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Dev Penn, Finance Expert in Dallas, TX, United States
Dev Penn

Finance Expert in Dallas, TX, United States

Member since March 9, 2022
Dev is an Eagle Scout and CFA charterholder who seeks to make a significant impact. His goal is to help firms find, grow, and scale over $1 billion in opportunities. Dev's past experiences include working for two billionaires and more than ten years of acting as a strategic executive at blue-chip firms in VC, PE, and investments. He's also experienced as a fractional CFO and acts as a strategist, banker, marketer, and investor rolled into one person.
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Career Highlights

Select Certifications

  • CFA
    CFA Institute

Case studies

Expertise

Employment

  • CEO

    2017 - PRESENT
    Brightlights Capital
    • Created a revenue forecast for a Series-C unicorn that raised $100+ million.
    • Saved a $200M-to-300-million family office around $12 million by avoiding a bad investment.
    • Re-designed a pitch deck and built a business plan for seed fintech to raise $3.5 million.
    • Confirmed a $5+ billion global market size for a European startup and built all pitch materials like the model, valuation, forecast, pitch deck, and business plan.
    • Consulted C-suite for GTM, growth strategy, capital raising, revenue forecasts, and business planning, preparing teams for investor meetings on short notice—a week instead of a month.
    • Valued 100+ firm assets in 90% less time for the COO, CIO, and CEO of an $85+ million venture fund by developing a novel process and a tool for SAFEs and equity securities.
    • Met 100+ management teams with $10 million to $1 billion in annual revenue, and the top recommendation went up 4x in 2021.
    • Made go and no-go biotech investment recommendations to the founder of $1 billion equity manager in two weeks where top recommendation outperformed.
    • Provided an FP&A underpinning case to the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania with a successful appeal.
    Focus areas: Startups, Mergers & Acquisitions (M&A), Growth Consulting, Due Diligence, Growth Strategy, Launch Strategy, Product Launch, New Products, Early-stage Venture Capital, Venture Funding, Private Equity, Private Equity Consultant, Alternative Investments, Late-stage Funding, Fractional CFO, Pitch Preparation, Pitch Decks, Pitch Presentations, Voice of the Customer (VoC), Business Strategy, Customer Experience, Employee Experience, Financial Modeling, Revenue Modeling, Go-to-market Strategy, Business Modeling, Financial Statements, Business Models, Financial Planning & Analysis (FP&A), Forecasting, Revenue & Expense Projections, Fundraising, SaaS, B2B Sales Pipeline, B2B Partnerships, Go-to-market Plans, B2C, B2B2C, Competitive Strategy, B2B

  • Director of Finance | Fractional CFO | Investments

    2020 - 2021
    A Billionaire Family PE Office
    • Led due diligence, modeling, valuation, and deal preparation for a $150M+ buyout.
    • Developed plans to build a fintech from scratch, using $30-to-50 million in capital to scale into $1+ billion.
    • Created the firm's memo structure to co-lead a $65-million Series A round and blueprint for a pathway to $1+ billion across 20 to 25 strategic questions.
    • Recommended a $130 million asset development project and modeled monthly sales, costs, capital expenditures, and cash flow across three divisions in four years, providing due diligence, deal structure, valuation, modeling, and financials.
    • Led the preparation for a portfolio company to launch nationally in eCommerce.
    • Led due diligence on multiple bolt-on M&A targets that screened out poor fits.
    • Developed investment tools from scratch for strategic decisions and growth opportunities, including P&L projections for new firm divisions, expanding existing operations, potential asset purchases, and tax impacts.
    • Led make versus buy, what-if, and feasibility studies on projects with $10-$30 million in capital costs.
    Focus areas: M&A (Buy-side), Due Diligence, Fractional CFO, Growth Strategy, Financial Planning & Analysis (FP&A), Private Equity, Private Equity Valuation, Private Equity Consultant, Quality of Earnings, Taxation, Scenario Analysis, Feasibility Studies, Alternative Investments, Acquisitions, Mergers & Acquisitions (M&A), M&A Modeling, Pitch Preparation, Pitch Presentations, Voice of the Customer (VoC), Business Strategy, Customer Experience, Employee Experience, Startups, Financial Modeling, Revenue Modeling, Go-to-market Strategy, Business Modeling, Financial Statements, Business Models, Forecasting, Revenue & Expense Projections, Fundraising, SaaS, B2B Sales Pipeline, B2B Partnerships, Go-to-market Plans, B2C, B2B2C, Competitive Strategy, B2B

