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Jason Seldon, Finance Expert in Los Angeles, CA, United States
Jason Seldon

Finance Expert in Los Angeles, CA, United States

Member since February 15, 2017
Jason is an operational leader with 20+ years of experience working at both large enterprises (PwC, Disney) and startups (Business.com, Coin-In). His experience includes raising ~$150 million in funding for various startups with multiple successful exits. He has a top-tier education as a Wharton undergraduate, a UCLA MBA, and as a CPA. He enjoys freelancing as it helps him to continue to develop his various skills as he works with new clients.
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Career Highlights

Education

Select Certifications

Case studies

Industry Expertise

  • Banking
  • Financial Modeling
  • Entertainment & Leisure

Other Expertise

Employment

  • Founder | Chief Operating Officer | Chief Financial Officer

    2011 - PRESENT
    Coin-In Software, Inc.
    • Founded a SaaS software company, providing enterprise loyalty solutions for mobile applications—including raising $3 million in seed capital, hiring a development team, launching product, managing ongoing product development and operations, and growing a user base to include more than 400 applications.
    • Designed, implemented, and directed all finance, human resources and business operations systems, policies and procedures—including managing strategic planning, budgets, accounting, reporting, audits, investor and board relations, credit, insurance, tax, legal, and a treasury.
    • Managed a game development for a subsidiary called Eye Interactive; including launching 8 applications with more than 1.5 million downloads on iOS and Android (and other including several applications ranked in the top 10 on Apple’s top charts).
    • Co-authored a patent on the social enablement mobile games (United States patent # 8762197).
    • Managed all marketing and public relations campaigns, including articles and interviews in Forbes, Venture Beat, Huffington Post and Built in LA (Named in "50 LA startups to watch” in 2015 and 2017).
    Focus areas: Business Planning, Angel/Seed Funding, Venture Funding, Investor Relations, Financial Modeling, Financial Reporting, Financial Planning & Analysis (FP&A), Budgeting, Fundraising

  • Chief Financial Officer

    2015 - 2017
    Bottlenose, Inc.
    • Designed, implemented, and directed all the finance and business operations systems, policies and procedures for offices in Los Angeles, New York, and Amsterdam; including managing product pricing, strategic planning, budgets, accounting, reporting, audits, investor and board relations, credit, insurance, tax, and treasury ($10.5 million in debt and equity financing raised).
    • Completed successful road show—culminating in a private placement.
    • Managed legal affairs; including successfully negotiating a large volume of customer, vendor, employee and other legal agreements, and achieving significant cost reductions through negotiating more favorable terms from suppliers.
    • Managed the facilities and real estate transactions—including acquiring and renewing leases, subleasing unused space, and project-managing build-outs of office space.
    • Managed the human resources function; including developing key policies, engaging vendors for payroll and benefits, launching an employee Intranet, ensuring legal compliance with state employment laws, and managing employee hiring, counseling, and terminations.
    • Managed sale of company to Blazent Inc.
    Focus areas: Venture Funding, Fundraising, Mergers & Acquisitions (M&A), Financial Reporting, Financial Modeling, Investor Relations, Financial Planning & Analysis (FP&A), Budgeting, Price Analysis

  • Senior Vice President, Finance & Administration

    2007 - 2011
    Think Passenger, Inc.
    • Designed, implemented and directed all finance and business operations systems, policies and procedures for offices in Los Angeles, Palo Alto, New York and Bangalore to support revenue growth from $500K to $10 million annually; including managing strategic planning, budgets, accounting, reporting, audits, investor and board relations, credit, insurance, tax, and treasury ($16.5 million in debt and equity financing raised).
    • Managed legal affairs—including successfully negotiating hundreds of customer, vendor, employee and other legal agreements.
    • Managed facilities and real estate transactions; including acquiring and renewing leases, subleasing unused space, and project-managing build-outs of office space.
    • Managed the human resources function—including developing key policies, engaging vendors for payroll and benefits, ensuring legal compliance with state employment laws, managing employee hiring, counseling, and terminations, and helping the company to successfully navigate a tough economy through multiple reductions in force.
    Focus areas: Investor Relations, Venture Funding, Financial Reporting, Financial Modeling, Fundraising, Budgeting, Ratio Analysis, Analysis of Variance (ANOVA), Financial Planning & Analysis (FP&A)

