What an embedded fractional CFO actually does
A fractional CFO is not an outside advisor reviewing your numbers once a quarter. We sit inside the company — in the numbers, in the board meetings — and are accountable for the outcomes, not the recommendations.
- Financial operations. The close, the controls and the people who run them.
- Forecasting. Models built to be met, so the forecast earns a track record.
- Capital planning. How much runway you have, what it costs, and when to raise.
- Board and investor reporting. A consistent package that answers questions before they are asked.
Institutionalizing the finance function as you scale
Growth exposes every shortcut in the finance function. We close the books on a fixed cadence, show margin by product and customer, and tighten the cash cycle. Reporting is built to scale with the company, not around one person's spreadsheet.
The result is an operation a board can rely on and a buyer can underwrite. It is Phase II of the Rolled Sleeves Path — Commercialize, Institutionalize, Position, Transact — and the foundation for exit readiness.
Capital and investor strategy: private equity, venture debt and non-dilutive capital
Capital on the right terms, in the right order. We decide with you what to raise, from whom and when: private equity, venture debt or non-dilutive capital. Then we build what investors examine first — a defensible model, a clean data room and a valuation case that holds up in diligence.
Wendy has raised more than $500M across private equity and venture debt. She has sat on the other side of the table often enough to know where terms are won and lost.
Fractional CFO vs. full-time CFO
Many growth companies need CFO-level judgment before they need — or can justify — a full-time CFO. A fractional CFO brings that judgment now, at the stage when decisions about pricing, capital and reporting set the company's value for years.
The difference here is depth, not hours. Rolled Sleeves works with five to six companies at a time. No more. There is no junior bench: the person in the first meeting is the person doing the work.
Operators first. Advisors always.