Scott Orn, CFA

Chief Operating Officer

Scott runs Operations at Kruze Consulting, a fast-growing Startup CFO Consulting firm that works with over 750 startup clients. Kruze is based in San Francisco with clients in the Bay Area, Los Angeles, New York and all over the United States. In addition to his Operations responsibilities, Scott runs the Venture Debt Consulting practice at Kruze. In his spare time, Scott publishes the Founders & Friends Podcast, which interviews Startup CEO’s, Investors and Other Service Providers in the Startup Ecosystem. Scott hold the CFA designation (Chartered Financial Analyst).

Before Kruze Consulting, Scott was a Partner at Lighthouse Capital, a private debt fund that lends to startups. In addition, Scott ran Community Products at Callisto Media.

Scott still manages his portfolio on behalf of Lighthouse. Some of his high-profile deals include Angie’s List, UpWork, J Hilburn, Serena & Lily and Impossible Foods. He’s led 20+ deals and invested over $100M+ with $0 losses and a mid-teen’s % IRR.

In his spare time, Scott co-founded Ben’s Friends, an Internet patient support community for people with rare diseases. Ben’s Friends is a 501C3 non-profit and has become one of the largest rare disease support communities on the Internet with 120,000 uniques last month (a 20% increase month over month).

Prior to joining Lighthouse, Scott spent three years in Technology Mergers & Acquisitions at Hambrecht & Quist which was later acquired by JPMorgan Chase.

Scott has an MBA from Kellogg, and an undergraduate business degree from CAL Berkeley. He also has a CFA and has passed the Series 7.

Scott’s Favorite Quote from Oceans by Pearl Jam:

You don’t have to stray
The oceans away
Waves roll in my thoughts
Hold tight the ring
The sea will rise
Please stand by the shore
I will be there once more

Scott’s Favorite Book:

Hawaii by James Michener

Recent Blog posts by Scott Orn

Sun, 19 November 2023

What should you do if your startup’s valuation is too high?

After the booming startup market of the last few years, the valuation of many startups has gotten too high.

Sun, 12 November 2023

VC Funds: Ratio of Distributions to Paid-in Capital

The ratio of distributions to paid-in capital (DPI) is used to measure the total capital that a venture capital fund has returned to its investors. It’s calculated by dividing the cumulative distributions by the amount of capital invested in a VC fund.

Sun, 5 November 2023

Can Founders Pay Themselves Through an LLC?

While startup founders can pay themselves through an LLC, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) doesn’t particularly like it. If you’re a founder considering this option, you should know that you may get extra attention from the IRS.

Sun, 29 October 2023

Should Startup Founders Share Bank Statements Via Email?

With this question, there are different factors at play. There’s what we recommend and there is also what happens in reality when founders are busy and end up resorting to the quickest method.

Thu, 26 October 2023

What Are Insured Cash Sweeps for FDIC Insured Deposits?

Insured Cash Sweep (ICS) accounts have been around for a while, but the recent Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) crisis has made a lot of founders look more closely at this banking option for their startups.

Sun, 22 October 2023

Should Startup Founders Take Vacation?

The unequivocal answer to this question is yes! Startup founders should absolutely take vacations no matter how much pressure they may feel, and there are multiple reasons for this.

Thu, 12 October 2023

Bookings vs Revenue vs ARR

At Kruze Consulting, we get tons of questions about the difference between bookings, ARR and revenue.

Sun, 8 October 2023

How a Downround is Actually a Compliment

Obviously, no one wants to do a downround. It means you raised money at a valuation that was too high, and you didn't execute your promises as well as you said you would.

Go to our Blog

Recent Podcasts by Scott Orn

10/22/2023

David Bergeron Co-Founder and President
at ReSeed Partners

David Bergeron, explains how ReSeed Partners brings together talented real estate professionals and long-term investors to build real estate businesses.

10/08/2023

Kyle Vamvouris Founder and CEO
at Vouris

Kyle Vamvouris, founder and CEO of Vouris Sales Consultancy, talks about things that founders should know about the sales process, hiring sales people, and developing a sales team.

09/24/2023

Julian Christmas Founder
at Cintra Global

Julian Christmas of Cintra Global discusses how Cintra helps startups with international hiring, taxes, and payroll across a wide range of countries and borders.

09/10/2023

Shomik Ghosh Partner
at Boldstart Ventures

Shomik Ghosh, partner at VC firm Boldstart, discusses the types of companies Boldstart invests in, and looks at the current venture capital marketplace.

08/27/2023

Sarvin Patel COO/CFO
at Curie Co.

Sarvin Patel of Curie Co discusses Curie Co's technology, which works to replace chemicals with biodegradable enzymes, reducing the amount of chemicals entering the environment by replacing them in personal care products.

08/13/2023

Bryan Harper Managing Director
at InfraFi

Bryan Harper of IntraFi discusses banking deposit networks, and how IntraFi's network of over 3,000 banks provides expanded FDIC insurance to businesses with large deposits.

08/02/2023

Bebe Kim Founder and CEO
at Basis.so

Bebe Kim of Basis explains how their financial platform connects financial and operational data to help startups get a complete picture of their businesses.

06/27/2023

Michael Bjorn Huseby Investment Funds Attorney
at DLA Piper

Michael Bjorn Huseby of DLA Piper explains some of the legal issues of venture capital, including 506(b) regulations, capital calls, VC partnership structures, management fees, carried interest, and more.

06/13/2023

Kathryn Petralia Co-Founder and Chief Keeper
at Keep Financial

Kathryn Petralia explains how Keep Financial helps companies offer effective employee incentive programs, and leverages bonuses and financial compensation to motivate workers and improve hiring.

View all podcasts

Scott’s Favorite Quote from Oceans by Pearl Jam:

Scott’s Favorite Book:

Recent Blog posts by Scott Orn

Recent Podcasts by Scott Orn

Scott Orn in the news