Hire the Top 3% of Freelance Startup Consultants

Small business owners, early stage startup businesses, and venture capital firms hire startup business consultants from Toptal for deliverables such as business plans, business models, and due diligence materials.

No-Risk Trial, Pay Only If Satisfied.

Clients rate Toptal Startup Consultants 4.9 / 5 on average based on 358 reviews.

Talent Navigator

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UTC -11 Pacific/Pago Pago
UTC -11 Pacific/Pago Pago

Find and hire Top Startup Consultants worldwide. Simply click on your preferred time zone on the map.

Trusted by leading brands and startups

Hire Freelance Startup Consultants in the UTC-08:00 America/Los Angeles time zone

Ken Zakalik

Freelance Startup Consultant
UTC-08:00
United States
Toptal Member Since March 27, 2023

Ken is an experienced tech futurist and innovator who has helped cutting-edge startups, iconic brands, and seasoned not-for-profits transform for growth and innovation. Whether developing product and innovation strategies, launching accelerators, giving keynotes, or leading teams, Ken's work is game-changing and has been recognized and featured in Fast Company, Variety, Advertising Week, and more. He has earned his reputation as a secret weapon in the world of digital R&D and innovation.

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Alan Witty

Freelance Startup Consultant
UTC-07:00
United States
Toptal Member Since June 20, 2022

Alan has 30 years of experience as a consultant, including leadership roles at KPMG & KPMG Consulting and EY. He has executive operational experience as the COO of a venture capital-funded company. Alan is skilled in project management with a record of delivering on time and on or under budget. He is also experienced in business planning, process improvement, curriculum design, IT security, and logical and physical architecture. Freelance work lets Alan focus on client needs and projects.

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Paul Miller

Freelance Startup Consultant
UTC-05:00
United States
Toptal Member Since August 10, 2022

Paul led products that you have used; cashback on the card at point-of-sale (product owner at VISA International) and most services on your American Express Card (product director, developer, and manager). He offers over 25 years of omnichannel marketing, product management, operations, and analytics - often IT-focused. Paul delights in working for thought-provoking clients in starting, growing, and renewing their businesses and profits.

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John Gauch

Freelance Startup Consultant
UTC-05:00
Canada
Toptal Member Since March 10, 2022

John combines a general manager's and an innovator's experiences and tools. He builds and scales products and businesses that stand out in the marketplace. John brings a unique lens and flexible end-to-end approach to this work, integrating his prior corporate law, finance, sales and business development, marketing and product, and business design experience.

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Fabio Pigo

Freelance Startup Consultant
UTC+00:00
United Kingdom
Toptal Member Since May 23, 2022

Fabio has co-founded and launched two B2B marketplaces, one of which is corporate-backed with a multibillion-dollar revenue and thousands of users. He's a digital veteran who scaled many tech companies and led digital transformation globally at large corporations. Fabio fundraised pre-seed, seed, and A/B rounds; he's an expert at global growth, particularly EMEA and APAC. He freelances to help Series A/B startups with strategy, business plans, growth, team building, and coaching C-level leaders.

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Giacomo Teodori

Freelance Startup Consultant
UTC+01:00
Spain
Toptal Member Since July 24, 2022

Giacomo is a former Oliver Wyman and Deloitte consultant, now head of digital acquisition for a scale-up. He strives for management consultant problem-solving frameworks applied to digital strategy and marketing. He defines strategies for budgets up to eight figures for different digital acquisition channels and countries. Giacomo has frequent interactions with board members and executives. He enjoys developing digital, market entry, and sizing strategies with an analytical approach.

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Andrea Barsotti

Freelance Startup Consultant
UTC+01:00
Italy
Toptal Member Since February 23, 2022

With +20 years of experience in management consulting at Kearney and startups development, Andrea is keen on helping clients with strategy definition, business planning, and market research. His background in the US and major European countries–also thanks to his dual US-Italian citizenship–allowed him to develop deep market knowledge, valuable to support international expansion plans. Furthermore, Andrea founded and continues to grow a money-making eCommerce startup in the luxury travel niche.

