Our Team

• Management Team
• Our Staff

Testimonials

Management Team

Deborah Kranz Bud Austin Anita Amershi Mike Barsotti Steve Busby Lillian Crane Greg Capitolo Carole-Lynn Glass

Glenn Goelz Shawn Johnson Jamie Das Michael Kranz Bob Murphy Lourdes Rabelo-Spang Jack Yu Matt Ackerman

Deborah Kranz

dkranz@kranzassoc.com
650-854-4400, ext. 201

Deborah, founder of Kranz & Associates, is a seasoned financial executive with over 35 years of broad experience ranging from Global Fortune 100 Corporations with over $3 Billion in revenue to start-ups seeking funding. She has extensive experience in revenue recognition, M&A, strategic planning, fund raising, treasury, debt/contract negotiations, sales operations, manufacturing and international operations and has managed legal, information technology, human resources and facilities. Her industry experience includes hardware, software, services, life sciences, cleantech and venture capital firms.

Deborah's clients include Aruba Networks (IPO), Admob (acquired by Google), ArcSight (IPO), Kace Networks (acquired by Dell Computers), Rhapsody (acquired by Brocade), Rubric (Acquired by Broadbase), Latitude Communications (IPO), Luminate Software (acquired by EMC, Xros (acquired by Nortel), Pharsight (IPO), Traiana  (acquired by ICAP),  Aster Data Systems, software analytics of large data warehouses, Palo Alto Networks, firewall identity & control applications, Clearwell, an electronic discovery solution, LookOut, mobile security, Calera, CO2 clean power, and Kior, a biofuels company.

Deborah provides insight as interim CFO on best practices for positioning companies for high growth, leveraging resources for U.S. and international expansion, and cost effective solutions that are appropriate at each stage of the company while ensuring appropriate controls are in place for investor protection and compliance.  She has assisted 60+ companies in raising capital, complex revenue recognition issues, and IPO readiness. Deborah is an industry expert in debt financings; working with companies of all stages. She assists the management teams in establishing goals and measuring progress.

Prior to Kranz & Associates, Deborah worked 5+ years with incubator companies at Mayfield Fund and served as CFO of Interwest Partners.  She also held financial executive positions at 3Com handling rapid international expansion and manufacturing operations; Saga where she assisted in multiple acquisitions and Saga’s ultimate sale; and Syva, a Syntex/Varian start-up venture growing revenue to $110 million.  Deborah started her career with Ernst & Ernst (now Ernst & Young), and later migrated to KMPG which she left to join her audit client, Motorola in their Corporate office.

Deborah, who migrated from Chicago, has a B.S. in Accounting, is a CPA (inactive), and is a member of Financial Executive Institute. Her volunteer work has included National Charity League, Junior League of Palo Alto, and Peninsula Youth Theatre Board Member. In her free time she enjoys traveling to sunny places, (Maui & the Greek Islands are favorites), reading, theatre and gardening. 

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Bud Austin

baustin@kranzassoc.com
650-854-4400, ext. 202

Bud, a veteran CFO with over 35 years of financial experience, joined Kranz & Associates as a partner in 1995 to help shape what is today the premier financial outsourcing firm in Northern California and beyond. Bud's experience as a CFO includes multiple public offerings as well as several start-up companies.  He focuses on early stage technology companies including ecommerce, web and software companies, with a keen eye towards ensuring they are well positioned for extensive growth. 

At Kranz & Associates, Bud has been actively involved in: Yelp.com, a Web 2.0 social networking company that connects people to businesses, Freewheel Media, Inc., a digital video ad management and monetization company, Jaspersoft, an open source Business Intelligence Suite, MuleSource, an open source service oriented architecture, SocialText, a social software solution for the enterprise, Responsys, an on demand email marketing solution, Hyperic Corporation, an open source network management company (acquired by SpringSource), Gracenote, a digital entertainment company (acquired by Sony), and Preview Systems (IPO).

As interim CFO, Bud is responsible for all financial affairs from funding to IPO, which include; establishing policies and procedures allowing companies to scale, managing financial reporting, establishing and managing banking relationships, and assisting the management team in setting strategic goals and objectives. Bud has arranged over $100 million in venture/bank related financing for his companies in the past 15 years. He has extensive experience working with European and Asian companies as stand alone companies or as subsidiaries of US based companies.

Prior to Kranz & Associates, Bud developed his wealth of experience serving in the CFO position at Telemac Cellular, his first technology start-up, a developer of prepaid cellular software sold to Phillips Electronics in 1995, Morgan Graphics, a graphic arts distribution company and Landsing Corporation, a real estate syndication company, the first company to offer equity REIT's in the public market where Bud drove 5 of the company's sponsored IPO's. Landsing was Bud's first start-up, where as the 25th employee, he helped grow the company to over 500 employees nationwide.

