# Colt Starks

Colt Starks is a remote worker on Himalayas, Head of Finance at Gipper Media, based in United States.

Source: https://himalayas.app/@coltstarks

```text
Finance executive at Gipper who cut annual cash burn by ~$3M and built finance operations from the ground up.
```

| Detail | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Availability | Looking for a job |
| Location | United States |
| Authorized to work in | United States |
| Salary expectations | 200k+ USD |
| Job categories | Finance Executive, Vice President Of Finance, Head of Finance, Director Of Financial Planning and Analysis, Senior Pricing Manager, Financial Planning And Analysis Manager, Financial Analyst |
| Skills | Strategic Financial Planning, Financial Modeling, SaaS Unit Economics, Cohort Analysis, Forecasting, Scenario Planning, Executive Reporting, Board Reporting, Strategic Planning, Capital Allocation, Fundraising, Venture Debt, M&A, Finance Systems Implementation, Monthly Close |

## About

```text
At Gipper, I built FP&A, reporting, the close process, and operational analytics as the company's first finance executive. I partnered with the CEO and leadership team on board reporting, planning, and capital efficiency, reducing annual cash burn by ~$3M.

At Brandfolder, I joined as the first finance hire and built the finance function, then led finance and G&A diligence for its $155M acquisition by Smartsheet. Across venture-backed SaaS companies, I've partnered with executives on fundraising, capital allocation, and operating strategy, and built finance teams and systems to support growth.
```

## Experience

### Head of Finance

Gipper Media. Jan 2023 - Dec 2026

```text
Appointed as the company's first finance executive to build FP&A, reporting, close process, and operational analytics infrastructure from the ground up. Served as strategic finance partner to the CEO, supporting board communications, hiring plans, pricing decisions, and long-range operating strategy.
```

Skills: FP&A, Financial-Modeling, Board-Reporting, Strategic-Planning, Capital-Efficiency, KPI-Reporting, Close-Processes, Revenue-Recognition, Treasury-Management, Claude, Scenario-Modeling, Financial-Analysis

### Vice President of Finance

Cyral. Jan 2022 - Dec 2023

```text
Hired as the organization's inaugural finance executive to oversee finance, accounting, HR, and IT. Developed financial strategies and plans to promote organizational growth and governed relationships with third-party partners.
```

Skills: Financial-Strategy, Operating-Model, Board-Reporting, Fundraising, Forecasting, Capital-Allocation, Close-Processes, Variance-Analysis, Process-Implementation

### Vice President of Finance & Accounting

Hotel Engine. Jan 2021 - Dec 2022

```text
Recruited from Brandfolder as a trusted resource to serve as executive leader driving day-to-day accounting operations and finance strategy across a 300+ employee organization. Led a finance and G&A team of 15+ spanning accounting, AR, FP&A, and business operations.
```

Skills: Accounting-Operations, Finance-And-Strategy, Team-Leadership, Series-B-Fundraising, KPI-Frameworks, OKR-Framework, Monthly-Close, Venture-Debt, Budgeting, Forecasting, Operational-Planning

### Vice President of Finance

Brandfolder. Jan 2018 - Dec 2021

```text
Joined as the first finance hire and built the finance function from the ground up, establishing forecasting, board reporting, SaaS KPI tracking, and operational planning processes that supported rapid scaling and eventual acquisition by Smartsheet.
```

Skills: Financial-Planning, Board-Reporting, SaaS-Metrics, Due-Diligence, M&A, Pricing-Strategy, Contract-Negotiation, Cohort-Analysis, Retention-Analysis, Growth-Efficiency

### Director of Financial Planning & Analysis

FullContact. Jan 2017 - Dec 2018

```text
Provided strategic financial insights and recommendations to senior executives. Prepared and presented comprehensive monthly financial reports and developed short- and long-term financial roadmaps.
```

Skills: Financial-Analysis, Unit-Economics, CAC, LTV, Payback, Magic-Number, Budgeting, Capital-Allocation, Debt-Financing

### Senior Principal (Director), Financial Planning & Analysis

Rally Software. Jan 2015 - Dec 2017

```text
Supported investor relations, financial planning, and executive reporting at a publicly traded SaaS company. Post-acquisition by CA Technologies, owned the $120M P&L for the Rally business unit and drove SaaS finance knowledge transfer across the newly formed organization.
```

Skills: Investor-Relations, Financial-Planning, Executive-Reporting, P&L-management, Due-Diligence, Financial-Statement-Preparation, Financial-Insights

### Senior Financial Analyst

Rally Software. Jan 2013 - Dec 2015

```text
Supported financial planning and analysis functions at a publicly traded SaaS company, contributing to investor relations and executive reporting.
```

Skills: Financial-Analysis, Financial-Planning, Reporting

### Senior Pricing Manager

[Startek](https://himalayas.app/companies/startek). Jan 2011 - Dec 2013

```text
Led team of analysts in updating annual budgets and rolling forecasts, advising C-suite on material variances to plan and updated outlooks on business performance. Led analysis of all customer contracts to ensure alignment of pricing with profit margin targets.
```

Skills: Pricing-Strategy, Contract-Analysis, Budgeting, Forecasting, Variance-Analysis, Scorecards, Capacity-Analysis

### Manager of Financial Planning & Analysis

[Startek](https://himalayas.app/companies/startek). Jan 2008 - Dec 2011

```text
Managed financial planning and analysis activities, including budgeting, forecasting, and variance analysis, while advising senior leadership on business performance.
```

Skills: Financial-Planning, Budgeting, Forecasting, Variance-Analysis, Team-Leadership

## Education

### University of Colorado Boulder

Bachelor's Degree, Finance

```text
Bachelor's degree in Finance from the University of Colorado Boulder.
```

## Tech stack

- Xero
- Google Sheets
- Microsoft Excel
- NetSuite
- Anaplan

To contact Colt, message them from this profile with a Himalayas employer account: [Hire on Himalayas](https://himalayas.app/hire).

## People also viewed

- [Dave Robinson](https://himalayas.app/@daverobinson): Sr. Director, FP&A, Sofar
- [Nick Cain](https://himalayas.app/@nickcain): Senior Director, FP&A, Indeed
- [Greg Mazzanobile](https://himalayas.app/@gregmazzanobile): Interim CFO, Moonsong Labs
- [Endurance Weke](https://himalayas.app/@enduranceweke): Senior FP&A Analyst, ConnectWise
- [Alejandra Santos](https://himalayas.app/@alejandrasantos): VP of Finance, Into the Next, Inc
- [Stacie Otto](https://himalayas.app/@stacieotto): Senior Vice President of Finance, RFPIO
- [Meet Aneja](https://himalayas.app/@meetaneja): Senior Director of FP&A, Medical Microinstruments, Inc.
- [Chanelle Ossiele](https://himalayas.app/@chanelleossiele): Head of Business Unit Finance, Shutterfly
- [Jordan Pope-Studstill](https://himalayas.app/@jordanpope-studstill): Fractional Finance Consultant, Self Employed
- [Eric Stephenson](https://himalayas.app/@ericstephenson): Independent Fractional Head of Finance, Founder