Your finance function should tell the company's story.
Zeno Insights embeds experienced financial executive leadership into PE and VC-backed companies — building the systems, narratives, and exit-ready infrastructure that drive shareholder value and investor confidence.
— Deals Director, Big 4 Firm · Quality of Earnings
Finance that drives valuation, not just compliance
Zeno Insights is led by a Financial Executive who has been a core member of executive leadership teams — driving finance transformations that resulted in measurable shareholder and valuation expansion across PE and VC-backed portfolios.
Decision-Driving Analytics
Financials and analytics structured to inform strategic decisions — not just report history. Every number connects to a lever that management can pull to expand shareholder value.
Exit-Ready From Day One
We build finance functions that are already in great shape before bankers and buyers arrive — proactive infrastructure that earns trust and eliminates last-minute diligence surprises that erode enterprise value.
Quarterback Experienced Leaders
Many operators are deeply skilled but have never navigated a full sell-side process. Zeno brings the playbook — coaching management teams through buyer diligence, banker coordination, and the negotiations that determine final valuation.
Six service lines. One integrated engagement.
From sponsor onboarding to transaction close, Zeno Insights covers every phase of the finance leadership lifecycle for PE and VC-backed companies.
CFO & Executive Finance Leadership
Zeno operates as a member of the executive leadership team — not a back-office function. We lead monthly financial review calls where management discusses performance narratives, strategic levers, benchmarking against budget and forecast, and variance analysis that shapes the next operating decision.
- Monthly financial review and narrative development with management
- Budget-to-actual variance analysis and forward-looking guidance
- Board and investor reporting packages with strategic commentary
- Cash flow forecasting and treasury management
- KPI definition, dashboard buildout, and performance benchmarking
- Sponsor and lender relationship management
Exit Preparation & Sell-Side Support
Zeno's core specialty is the sell side. We work hand-in-hand with management teams and bankers — who typically quarterback the process — to fulfill buyer diligence requests with confidence. Our role is to ensure your data is already trusted, structured, and defensible long before the first buyer data room request arrives.
- Proactive data room preparation in partnership with bankers
- Quality of Earnings preparation and management support
- Investment banker financial model population and review
- Buyer diligence request fulfillment and Q&A management
- Management presentation financial narrative and story arc
- Coaching management on buyer questions before they are asked
ERP & Business Intelligence Implementation
NetSuite implementation, optimization, and ongoing administration — plus business intelligence infrastructure using Tableau, Power BI, or Looker. Our ERP experience spans multiple industries where clean data and real-time visibility are operationally critical.
- NetSuite implementation and chart of accounts design
- Business intelligence dashboard buildout and reporting infrastructure
- System integration, data migration, and workflow automation
- Ongoing ERP administration and optimization
FP&A & Strategic Reporting
Annual budgets, rolling forecasts, and the KPI infrastructure that gives your board, sponsor, and management team the intelligence to make high-quality decisions. We build reporting that structures decision-making and drives valuation expansion — not just documents history.
- Annual budget and long-range strategic planning
- Rolling quarterly forecast models and scenario planning
- KPI definition aligned to sponsor value creation frameworks
- Variance analysis with strategic narrative and management commentary
- Industry benchmarking and competitive positioning analytics
M&A Integration & Add-On Support
For buy-and-build platform companies, financial integration is where value creation is won or lost. We manage the finance side of add-on integrations — consolidating reporting, normalizing accounting policies, and building combined-entity models that tell the right story to sponsors.
- Financial integration project management
- Combined entity reporting and consolidation
- Purchase accounting and opening balance sheet preparation
- Synergy identification, tracking, and realization modeling
Finance Team Buildout & Management Coaching
We design the finance org, support recruiting, and onboard talent — then transition cleanly when the team is ready. Critically, we coach management teams on what to expect from buyer diligence, how to present financials under pressure, and how to answer the hard questions before buyers ask them.
- Finance org design, role definition, and recruiting support
- Onboarding, process documentation, and knowledge transfer
- Management coaching: buyer diligence Q&A preparation
- Technical accounting partner identification and coordination
Embedded, not advisory-at-a-distance
We don't send a deck and walk away. Zeno operates as part of the executive team — present in the close, visible in the board room, and accountable for outcomes across the full hold period.
In the room where it happens
Zeno Insights is built on real sell-side experience — not theoretical frameworks. Our founder has been at the negotiating table with bankers, buyers, and management teams completing diligence under pressure.
Trusted by operators and investors
Outcomes from PE and VC-backed companies that needed an experienced financial executive in the room.
"Zeno rebuilt our entire finance infrastructure and close process well ahead of our transaction. When the QoE team arrived, the data room was exactly what a buy-side team wants to see — clean, organized, and fully defensible. We closed on schedule with zero financial surprises."
"We came in post-acquisition with no ERP and spreadsheet-based reporting. Zeno had us on NetSuite, running 10-day closes, and producing board packages our sponsor actually wanted to read — all within six months."
"Our management team knew our business but had never been through a sell-side process. The coaching Zeno provided before and during diligence was the difference between a smooth process and a chaotic one."
Nearly 20 years inside the finance function — from startup to exit
Zeno Insights was founded by John Fowler to solve a specific gap: PE and VC-backed companies need financial executive leadership that has actually been inside the room — not advising from a distance. John has spent nearly two decades as a senior finance leader across FinTech payments (FastPay), health-tech SaaS (DentalXChange), financial services (Black Knight, FIS, Ready Capital), and real estate finance — always as a core member of the executive leadership team.
At FastPay, John served as Corporate Controller through a dual M&A exit — simultaneously selling the lending business to SLR Capital Partners and the payments business to AvidXchange, owning QoE preparation and leading buyer-facing calls on the financial statements while the CFO quarterbacked the broader transaction. At DentalXChange, he supported the KKR recapitalization following the Bregal Sagemount exit in the same capacity — owning QoE with PwC, building financial model packages, and leading buyer-facing financial diligence calls.
That direct transaction experience — not advisory-at-a-distance — is what Zeno Insights brings to every engagement. John holds the Columbia Business School CFO Program credential and is actively working with PE-backed companies on finance transformation, NetSuite implementation, and AI integration in finance operations.
Ready to build an exit-ready finance function?
Schedule a 30-minute call to discuss your portfolio company's needs. No sales pitch — a direct conversation about where your finance function is today and where it needs to be before bankers arrive.
Or reach us directly at johnf@zeno-insights.com