Ben Blieden
Verified Expert in Management Consulting
Finance Expert
Boston, United States
Toptal member since March 29, 2022
Ben is the co-founder and CFO of a venture-backed fintech company that is pioneering how SMBs access funding and repay investors. He is an expert in capital raising, financial modeling, valuation, and data analysis. Before founding a fintech company, he spent 6+ years performing valuation analysis on complex financial instruments for companies ranging from startups to Fortune 500 public companies. Ben is a CFA-charter holder focusing on producing high-quality deliverables.
Certification Highlights
Case Studies
SaaS Company Unit Economics
DCF Valuation of Proposed Merger
Pitch Deck for Series A Raise
Software Expertise
- Google Slides
- Microsoft Excel
Other Expertise
- Accounting
- Discounted Cash Flow (DCF)
- Financial Analysis
- Financial Modeling
- M&A Modeling
- Unit Economics
Work Experience
Chief Financial Officer
MainVest
- Oversaw the development of an innovative method to fund and grow SMBs using revenue-based financing debt instruments. Since its inception, tens of millions of USD have been funded to hundreds of SMBs using these nascent financial vehicles.
- Raised over $6 million in capital from institutional venture capital firms, including Lerer Hippeau, Expa, and Rucker Park VC.
- Led the accounting, finance, regulatory, legal, and HR departments of a venture-backed fintech company.
- Managed a policy initiative to improve Title III of the JOBS Act, including submitting policy proposals to the SEC, which ultimately contributed to the vast improvement of the regulatory framework behind SMB capital formation.
- Constructed financial models used in various applications throughout the business, including debt pricing models, discounted cash flow models, LTV models, etc. The models were used with hundreds of clients and VC pitches.
Manager
Grant Thornton
- Led auditing efforts of valuation-related accounting entries for various public and private clients.
- Managed dozens of client-facing engagements related to the valuation of complex financial instruments and equity and debt valuation.
- Developed financial models for a wide array of clients for financial analysis, valuation, mergers and acquisitions, and tax and accounting purposes.
Education
Bachelor of Business Administration in Finance
University of Massachusetts Amherst, Isenberg Business School - Amherst, MA, USA
Certifications
CFA
CFA Institute
Skills
Finance
Financial Modeling, Credit Risk, Credit/Debt, Debt, Lending, Mergers & Acquisitions (M&A), Three-statement Modeling, Revenue & Expense Projections, ROI, CFO, Credit Underwriting, Consumer Lending, Accounting, Lifetime Value (LTV), Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC), Contribution Margin Analysis, Discounted Cash Flow (DCF), M&A Modeling, Series A, Financial Planning & Analysis (FP&A), Fundraising, Data Analysis, Valuation, Valuation of Financial Instruments, Forecasting
Output Software
Microsoft Excel, Microsoft Word, Google Slides
Geographic Expertise
United States
Data & Analysis Software
Bloomberg, Capital IQ
Other
Financial Analysis, Commercial Lending, Loans & Lending, Investments, IRR, Fractional CFO, Interim CFO, Risk & Compliance, Leveraged Buyout (LBO), Unit Economics, Pitch Decks, Fintech, Client Relations, Compliance, Legal, Human Resources (HR), Platforms, Marketplaces, B2B
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