  • Associate Vice President | Private Equity Valuation

    2018 - 2020
    IHS Markit
    • Created and modified hundreds of DCF, comparable transaction, and comparable company models for fixed-income and equity investments in the US, Europe, and Asia for leading private equity firms.
    • Assigned an innovation project by the CEO of the MarkitServ division and grew key accounts by 50% in the first year.
    • Valued hundreds of SPV, JV, holding companies, and operating companies financing structures in growth equity, distressed debt, structured finance, IG, and mezzanine loans—term loan, DDTL, and revolvers—and rated each loan for credit quality.
    • Led the delivery for Goldman Sachs of 100+ monthly DCF loan valuations in technology, healthcare, and industrial companies among 14 industries in a third of the time and expanded the project by more than 50%.
    • Developed a novel credit rating methodology for Swiss muni loans for a major European client´s RFP.
    • Created credit ratings for 40+ consumer and real estate firms in Southeast Asia for Deutsche Bank.
    • Valued 50+ infrastructure, ground lease, and HC loans in Canada, the UK, and the US for a large Canadian asset manager with $280+ billion assets.
    • Trained and managed two teams of four analysts in India and the US for a DCF project of the Shinhan Financial Group that won new business.
    Focus areas: Private Equity, Private Equity Valuation, Private Placements, Private Equity Secondaries, Debt, Credit Ratings, European Credit Ratings, Loan Valuation, Distressed Assets, Special Assets, Growth Equity, Early-stage Venture Capital, Financial Analysis, Alternative Investments, Equity Valuation, Business Strategy, Employee Experience, Startups, Financial Modeling, Revenue Modeling, Go-to-market Strategy, Business Modeling, Financial Statements, Business Models, Financial Planning & Analysis (FP&A), Forecasting, Revenue & Expense Projections, Fundraising, SaaS, B2B Sales Pipeline, B2B Partnerships, Go-to-market Plans, B2C, B2B2C, Competitive Strategy, B2B

  • Venture Associate

    2017 - 2017
    Schlumberger's Venture Fund
    • Presented strategic recommendations to a C-suite executive and former treasurer.
    • Led valuation and on-site due diligence for a $50-$100 million potential UK acquisition presented to the CEO of a 30,000-person unit by meeting a target firm's CEO, senior engineers, and senior executives in engineering, sales, marketing, and accounting.
    • Conducted strategic and financial review of 20 investments—two UK and one Canadian—and a follow-on recommendation, which later became an IPO.
    • Built an investment framework that incorporated the firm’s strategic and financial requirements and led to sourced investment ideas.
    • Supported the commercial team with due diligence and the M&A team with deal process recommendations that changed the firm's processes.
    • Partnered with a vendor to create a custom ERP for reporting to C-suite and senior executives, reducing reporting time from weeks to seconds.
    • Recommended companies for follow-on investments where the firm later placed $20 million behind three of four suggestions.
    Focus areas: Early-stage Venture Capital, Late-stage Funding, Software, Private Equity Secondaries, M&A (Buy-side), Mergers & Acquisitions (M&A), Acquisitions, Corporate Development, Software as a Service (SaaS), Blockchain, Artificial Intelligence (AI), Neural Networks, Financial Modeling, Pitch Decks, Pitch Presentations, Pitch Preparation, Voice of the Customer (VoC), Business Strategy, Customer Experience, Employee Experience, Startups, Revenue Modeling, Go-to-market Strategy, Business Modeling, Financial Statements, Business Models, Financial Planning & Analysis (FP&A), Forecasting, Revenue & Expense Projections, Fundraising, SaaS, B2B Sales Pipeline, B2B Partnerships, Go-to-market Plans, B2C, B2B2C, Competitive Strategy, B2B

Education

  • MBA in Project Finance, Healthcare, and Energy
    2015 - 2017
    UNC Kenan-Flagler Business School - Chapel Hill, NC, USA
  • Post-baccalaureate Degree in Finance, Marketing, and Entrepreneurship
    2006 - 2009
    The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania - Philadelphia, PA, USA
  • Bachelor of Arts Degree in Classics
    2000 - 2004
    University of Chicago - Chicago, IL, USA

Certifications

  • CFA
    OCTOBER 2021 - PRESENT
    CFA Institute

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