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Sameer Bakhru, CFA

Freelance Startup Consultant
UTC+04:00
United Arab Emirates
Toptal Member Since April 19, 2019

Sameer has led a $100 million franchise partnership. He is a blockchain expert, having worked with crypto startups from social media apps to NFT platforms and P2E games. His experience includes fundraising, tokenomics, whitepapers business strategy, asset sales, corporate finance, and M&A. Sameer has worked with billionaires, private equity firms, and family offices, providing unique insights into investor mindsets. Sameer joined Toptal to add value to a variety of businesses creatively.

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Dhruv Tandan

Freelance Startup Consultant
UTC+05:00
India
Toptal Member Since June 4, 2018

Dhruv has worked on successful finance and consulting projects worth over $1 billion, focusing on tech, energy, and life science companies across the US, Asia, and Africa. He currently serves as a fractional CFO for multiple startups, is a partner at AND Business Consulting, and has more than 15 years of experience in FP&A, fundraising, startup consulting, M&A, and project finance. With an MBA in finance, Dhruv enjoys the exposure and sheer variety of assignments that come with freelancing.

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Johan Bergendorff

Freelance Startup Consultant
UTC+08:00
Singapore
Toptal Member Since June 10, 2021

Johan began his career with PwC, advising on some of the most prominent private equity transactions in the UK and the Nordics. Following a decade as an M&A advisor, he took up a position with a billionaire investor, focusing on turnaround investments, including a US publicly-traded company where he was parachuted in as CFO. Johan held the position of CFO and COO for ConnectedLife, a medical technology company, successfully raising $2.5 million over Zoom during the COVID lockdown in Spring 2020.

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Sean Kae Siang Lim

Freelance Startup Consultant
UTC+10:00
Australia
Toptal Member Since May 7, 2019

As a skilled CFA charterholder, Sean specializes in commercial modeling and growth strategy for startups and corporate innovations. With over five years of experience working in venture capitals, accelerators, and CVC, he has helped 20+ startups to develop their growth strategies, business plans, and financial models. Currently, Sean is working with the largest insurer in Australia to create an incubation ecosystem for insurtech, which includes industry, VC, academic, and government sectors.

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THE TOPTAL ADVANTAGE

98% of Toptal clients choose to hire our talent after a risk-free trial.

Toptal's screening and matching process ensures exceptional talent are matched to your precise needs.

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Toptal in the press

... allows corporations to quickly assemble teams that have the right skills for specific projects.

Despite accelerating demand for coders, Toptal prides itself on almost Ivy League-level vetting.

Our clients
Creating an app for the game
Conor Kenney
Creating an app for the game
Leading a digital transformation
Elmar Platzer
Leading a digital transformation
Building a cross-platform app to be used worldwide
Building a cross-platform app to be used worldwide
Drilling into real-time data creates an industry game changer
Drilling into real-time data creates an industry game changer
Testimonials
Martin so far is a complete Rockstar. His first bit of work produced a tool for us to model and forecast our financials and is far and away worth every penny we paid and more. Just thought I’d share that with you.

Pete Pellizzari

CEO

Erik has been an extremely valuable member of our team who has tremendous breath of experience with start ups in our lifecycle phase. What makes his contribution unique and highly effective is not only his excellent financial modeling skills and knowledge, but also the emotional intelligence with which he manages each relationship at Vault, understands our team dynamics, and helps us tackle start up challenges effectively. It is rare to find a part-time consultant who makes you feel like he/she is genuinely invested in the success of your company.

Romy Parzick

COO

Toptal has been an incredible key partner for Sidekick. As an early-stage start-up, we’ve leveraged both design and financial talent. The experience has been incredible, with those professionals bringing creativity, expertise, and advice to ensure Sidekick succeeds. My Toptal financial expert helped steer Sidekick’s business model, which resulted in an initial ROI of 650x! My experience with Toptal has given me great confidence in the future.

Doug MacKay

Founder / CEO

Chris was great to work with and was always available on my schedule. His communication skills and personality were a 10/10. His outputs on the project were top notch and allowed us to develop more efficient forecasting and initiative prioritization frameworks. I would definitely use Chris again.

