CHRIS COOK
FRACTIONAL CHIEF FINANCE OFFICER
Chris Cook (She/Her) joined FLG in 2018 with over 25 years of public-company finance and management executive experience. She has been recognized as a respected leader, team builder and mentor, and a sought-after financial advisor to line management teams at financial institutions ranging from $200 million to $300 billion in assets.
Over the course of her career, Chris has assisted six companies acquire approximately $400 billion in assets through complex acquisitions. In addition to M&A, Chris’s expertise includes equity and debt fundraising, IPO planning, financial modeling, investor relations, SEC reporting, SOX 404 implementation, and litigation support.
At FLG Partners, Chris has leveraged her depth of big-company experience to advise emerging companies scaling for growth in technology, from big data technology, med-tech, and fin-tech to music technology, as well as assisting consumer products, manufacturing and not-for-profit clients. As an interim CFO, her private-sector clients have included EarnUp, Applestone, Cooler Heads, Weav, Carats and Cake, FinTech Bank (in formation), Conventus, QuickHaven and the Kutcher Clinic (The Sports Neurology Clinic), as well as not-for-profits Main Street Launch, RSF Social Finance, Manifest MedEx, among others.
Chris’s strong suit is partnering with CEOs and Boards to immediately add value by addressing emerging company priorities for strategic growth and drive improvements in operational performance. She leverages a dynamic leadership style, a flexible approach to evolving market and company conditions and development of innovative solutions to help early-stage enterprises thrive. Her diverse skillsets include financial modeling, investor relations, fundraising for capital, rapid review and improvement of business processes, establishing new financial systems and controls, and streamlining and automating operations.
Prior to joining FLG, Chris spent her career both at highly-regulated public companies and mid-to-large sized private companies as both a CFO and COO. Her background includes deep knowledge of banking and financial instruments, as well as business experience across multiple sectors; fintech, wealth management, consumer products, manufacturing, distribution, entertainment, insurance and construction. Previously, she was the Chief Financial Officer of Bank of Marin (NASDAQ: BMRC), the CFO at First California Mortgage Company and the CFO and Risk Officer at Redwood Credit Union, before launching her own C-level consultancy in 2016. In 2018, she co-founded StandardC, a fintech payments and compliance platform that facilitates banking for high-risk businesses.
Chris holds a BA in Accounting from DePaul University and holds an active CPA license in the State of California. She is also the recipient of the “CFO Recognition Award” from the North Bay Business Journal, the “Most Influential Women in Bay Area Business Award” from the San Francisco Business Journal, and the “Women in Business Award” from the North Bay Business Journal. Chris is passionate about mentoring entrepreneurs and has been an executive expert advising and mentoring Stanford University undergraduate students since 2018.