Scott Orn, CFA Chief Operating Officer

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

Recent Podcasts by Scott Orn

Stacy Edgar

03/10/2024

Stacy Edgar CEO
at Venteur

Stacy Edgar explains how Venteur's solutions help companies provide flexible individual healthcare plans for employees.

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Jake Cronin

02/25/2024

Jake Cronin Co-Founder & Co-CEO
at Siro

Jake Cronin, co-founder of Siro, explains how Siro makes great sales coaching available to salespeople, helping them realize their potential.

Read more
Don Muir

02/04/2024

Don Muir CEO
at Arc

Don Muir of Arc explains Arc Capital Markets, a marketplace for bespoke venture debt and startup-focused credit products.

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Gautam Gupta

01/22/2024

Gautam Gupta General Partner
at TCV

What are VCs looking for in today's market? Gautam Gupta of TCV discusses what it takes to fundraise right now, including an emphasis on company fundamentals, significant gross profit margins, what to call out in a pitch meeting, and what to look for in a term sheet.

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Eric Ver Ploeg

01/08/2024

Eric Ver Ploeg Founding Partner
at Tunitas Ventures

How do startups get to Series A? Eric Ver Ploeg, founding partner of Tunitas Ventures, discusses Series A investing, including timing, choosing VCs, shutting down a startup, startup valuations, and more..

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Abe Othman

12/10/2023

Abe Othman Head of Data Science
at AngelList

Abe Othman of AngelList discusses the current status of the startup ecosystem.

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David Bergeron

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.

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Kyle Vamvouris

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.

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Julian Christmas

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.

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Scott Orn in the news

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