Chris Pozek

CEO

What really sets Toptal apart is the caliber of finance talent available in their network. I had a very specific and pressing need, and Toptal quickly matched me with the perfect person for the job. The expert produced a thoughtful and robust financial analysis that has ultimately allowed us to forecast and prioritize initiatives much more efficiently.

Chris Pozek

CEO

How to Hire Startup Consultants Through Toptal

1

Talk to One of Our Client Advisors

A Toptal client advisor will work with you to understand your goals, technical needs, and team dynamics.
2

Work With Hand-selected Talent

Within days, we'll introduce you to the right Startup Consultant for your project. Average time to match is under 24 hours.
3

The Right Fit, Guaranteed

Work with your new Startup Consultant for a trial period (pay only if satisfied), ensuring they're the right fit before starting the engagement.

Find Experts With Related Skills

Access a vast pool of skilled finance experts in our talent network and hire the top 3% within just 48 hours.

FAQs

  • How quickly can you hire with Toptal?

    Typically, you can hire a Startup Consultant with Toptal in about 48 hours. For larger teams of talent or Managed Delivery, timelines may vary. Our talent matchers are highly skilled in the same fields they’re matching in—they’re not recruiters or HR reps. They’ll work with you to understand your goals, technical needs, and team dynamics, and match you with ideal candidates from our vetted global talent network.

    Once you select your Startup Consultant, you’ll have a no-risk trial period to ensure they’re the perfect fit. Our matching process has a 98% trial-to-hire rate, so you can rest assured that you’re getting the best fit every time.

  • To hire the right Startup Consultant, it’s important to evaluate a candidate’s experience, technical skills, and communication skills. You’ll also want to consider the fit with your particular industry, company, and project. Toptal’s rigorous screening process ensures that every member of our network has excellent experience and skills, and our team will match you with the perfect Startup Consultants for your project.

  • At Toptal, we thoroughly screen our Startup Consultants to ensure we only match you with the highest caliber of talent. Of the more than 200,000 people who apply to join the Toptal network each year, fewer than 3% make the cut.

    In addition to screening for industry-leading expertise, we also assess candidates’ language and interpersonal skills to ensure that you have a smooth working relationship.

    When you hire with Toptal, you’ll always work with world-class, custom-matched Startup Consultants ready to help you achieve your goals.

  • You can hire Startup Consultants on an hourly, part-time, or full-time basis. Toptal can also manage the entire project from end-to-end with our Managed Delivery offering. Whether you hire an expert for a full- or part-time position, you’ll have the control and flexibility to scale your team up or down as your needs evolve. Our Startup Consultants can fully integrate into your existing team for a seamless working experience.

  • We make sure that each engagement between you and your Startup Consultant begins with a trial period of up to two weeks. This means that you have time to confirm the engagement will be successful. If you’re completely satisfied with the results, we’ll bill you for the time and continue the engagement for as long as you’d like. If you’re not completely satisfied, you won’t be billed. From there, we can either part ways, or we can provide you with another expert who may be a better fit and with whom we will begin a second, no-risk trial.

Tap Into World-Class Talent

  • Trusted Experts Only

    Trusted Experts Only

    All of our talent are seasoned experts who ramp up quickly, readily contribute as core team members, and work with you to minimize onboarding time.

  • The Right Fit

    The Right Fit

    We have a knack for matching you with the right fit. Start working with your new hire on a no-risk trial period, paying only if satisfied.

  • Scale as Needed

    Scale as Needed

    Hire talent within 48 hours and scale your team up or down as needed, no strings attached.

  • Seamless Hiring

    Seamless Hiring

    We handle all aspects of billing, payments, and NDA’s. Let us take care of the overhead while you focus on building great products.

  • Flexible Engagements

    Flexible Engagements

    Choose the engagement type that suits your needs — hourly, part-time, or full-time — with the ability to change anytime.

  • Expert Talent Matching

    Expert Talent Matching

    Focus on your project and enjoy support from your dedicated account executive and expert talent matcher.

Top Startup Consultants Are in High Demand.

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