Ross is available for hire
Hire RossRoss Findlay
Verified Expert in Finance
Finance Expert
Location
Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
Toptal Member Since
November 24, 2022
Ross is a former banker turned tech startup executive, experienced in business operations and advisory and operational finance. He started his career in investment banking, advising and supporting private equity investors in London and Sydney. He then moved to a tech startup, joining the two founders as their first employee and taking on the COO role. Most recently, he ran finance for a Sydney startup. Ross's background also includes freelance experience advising companies on finance matters.
Career Highlights
Director
Freelance Clients
Chief Operating Officer (COO)
Boundary Technologies
Associate Director
Commonwealth Bank of Australia
Expertise
Work Experience
Head of Finance and Operations
2023 - PRESENT
Fingerprint for Success
- Implemented a new billing and revenue recognition system.
- Completed a company restructure to protect the future of the business.
- Closed a funding round in a challenging capital-raising environment.
Focus areas: Accounting, Business Operations, Fundraising, Financial Analysis, Financial Benchmarking, CFO, Cap Table Formation, Cap Tables, Capitalization Tables, Profit & Loss (P&L), Internal Financial Reporting, Budget Modeling, Fundraising Strategy, Cash Flow Modeling, Financial Forecasting, Demand Planning, Sales Forecasting, Data Modeling, Machine Learning, Direct to Consumer (D2C), Valuation, Pitch Deck Consultant, Key Performance Indicators (KPIs), Sensitivity Analysis
Director
2017 - PRESENT
Freelance Clients
- Built financial models for valuation, raising debt, and internal forecasting for early-stage startups, scaleups, and established businesses to help founders and management teams make decisions, forecast performance, and plan fundraising.
- Advised companies on fundraising, including the best use of capital.
- Worked with management teams to improve forecasting through the use of financial models.
Focus areas: Financial Advisory, Microsoft Excel, Microsoft PowerPoint, Google Slides, Google Sheets, Corporate Finance, Financial Modeling, DCF Valuation, Fundraising, Finance, Revenue & Expense Projections, Forecasting, Financial Planning & Analysis (FP&A), Three-statement Modeling, Valuation, Accounting, Profitability Optimization, Small Business Consultants, Venture Capital, Excel Expert, Data Visualization, Visual Storytelling, Business Model Strategy, Funding Strategy, Early-stage Startups, Budgeting, Business Planning, Debt, Debt Analysis, Financial Analysis, Financial Benchmarking, CFO, Business Evaluation, M&A (Buy-side), Cap Table Formation, Cap Tables, Capitalization Tables, Profit & Loss (P&L), Internal Financial Reporting, Budget Modeling, Fundraising Strategy, Cash Flow Modeling, Waterfall Modeling, Marketplaces, Financial Forecasting, Demand Planning, Sales Forecasting, Data Modeling, Direct to Consumer (D2C), Investments, Real Estate, Pitch Deck Consultant, Key Performance Indicators (KPIs), Sensitivity Analysis
Chief Operating Officer (COO)
2018 - 2022
Boundary Technologies
- Designed, built, and launched an Internet of Things (IoT) product with a software-as-a-service (SaaS) subscription from scratch.
- Grew the business to over £1 million in annual run rate sales and subscription revenue.
- Led a project to analyze and improve unit economics after the first year of trading, significantly improving margins and contributing to improved payback periods and the customer lifetime value to customer acquisition cost (LTV/CAC) ratio.
- Managed the due diligence process across three funding rounds for a total of £7 million investment.
- Built operational processes to fulfill thousands of customer orders, including a global supply chain of more than 300 components, third-party logistics for customer order fulfillment, and a field installation engineer network of national engineers.
- Implemented a business intelligence (BI) SQL tool and worked with functional team heads to measure what matters. Reduced customer returns by over 25% and resolution time for hardware change requests by 20%.
- Grew the team to 25 with a robust recruitment and onboarding process set-up for scaling. Improved employee net promoter score (NPS) to over 40.
- Implemented objectives and key results (OKRs) with 100% of the team reporting they understood and were aligned with Boundary's plans for future success.
