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WHAT I DO

Corporate finance consulting for privately-held firms.

About

I'm Denice Sakakeeny.

  • LinkedIn

I work with founders, investors and executives to bring much needed and non-permanent expertise to the corporate finance function of privately-held firms worldwide. 

I'M A COMPANY BUILDER

Pivoted media firm from selling subscriber info to third-party advertisers to a subscription organization focusing on marketing education. 

2017-2018

  • Pivoted the company from monetizing membership through third-party advertisements to a structured marketing training platform 

  • Mapped operating processes, aligned to revenue streams, and developed product line costs and margins

  • Formalized new financial and HR infrastructure; time tracking, P&Ls, accrual-based accounting, KPIs, etc. 

  • Net Income grew 15%+ annually during my tenure

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Finance Lead for the digital transformation of one of the world’s largest scientific organizations. 

2021 - 2023

  • Recruited by SVP Delivery & Innovation to assess lifecycle costs of peer-reviewed and open-source journals to free up capital for future product development

  • Developed & deployed FP&A infrastructure for SVP to manage $125M+ in annual operating expenses

  • Created various “highest and beat use of asset” scenarios supported by economic models, financial analysis, and interviews, which streamlined product operations, de-risked dependence on contact labor, and aligned project/product accounting

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Turned around a tech-enabled outsourced medical billing firm.

2018- 2019, 2022

  • Hired by CEO to turn around business, create stable financial & economic business case, and reduce overspending without additional capital, resulting in a successful company pivot from consumer-facing to B2B

  • Earned executive team buy-in, enabling the company to become cash flow positive for the duration of engagement 

  • Served as HR executive; oversaw the implementation of automation related to employee engagement; surveys, benefits access, directories, etc.​

I'M A STRATEGIST

Modernized critical operating processes and increased margins for family-owned produce repacker. 

2023

  • Recruited by newly hired COO to modernize operations for profitable $100M+ business

  • Implemented a new HRIS and ERP system; systematically examined each core business process, streamlined operations, created new workflows, and associated financial processes

  • Digitized the entire finance function, migrating from paper-based to digital

  • Reduced idle time of production lines by 50% in 6 months by rebuilding produce & materials staging process, which reduced transport time from warehouse to production line

  • Created equipment maintenance SOP to promote preventive maintenance & decrease equipment outages​

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Developed short-term cash flow plan and architected turnaround for a third-party management company of a family resort. 

2023

  • Facilitated high-volume interviews to analyze raw operational source data and dig into historicals to assess the cause of declining cash flow from operations 

  • Proposed and analyzed go-forward strategies including spin-off opportunity, cost-savings, and positioning for potential acquisition

  • Managed cash flow and cash timing, which streamlined visibility and mitigated catastrophe​

I'M A LEADER

Scaled Finance, HR and increased production capacity for an award-winning craft brewery during a hyper-growth period.

2016 - 2017

  • Hand-picked by the COO to integrate, professionalize, and scale corporate finance & HR operations

  • Built business case that increased in-house production by 30%+ to meet demand & avoid rationing of client orders using staggered shifts & focused production planning to reduce tank/asset idle time 

  • Integrated distribution and retail operations into multi-site corporate infrastructure 

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First non-founder executive for a tech-enabled third-party email marketing firm. 

2018-2022

  • Recruited by CEO to build finance, HR & Operation as the first non-founder hire; grew company to $80M+ in topline annual revenue and double-digit headcount  

  • Hired, onboarded, and managed a team of seven, including Operations, Accounting, Finance, and HR

  • Shepherded partner buyouts, operating agreement rewrites, recaps, etc. 

  • Designed accounting infrastructure for 35+ disregarded legal entities

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Built back office of US subsidiary of EU shopping aggregator. 

2013-2024

  • Built and managed turn-key Corporate Finance, HR, & Compliance as German Parent Co’s only subsidiary 

  • Grew infrastructure to manage a headcount of 25+ services US, Mexico 7 Canada

  • Led US legal entity sell-side diligence and PE post-sale integrations twice in less than ten years

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Led clean-tech start-up through turbulent times as only on-site executive.

2016-2020 

  • Hired by the CEO & Founder to serve as de facto CFO & COO after CEO’s sudden departure post-investor takeover; promoted to report directly to Miami-based Board of Directors

  • Managed staff and leases in greater Boston; led all finance, HR & Administration teams with 3 direct reports

  • Delivered against government contracts, completed annual financial audits, recapped company, closed debt financing, and facilitated key relationships with commercialization partners to facilitate exit â€‹â€‹

I'M A FIXER

Stabilized cash flows and margins of award-winning homestead cheese company and integratrated retail store acquisition.

2017-2018

  • Hired by a group of Finance partners from Boston who converted a traditional dairy farm into a cheese business equipped with shelf-ready branded products

  • Integrated retail store operations post-acquisition and developed multi-site accounting infrastructure 

  • Formalized inventory cost accounting from paper-based to verifiable digital system 

  • Increased cash flow from operations by systematically aligning cost and value for each function from farm operations and cheese manufacturing to sales & marketing

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Stabilized and exited a bi-coastal online backup company.

2011-2017

  • Recruited by CRO to build Boston office operations and return company to stable financial health following the departure of previous CFO who overspent beyond capabilities; managed company exit in 2013

  • Served as de facto COO to source real estate, re-negotiate leases, build out infrastructure, manage & scale teams, HR, finance, and office operations 

  • Directed company wind down and facilitated sale to an Indian public company

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Prepared Systems Integration Firm for exit.

2022 - 2024 ​​

  • Hired by CEO to originally assess company sale readiness 

  • Restructured financial operations to reduce monthly time to close by over 50%

  • Delivered full scale services FP&A reporting by business line and migrated to accrual-based accounting 

  • Standardized utilization reporting and project stoplight reports resulted in increased GM by 20%​​​​

I'M A DOER

Built economic model and related business case for use in private placement memorandum for new real estate fund.

2023

  • Directed the development and formalization of business plan, relayed strategy, and comprehensive fund model for $100M+ real estate development fund

  • Co-authored Private Placement Memorandum (PPM) alongside Legal Counsel

 

Assessed accuracy of statistical return model for seed stage climate technology fund.

2018

  • Served as SME to ensure a statistical fund return model for a PhD’s academic paper was valid and contained sound methodologies

  • Funded under a Department of Energy grant

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Corporate Finance Consulting c. 2011


WTF.

The advice I always wanted but never had is now yours. 

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Check out my thoughts on scaling chaos, getting your CFO out of the weeds, and what to do before you hire an investment bank.​

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