Bud has a B.S. in Accounting and Finance, is a licensed CPA (inactive) in the state of California, and a member of the AICPA. When he's not hunkered down working for his clients, Bud and his wife Jill (with whom he recently celebrated a 37th wedding anniversary) enjoy chasing little white objects around fields (golf) and controlled sliding down mountains in Tahoe (skiing)  We suspect she lets him win at golf.

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Anita Amershi

aamershi@kranzassoc.com
650-854-4400, ext. 230

Anita Amershi is a financial professional that has 20+ years of financial management, operations and reporting experience.  Anita has a wealth of experience working with both venture firms and start-ups.  She is recognized by her clients for her strengths in problem solving, organization, time management, both verbal and written communication and persistence to get the job done.

At Kranz & Associates, her focus is on Venture Capital Funds and their management companies, including work on Dali Hook Partners and Maples Investments. In addition, she has experience working with Jaxtr, a free VoIP service to social networks, and Bling Nation, a mobile payment company.  She has expertise in creating complex business models for start-ups and a wealth of experience establishing credit management policies and working on companies with significant international components.

Anita’s gained her venture experience from Controller positions at Wilshire Associates where she managed their “Fund of Fund” operation and at Thomas Wiesel Partners.  She was also Vice President at Coast Asset Management and a Finance Manager at WellsFargo Bank . She started her career in the U.S. in Los Angeles serving as Controller for The Last Design Company where she was involved in all the accounting operations, budgeting and assuring cash flow efficiently. 

Anita hails from the UK, where she became a Qualified Chartered Certified Accountant in England studying at the Emile Woolfe College of Accountancy and the London School of Accountancy. When Anita takes off her business hat, you can find her exploring her artistic side, including dance and writing short stories.  You may also find her running the Rock‘n Roll marathon, raising funds for Leukemia Society or attending yoga and meditation workshops, which means she’s into making your life stress free.

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Mike Barsotti

mbarsotti@kranzassoc.com
650-854-4400, ext. 210

Mike's 30+ years experience enables him to partner with CEO's of start-up companies to develop business plans, manage the day-to-day financial and administrative functions and drive their performance to meet their long term financial and operational objectives, achieve operating efficiency and maximize shareholder value working with companies from start-up pre-revenue to $20M plus public companies. 

During his years at Kranz, Mike utilized his financial leadership at clients such as Aptana (Ruby on Rails development environment), Cellfire (digital grocery and mobile coupons), Centrify (access directory solutions for securing heterogeneous systems and applications), CloudMade (tools to leverage OpenStreetMap data), Doostang (elite professional community helping access thousands of jobs), Sparkplay (MMO games), and UpMo (one-step career management tools). Mike has significant international experience, specifically in the UK, India & China, setting up subsidiaries and managing ongoing finance and administration operations.

Before joining the team, Mike held financial positions as the CFO of Apexon and Redwood Microsystems, VP of Finance at Avistar Communication Corporation and Koala Technologies, as well as Controller positions at The Ask Group, IBM/ROLM Systems Division;  and Imagic.  Earlier in his career he was Manager of Corporate Financial Planning at Alumax after starting his career at Arthur Andersen where he earned a CPA.

A San Francisco native, Mike received a B.S. Mechanical Engineering and his MBA from the University of California Berkeley. Mike is an avid sports fan with enthusiasm for college football (mostly USC), the NFL (49ers), MLB and auto racing; it's no wonder he likes these fast paced start-ups. You can also find him out playing tennis or hiking.

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Steve Busby

sbusby@kranzassoc.com
650-854-4400, ext. 211

Steve is a financial executive with nearly 40 years of experience in both public companies and start-ups.  He is skilled in turnarounds, government contracts, mergers and acquisitions as well as accounting for manufacturing operations.  Internationally, Steve has led contract negotiations with large Japanese companies and worked with subsidiaries in Asia.

Steve, a ten year veteran with Kranz & Associates, has worked with many start-ups, as well as been the turnaround financial advisor to companies like Covad Communications (NASDAQ), where he played a large role in the revitalization of the Company.  As CFO for Objectivity he led contract negotiations and for ShotSpotter he set up U.S. Defense Department compliant accounting systems.  He was also CFO for semiconductor companies Cognigine (sold to FutureWeiHuawei) and TeraBlaze (sold to Agere).

Prior to Kranz & Associates, Steve was VP of Finance and CFO for Omnivision Technologies and Senior VP Finance for Redicare, Inc (NASDAQ RDIC) and CHEC Medical Centers. His previous jobs also include Senior Engineering Applications Programmer at Babcock & Wilcox Nuclear Division, as well as Software Development Manager for Boeing Computer Services. 