Focus areas: Fundraising, Startups, Supply Chain, Manufacturing, Business Operations, Legal, Human Resources (HR), Compliance, Finance, Microsoft Excel, Google Sheets, Microsoft PowerPoint, Google Slides, Corporate Finance, Financial Modeling, DCF Valuation, Term Sheet Negotiations, People Management, Information Memoranda, Unit Economics, Pricing Strategy, Digital Marketing, Marketing Strategy, Strategy, SaaS, Budgeting, Revenue & Expense Projections, Forecasting, Pitch Deck Consultant, Business Models, eCommerce, Mobile Apps, Financial Planning & Analysis (FP&A), Three-statement Modeling, Valuation, Accounting, Profitability Optimization, Retail & Wholesale, Market Research, Business Plan Consulting, Pitch Decks, Go-to-market Strategy, Venture Capital, Excel Expert, Data Visualization, Visual Storytelling, Business Model Strategy, Funding Strategy, Early-stage Startups, COO, Chief Operations Officer (COO), Operations, Business Planning, Financial Analysis, Financial Benchmarking, CFO, Cap Table Formation, Cap Tables, Capitalization Tables, Profit & Loss (P&L), Internal Financial Reporting, Budget Modeling, Fundraising Strategy, Cash Flow Modeling, Direct to Consumer (D2C), Financial Forecasting, Demand Planning, Sales Forecasting, Data Modeling, Machine Learning, Key Performance Indicators (KPIs), Sensitivity Analysis
Associate Director
2015 - 2018
Commonwealth Bank of Australia
- Managed over 20 transactions worth more than A$1 billion over three years with the bank.
- Provided debt to clients of the bank to finance acquisitions, primarily supporting private equity investors nationally across Australia. Worked on deals advising clients in mergers and acquisitions (M&A) and equity capital raising.
- Led a team of analysts and associates, ran the legal negotiation process with private equity investors and C-suite executives, and presented deals to senior bank management.
- Built, reviewed, and interrogated financial models, led the analysis and due diligence process, and prospected for new deals, including building pitch decks with investment ideas for clients.
Focus areas: Mergers & Acquisitions (M&A), Leveraged Finance, Credit/Debt, Financial Modeling, Term Sheet Negotiations, Microsoft Excel, Microsoft PowerPoint, Corporate Finance, DCF Valuation, Legal, Finance, Financial Advisory, Credit Analysis, People Management, Information Memoranda, Revenue & Expense Projections, Forecasting, Pitch Deck Consultant, Financial Planning & Analysis (FP&A), Three-statement Modeling, Pitch Decks, Venture Capital, Excel Expert, Data Visualization, Investment Banking, Funding Strategy, Business Planning, Debt, Debt Analysis, Financial Analysis, Financial Benchmarking, Private Equity, Business Evaluation, M&A (Buy-side), Due Diligence, Deal Sourcing, Cap Table Formation, Cap Tables, Capitalization Tables, Profit & Loss (P&L), Budget Modeling, Accounting, Fundraising Strategy, Cash Flow Modeling, Waterfall Modeling, Financial Forecasting, Investments, Real Estate, Key Performance Indicators (KPIs), Sensitivity Analysis
Associate Director
2010 - 2014
Banco Santander
- Built financial models for hotel and healthcare transactions in the UK.
- Conducted credit analysis on prospective borrowers and made recommendations to bank credit committees.
- Worked on the legal negotiations of debt term sheets and financing documentation.
Focus areas: Credit/Debt, Financial Modeling, Credit Analysis, Microsoft Excel, Microsoft PowerPoint, Corporate Finance, Legal, Finance, Financial Advisory, Leveraged Finance, Term Sheet Negotiations, People Management, Revenue & Expense Projections, Forecasting, Financial Planning & Analysis (FP&A), Three-statement Modeling, Excel Expert, Investment Banking, Debt, Debt Analysis, Financial Analysis, Financial Benchmarking, Construction, Business Evaluation, M&A (Buy-side), Mergers & Acquisitions (M&A), Due Diligence, Deal Sourcing, Cap Table Formation, Cap Tables, Capitalization Tables, Profit & Loss (P&L), Budget Modeling, Accounting, Cash Flow Modeling, Waterfall Modeling, Financial Forecasting, Investments, Real Estate, Key Performance Indicators (KPIs), Sensitivity Analysis
Education
2006 - 2010
Bachelor's Degree in Finance (First Class Honors)
University of Strathclyde - Glasgow, Scotland, United Kingdom
Certifications
AUGUST 2013 - PRESENT
Associate Member of the Association of Corporate Treasurers (AMCT)
Association of Corporate Treasurers (ACT)
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