James Brookner
Verified Expert in Finance
Management Consulting Expert
London, United Kingdom
Toptal member since October 4, 2022
James is a highly experienced entrepreneur, growth strategy, and M&A professional with experience working on over 35 transactions, growing his own company from inception through to private equity funding, and operating in senior roles in the venture capital industry. He now operates as a freelance growth strategy consultant helping businesses of all sizes with organic and inorganic growth, as well as a strategy consultant on transaction processes and commercial due diligence.
Career Highlights
Case Studies
Commercial Due Diligence
Company CFO Through Multiple Rounds of Funding
Expertise
- Accounting
- Early-stage Venture Capital
- Finance
- Investments
- Mergers & Acquisitions (M&A)
- Startups
- VentureBuilder
- Venture Funding
Work Experience
Growth Strategy Consultant
Financial Times
- Created a go-to-market (GTM) strategy for new SaaS initiatives and identified routes to market.
- Created a venturing playbook and structure to launch new revenue lines.
- Developed detailed market reports across three target sectors.
Director and Venture Partner
Blackfinch Ventures
- Led seven investment processes into Series A stage SaaS companies and helped shape a post-investment strategy on the board of companies.
- Steered businesses through multiple stages of growth on the board of five companies.
- Acted as a venture partner providing board-level support to the portfolio.
Founder | CFO | CCO
Deazy
- Grew the startup from the beginning to an international business with offices worldwide.
- Scaled through multiple funding rounds, including a private equity round in 2022.
- Led fundraising and modeling, as well as key commercial activities.
- Scaled a web development agency from a small firm to a global marketplace of software engineers.
Investments and Corporate Venturing
Barclays
- Had a senior role in a growth strategy team, seeking to identify opportunities in the SaaS and fintech sectors and implement GTM strategies for new ventures.
- Led the team's venture to build initiatives to help create and scale business lines in adjacent sectors.
- Headed several transaction processes across multiple stages.
Investments and Corporate Venturing
VGC Partners
- Set up and managed important partnerships, including a corporate venture fund, alongside leading a media company.
- Led several early-stage investments into consumer and media companies.
- Held multiple board positions across the portfolio.
Investments and Corporate Venturing
Station 12
- Led multiple investments into early-stage media companies.
- Provided corporate finance advisory services to large media companies.
- Launched a venture build project alongside leading a media corporation.
Strategy Consultant
Accenture
- Led the modeling of an M&A and integration strategy project for a large retail bank.
- Created a digital strategy for leading consumer goods business.
- Consulted on a sales strategy project for a leading supermarket chain.
Education
Master's Degree in Finance
University of York - York, United Kingdom
Bachelor's Degree in Political Science
University of Nottingham - Nottingham, United Kingdom
Certifications
Chartered Accountant
Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA)
Skills
Finance
Venture Funding, Fundraising, Growth Equity, Mergers & Acquisitions (M&A), Market Research, Accounting, CFO, Pricing, Corporate Finance, M&A (Buy-side), M&A Modeling, Due Diligence
Output Software
Microsoft PowerPoint, Excel 2016
Other
Finance, PowerPoint Design, Word 2016, Investments, Startups, Early-stage Venture Capital, VentureBuilder, Strategy, Digital, Growth Strategy, Go-to-market Strategy, Opportunity Identification, Product-market Fit, Growth Strategy Consultants, Business Strategy, Boards, M&A Strategy, Modeling, Joint Venture Development, Politics, Joint Ventures, Product Owner, Growth, Sales, M&A Due Diligence (Financial), Due Diligence Consultant, Interim CFO, Fractional CFO, CCO, Structuring, Analysis, Competitive Analysis, Competitive Strategy
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