  • Vice President, Finance & Administration

    2006 - 2007
    Ripple Networks, Inc.
    • Designed, implemented, and directed all finance, human resources and business operations systems, policies and procedures; including managing strategic planning, budgets, accounting, reporting, audits, investor and board relations, credit, insurance, tax, legal, and treasury ($16 million in debt and equity financing raised).
    Focus areas: Investor Relations, Budgeting, Financial Reporting, Financial Modeling, Financial Planning & Analysis (FP&A), Venture Funding, Fundraising

  • Director, International Finance–Home Entertainment

    2005 - 2006
    The Walt Disney Company
    • Led the international financial planning and analysis team, including managing development of the five-year strategic plan, annual operating plan and rolling monthly forecasts for $1 billion business, including providing detailed profitability forecasts across titles, genres and slates for 20+ international markets.
    • Designed and implemented new statistical and financial forecasting tools to standardize best practices across international markets and improve forecasting accuracy.
    • Performed strategic financial analyses—including business modeling and deal analysis for next-gen platforms and digital downloading initiatives.
    Focus areas: Ratio Analysis, Analysis of Variance (ANOVA), Price Analysis, Revenue & Expense Projections, Budgeting, Financial Reporting, Financial Planning & Analysis (FP&A), Financial Modeling

  • Director, Domestic Finance–Home Entertainment

    2004 - 2005
    Metro Goldwyn Mayer, Inc.
    • Managed the development of the annual domestic business plan and rolling monthly forecasts for $1 billion business; including detailed profitability forecasts across hundreds of titles over a five-year horizon.
    • Managed due diligence and transition requests related to the $4.8 billion sale of MGM to an investor group led by Sony Corp.
    Focus areas: Revenue & Expense Projections, Analysis of Variance (ANOVA), Budgeting, Financial Planning & Analysis (FP&A), Financial Reporting, Financial Modeling

  • Manager, Business Development

    2001 - 2002
    Business.com, Inc.
    • Selected for a cross-functional turnaround task force that redefined Business.com’s corporate strategy as a search network, leading to company profitability and sale to R.H. Donnelley for $345 million.
    • Developed new sales channels and licensing relationships, including implementing a partner marketing program and establishing over 20 partnerships with leading business websites, bringing over 2 million unique monthly users to Business.com.
    Focus areas: Business Intelligence (BI), Comparable Company Analysis, Business Planning

  • Manager, Finance/Corporate Development

    1999 - 2001
    Opus360 Corp.
    • Coordinated all aspects of the $36 million sale of PeopleMover, Inc. to Opus360 Corp. in preparation for Opus360’s $400 million initial public offering, including financial analysis, due diligence, and investor relations.
    • Drafted business plans for investor pitches, new product initiatives, acquisitions, and international expansion.
    Focus areas: Mergers & Acquisitions (M&A), Due Diligence, Investor Relations, Budgeting, Analysis of Variance (ANOVA), Management, Audits, Financial Planning & Analysis (FP&A), Financial Reporting, Financial Modeling, Comparable Company Analysis, Business Intelligence (BI), Business Planning

  • Senior Consultant

    1996 - 1999
    PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP
    • Managed business consulting engagements for leading technology and media clients, including providing expertise in financial auditing, financial modeling, business and tax law, initial public offerings, mergers and acquisitions, and investment management.
    Focus areas: Financial Reporting, Financial Modeling, Management, Audits

Education

  • Master of Business Administration (MBA) in Business Strategy
    2002 - 2004
    UCLA Anderson School of Management - Los Angeles, CA, USA
  • Certified Public Accountant in Public Accounting
    1999 - 1999
    California Board of Accountancy - CA, USA
  • Bachelor of Science (Summa Cum Laude) in Economics
    1993 - 1997
    Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania - Philadelphia, PA, USA

Certifications

  • Certified Public Accountant (CPA)
    SEPTEMBER 1999 - PRESENT
    California Board of Accountancy

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