Steve has lived everywhere from Mississippi to Virginia, Washington & California, allowing him the right to cheer for almost anyone who is winning. He received both a BS and MS in mathematics from Mississippi State University and his MBA from the University of Washington.  When he's not saving companies, you can find Steve hiking and biking. His international experience may have sparked his keen interest in Japan, where his son lives, and he and wife visit frequently.

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Greg Capitolo

gcapitolo@kranzassoc.com
650-854-4400, ext. 241

Greg has over two decades of experience as a financial executive and manager in global organizations focused on digital media, Internet applications, eCommerce, security, and enterprise software.  An expert at business modeling for content aggregation and community, he has raised capital through venture firms, secured debt financings, helped develop their business plans and positioned companies for sales.

At Kranz & Associates, Greg has worked with emerging growth companies including JiWire, a mobile audience media channel and advertising network; Xobni, the leading outlook plug-in; Red Tricycle, a newsletter and website for active parents; and Foodzie, an online marketplace for specialty foods, helping with fund raising and managing the financial area for these high growth organizations.

Prior to Kranz & Associates, he served as CFO for Zinio, Tectura, Certicom Corporation and Tumbleweed Communications.  He also served as VP of Finance at Identix and Director of Finance at Wind River Systems after working at KPMG.  He has built business plans to grow companies from $30M to $400M and been the point person for company acquisitions. 

A California native from San Francisco, Greg holds an MBA from the Amos Tuck School of Business Administration at Dartmouth College and a BS in Accounting from Santa Clara University. He is also a CPA (inactive).  When not at work, you can find him wading in rivers while fly fishing, although you will never hear him talk about the one that got away.  Nothing escapes him!  Besides coaching his companies, Greg spends his time coaching and cheering on his son's soccer team. 

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Lillian Crane

lcrane@kranzassoc.com
650-854-4400, ext. 208

Lillian is a financial executive with 26 years experience in both small start-ups and public accounting.  She is an expert in revenue recognition matters, 123r and financial planning and has been point person on client acquisition.  Lillian is experienced in tax reporting and compliance and is an expert at developing and implementing systems and policies for rapidly growing start-ups.  Lillian works with both hardware and software industries and is knowledgeable in international operations in Europe, Japan and India. 

Lillian first joined the company in 1999 for three years, and rejoined Kranz & Associates in 2004. She has experience at Kranz & Associates working with many fast growing notable start-ups including Vhayu Technologies (acquired by Reuters), Xros, Inc (acquired by Nortel Networks), Obongo, Inc. (acquired by AOL), SearchMe, a vertical search engine with integrated media, Palo Alto Networks, firewall identity & control applications, Clearwell, an electronic discovery solution, and FireEye, a leading edge internet security company.

Previous to Kranz & Associates, Lillian gained experience in financial management at Candescent Technologies where she was responsible for the general accounting, consolidations and the establishment of best practices and policies. Prior to that, she spent a few years in public accounting at Gregory W. Snow Accountancy Corporation working with many small companies and setting up their accounting systems.

Lillian has a B.S. in Accounting from San Jose State University.

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Carole-Lynn Glass

clglass@kranzassoc.com
650-854-4400, ext. 209

Carole-Lynn has been a financial executive in privately held start-ups and large public companies, ranging in size from pre-revenue to over $300M in revenue. She's a team builder with significant experience in M&A due diligence, SEC reporting and an expert in project management implementing scalable processes and systems. Carole-Lynn is well versed in international operations where she worked with cross-functional management teams in Belgium, UK, Spain, France, Belgium, Thailand, and Taiwan.  

Carole-Lynn has consulted as CFO for Bills.com, a consumer financial services company, PharmacoFore, an early stage drug discovery company, and Papilia, a SaaS donor website management company. She's also managed the Logitech Worldwide SOX implementation, as well as system implementations for Castlewood Country Club and LED lighting manufacturer, SeeSmart LED. She works with FreeWheel Media, a digital video ad management company and Birst, a SaaS business Intelligence company. 

Prior to Kranz & Associates, Carole-Lynn served as the Director of Emerging Growth Services & Senior Consultant for RoseRyan working with clients, business partners and VCs to support early stage companies. Prior to consulting, Carole-Lynn held VP, Finance positions where she gained both international and SEC experience at Esprit Systems Inc., ADI, 3Soft Corp. and Autodaq.  At SteriGenics International, Inc., (acquired by Ion Beam Applications) Carole-Lynn advanced to CFO where she led finance in the company's IPO and system integration.

