, biking, camping, etc.). Most importantly, she loves doing all of this with her husband and two young daughters.

Shauna’s areas of expertise include:

* Creation and dissemination of budgeting and forecasting processes including cash flow planning and developing and implementing metrics, dashboards, and reports
* Design, documentation, and implementation of financial and accounting policies, processes, and controls, including chart of accounts
* Extensive financial analysis and modeling for break-even analyses, profitability and margins, NPV, investments, pricing, employee utilization and profitability, etc.
* Extremely proficient in QuickBooks and Microsoft Office as well as working knowledge of NetSuite, Epicor ERP, ConnectWise and Sage Timeslips
* Coordinate and conduct extensive due diligence on target companies and for investors
* Proactively manage the organization’s banking, legal, and HR needs, consulting with outside parties as needed

Erika is a finance executive skilled at emphasizing a human-centered approach to problem solving. Her 20 years of project portfolio experience spans senior leaderships roles involving finance, operations, and strategy. Erika’s experiences range from leading annual revenue financial planning processes for $1 billion organizations, large-scale capital construction financing, technology integrations, process design, to developing successful funding strategies and effective business practices, especially in regulatory environments. Her career has spanned working as a management consultant with both international and local firms, to a finance executive advising small and large organizations.

Erika has an MBA from the University of Colorado Executive MBA program and a BA in Psychology from Grinnell College.

Erika’s areas of strength include:

• Finance & Accounting
• Capital Financing
• Financial Analysis & Modeling
• Performance Assessment & Analytics
• Customer Experience
• Business Process Improvement
• Strategic Planning & Execution
• Business Relationships
• Business Operating Models
• Project & Portfolio Management
• ERP, SaaS Implementations
• Change Management

Drew has over ten years of experience in finance, accounting, and IT consulting. Drew is fluent in Spanish and has a degree in International Affairs from CU-Boulder and an International MBA from the University of California, San Diego. He has worked with both startups and large companies alike.

Drew loves cycling, hiking, playing ultimate frisbee. He enjoys traveling and tries to do it as much as he can with his wife, Taryn, and their two young sons, Jack (3) and Jude (1).

Drew’s areas of strength include:

* Cost Accounting
* Financial Analysis
* Budgeting
* Reporting
* Forecasting
* Revenue Recognition
* Transfer Pricing

Andy is a Wall Street credible, resourceful, and proven financial leader for a wide array of companies — ranging from pioneering early-stage energy technology and industrial biology companies to middle market leveraged buyouts to pre-IPO to large caps. In fact, Andy was recognized twice as an All-Star Analyst by the Wall Street Journal.

Andy unites execution with strategy and vision by focusing on critical objectives; leveraging capital to support an overall goal and establish best practices to grow profitable businesses.

Andy is an Honors Graduate with dual degrees in History and Economics from Connecticut College, and he received his MBA from Columbia University’s Graduate School of Business.

Andy’s core competencies include:

* Capital Structure Optimization
* Financial Forecasting/Deal Modeling
* Execution and Strategic Business Planning
* Investor and Partner Relations
* Capital Raising
* Equity and Project/Debt Finance
* Deal Structuring and Contract Negotiations
* Sustainability
* Key Performance Indicators,
* Financial Planning and Analysis

Trinity has made a career of leveraging financial analysis to facilitate strategic discussions for clients in the technology, government and nonprofit sectors. She began her career in investment banking (George K. Baum & Company, 2006 – 2013), structuring over $1 billion in capital project financings for education and nonprofit institutions.

Now she works as an independent financial consultant (TJL Consulting LLC, 2013 – present) helping small and medium-sized clients strategically navigate and manage growth, acquisition or change.

Trinity’s areas of strength include:

* Developing, stress-testing and communicating relevant forecasting models
* Designing and creating digestible investor slide decks
* Preparing for and project managing M&A or capital purchase transactions
* Implementing new technology to scale operations
* Establishing stakeholder communications, dashboards and reports
* Creating and implementing financial policies, internal controls, and efficient processes
* Staff management and leadership
* Strategic planning

An avid outdoorswoman, she can be found setting first skin tracks, backpacking with her baby daughter on her chest, or climbing with friends. In 2011, Trinity took a year-long sabbatical in the form of a (virtually unprecedented) adventure where she and two friends thru-hiked up the spine of South America. Paying her passion for the outdoors forward, Trinity currently serves as board chair for Paradox Sports (Boulder, CO), a nonprofit that revolutionizes lives through adaptive climbing opportunities.

She resides in her mountain playground, Nederland, CO, with her husband Jake, young daughter Atlantis, and black and fuzzy adventure pup, Pali.

Lauren Wilson joined FireStone in 2015. She started her finance career as a bond analyst for a mutual fund company, and later moved into the accounting realm working as the Controller for a Colorado based craft brewery. Since then she has worked with tech startups, media companies, and expanded further into the craft beverage business working with craft distilleries, wineries, and kombucha makers.

Lauren has an MBA from Babson College, a place that eats, sleeps, and breathes entrepreneurship. That spirit has allowed her to understand and relate to her clients and their desire to create and succeed.

Fred Holt is the Founder and CEO at Summit HR Solutions, an outsourced strategic and tactical human resources (HR) solutions provider. As a service provider, Fred is very active in the early stage market and works with early-stage companies.

Summit HR Solutions assists early-stage companies by providing a comprehensive outsourced human resources solution that allows its client companies to remain focused on key business initiatives.

By laying a solid foundation of people practices early on, the business will be supported by the HR function going forward, rather than distracted by it. Summit HR Solutions’ consultant’s look and feel like a member of your management team. They work onsite with your entire organization to ensure best practices in areas such as hiring, compensation, benefits, employee relations, leadership development, corporate culture, employee engagement and performance management.

Our approach is to design, implement and manage stage-appropriate processes and programs that will evolve as your company does. We scale up or down to meet our clients’ needs, and work on a month to month basis, with no long term contracts. You can learn more about Summit HR Solutions at www.summithrsolutions.net.

Milena Zilo has over 10 years of experience in Wall Street and international consulting. She started her career in New York and has worked at Merrill Lynch, Bloomberg and BlackRock. Milena has a broad knowledge of global markets, as well as the ability to identify, analyze and articulate successful investment events and opportunities. Her experience includes a visible level of leadership interaction and collaboration with all key areas of the organization and executive team. This includes organizational development and leadership management. She has developed a powerful understanding of the connections between operational activities and financials through driving change and working across different business units.

Milena graduated in 2005 from the University of Denver with a Bachelor’s degree in finance. She is actively involved in the community and currently serves on the U.S Global Leadership Coalition’s Colorado Advisory Committee, and as a Mentor for Boomtown Accelerator in Boulder. She has served on several other committees and non-profit boards and has a passion for philanthropy.

Milena founded Zilo International Group in 2012 as a management consulting firm based in Denver, Colorado. The group strives to be a leader in the industry and offer a variety of services in strategy and business advisory, finance and corporate development, human resources as well as process improvement. With resources in several countries throughout Europe, Asia and the Americas, Zilo International Group manages complex projects on a global scale across a variety of sectors. The company works with organizations of all sizes in the private, public and nonprofit sectors to facilitate solutions during all phases of a company’s life cycle, from growth and market expansion, to reorganization and restructuring to business succession planning and successful exits. More about Zilo International Group’s consulting services at: www.zilointernational.com.