Matt Dixon
Verified Expert in Finance
Finance Expert
Charlottesville, VA, United States
Toptal member since September 25, 2017
Matt has served as a director of business development and finance for multiple venture-backed companies, where he's helped raise seed and venture capital funding totaling $30 million. He enjoys leading or supporting small teams as well as providing senior executives and board of directors with deliverables such as fundraising materials, financial models, board and investor presentations, market analyses, and negotiated contracts.
Career Highlights
Education Highlights
Case Studies
Industry Expertise
Other Expertise
Work Experience
Principal
Point86, LLC
- Led the business development efforts and consulting engagements targeting turnaround, supply chain, and private equity-focused consulting practices as well as supply chain senior executives within Fortune 1000 companies.
- Supported the restructuring engagement of a top-three strategy consulting firm; co-led a team of five, reporting to the chief procurement officer of a Fortune 500 chemical manufacturer.
- Developed and managed processes to systematically contact, categorize, and renegotiate terms with 1,000+ vendors over a six-month period.
- Coordinated the efforts with 30 corporate and site buyers in order to identify opportunities for negotiation leverage.
- Secured $14 million of recurring savings from $200 million of spend, surpassing internal target by 40%.
- Secured $8 million of recurring savings over a two-month period while reporting to CFO of a TSX-listed utility company.
CEO
Ascend Fitness
- Founded Ascend Fitness, a customer on-boarding platform targeting the $25 billion US health club market.
- Hired and managed a team of five, including one co-founder, three software developers, and one domain expert.
- Led the product team to launch an MVP in one month, version 1 in six months and multiple subsequent iterations driven by customer development efforts and user feedback.
- Built a sales pipeline of 197 enterprise leads, culminating in 27 product demo meetings with senior executives.
- Secured SaaS contracts with a top-20 club operator, independent trainers, and a leading corporate wellness provider.
- Raised a convertible note seed round (followed by a strategic investment from a leading club operator) to fund the product development and commercial launch.
Director of Business Development
Applied Proteomics
- Led the business development, market research, and finance projects; developed and presented related materials at API board of directors meetings.
- Negotiated the license, service, and research agreements with multiple third parties; achieved favorable economic and IP-related terms—saving more than $500,000.
- Developed a pro forma financial model for $28 million Series C financing; led the 2013 $15+ million budgeting process and developed budget tracking tool for API management to monitor the actual vs. budget expenditure.
- Created pitch materials and supported CEO on 20+ strategic partnership meetings with corporate candidates.
- Surveyed and monitored a competitive landscape for a leading program: identifying multiple acquisition/licensing candidates and providing API guidance on competitive product features and performance.
Education
Master of Business Administration Degree (MBA) in General Management
University of Virginia Darden School of Business - Charlottesville, VA, USA
Bachelor's Degree in Biology
University of Virginia - Charlottesville, VA, USA
Skills
Finance
Startup Funding, Equity Research, Budgeting, Financial Modeling, Forecasting, Venture Funding, Funding Process, Revenue Modeling, Seed Fundraising, Fundraising, Project Finance, Cost Reduction & Optimization (Cost-down), Due Diligence, Three-statement Modeling, Market Research, Cost Benchmarking, Cost Management, Cost-saving Structure, Cost Estimation, Equity Financing, Valuation Modeling, Cash Flow Modeling, Comparable Company Analysis, Private Company Valuation, Mergers & Acquisitions (M&A), Market Opportunity Analysis, Finance Strategy, Pro Forma Financial Statements, Leveraged Buyout Modeling, P&L Forecasting
Output Software
Microsoft PowerPoint
Industry Expertise
Early-stage Startups, Exercise & Fitness, Renewable Energy, Capital Markets, Medical Diagnostics, Venture Capital, Utilities, Chemicals, Healthcare
Geographic Expertise
United States
Other
Early-stage Funding, Project Management, Executive Presentations, Board Presentations, Customer Development, Market Assessment, Company Research, Target Sourcing, Competitor Analysis & Profiling, Funding Presentations, Investor Presentations, Deal Sourcing, Contract Negotiation, Team Leadership, Contract Drafting, M&A Pipeline Management, Deal Flow Origination, Project Leadership, Company Strategy, Deal Execution, Excel Modeling, Growth Strategy, Presentation Design, Term Sheet Negotiations, New Business Development, Business Development, Strategic Partnerships, Procurement, Contract Review, Intellectual Property Licensing, New Product Development, Negotiation, Renewables, Licensing, Business Planning, Biotechnology, Financial Forecasting, Pro Forma Analysis, Web & Mobile Applications, Product Licensing, Transformational Leadership, Technology Sourcing, Leveraged Buyout (LBO)
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