Outside work, Carole-Lynn enjoys family time, gardening and being an advocate for parents of specials needs kids.  She has served as the chairperson of the Tri-Valley Special Education LPA Community Advisory Committee.  She is very active with BayBio, AAMA and the CTO.  Originally from New York and graduating from the State University of New York, Fredonia, Carole-Lynn stays in touch with friends and family over FaceBook.  Her love of keeping in touch is not new; she married her husband following meeting him again at their 10 year high school reunion…now that was a good reunion.

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Glenn Goelz

ggoelz@kranzassoc.com
650-854-4400, ext. 247

Glenn is a seasoned financial executive with over 30 years of broad experience in fast-paced global software and technology companies, ranging from small venture-backed start-ups to publicly-held companies with over $1 billion in revenue. He has extensive international experience setting up and overseeing financial operations in over 15 countries, as well as working overseas in the UK.

At Kranz & Associates, Glenn's clients have included FireEye, a leading edge internet security company, Sonico.com, the third largest social networking company in Latin America, and Soladigm, a next generation green building solutions start-up venture, as well as Informatica, a leading enterprise data integration software company.

Prior to joining Kranz & Associates, Glenn served as the CFO at Cast Iron Systems, Nettaxi.com, and Simply Interactive, as well as serving as Vice President of Finance for Informatica and Business Objects, both publicly traded companies. At Pictra, Glenn served as Vice President of Finance & Operations.  He served as Worldwide Controller at Logitech and has held Financial Management roles at Silicon Graphics, Ungermann-Bass/Tandem Computers and Auspex Systems. Glenn started his career at Ernst & Young.

Glenn grew up in Philadelphia and is a graduate of Lehigh University. He is a Pennsylvania CPA (inactive) and his organizational memberships include Financial Executives International, Bay CFO, and the Financial Executives Networking Group.  When not taking care of business, he can be found pulling for the Dallas Cowboys, chasing a little white ball around a golf course or exploring his interest as an amateur wine maker.  A man of diverse interests, Glenn appeared in the movie "Taps" with Tom Cruise.  Today, he is a star with Kranz.

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Shawn Johnson

sjohnson@kranzassoc.com
650-854-4400, ext. 111

Shawn has over two decades of experience as a financial executive in a variety of companies focused on biotechnology, software, and manufacturing. He is an expert in accounting for complex debt and equity transactions, merger and acquisitions, and SEC reporting.

Shawn has spent the past six years providing consulting services to over 50 technology companies in the Bay Area, including such well known names as Facebook, Verifone, Blue Coat Systems, Inc. and Trimble Navigation, Inc. while with the consulting firm RoseRyan. He also played a key role in a total of 25 initial public offerings and mergers during that time, as well as getting companies up to speed on FAS123R stock based compensation rules.

Prior to consulting, Shawn held various senior financial management positions including Senior Director of Finance at Sangamo BioSciences, Inc. as the company grew from start-up through a successful initial public offering, as well as Neurobiological Technologies, Inc., Glycomed, Inc., and Cognitive Systems, Inc.

Shawn grew up on the East Coast, and holds an MBA from the University of California, Berkeley and a BS in Accounting from City University. When he is not helping his clients to meet impossible deadlines, he can be found working on his truffle farm located in a secret location in Northern California.

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Jamie Das

jdas@kranzassoc.com
650-854-4400, ext. 122

Jamie has over 25 years of financial management experience at large and small biotechnology, technology, manufacturing and banking companies. Her technical expertise in SEC reporting and implementing new accounting pronouncements along with her experience with controllership responsibilities allow her to step into public company roles with confidence.

Jamie currently works with Cytokinetics on SEC reporting and previously spent 13 years as an accounting consultant at both public and private companies. Most recent assignments have been in SEC reporting, Controller and SOX roles at public and pre-IPO clients. Some of her public company clients have been Cytokinetics, Aradigm, Informatica, Geron, Hewlett Packard, Gilead Sciences, and Sanmina-SCI.

Prior to her consulting career, Jamie was Manager of Financial Reporting at Genentech and held various management positions at Bank of America, including VP - Manager of Budgeting & Reporting for the technology division and a position performing due diligence as part of the acquisitions team. Before moving to the Bay Area, she was Manager of Corporate Accounting and Tax at Instron Corp. in Boston, and spent four years in Big 4 public accounting.

An east coast native, Jamie received an MS in Accounting from Northeastern University and a BA in Political Science from Boston College. She is a CPA (inactive) who is actively enjoying the west coast weather.

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Michael Kranz

mkranz@kranzassoc.com
650-854-4400, ext. 203

Mike, a financial executive with 38 years of senior executive financial experience, brings a wealth of knowledge and the unique combination of acting as CFO for numerous venture capital firms as well as international high tech start-ups in the valley.  This experience gives him a superior understanding of starts ups from both inside and out, and provides management teams with valuable insights and technical expertise.

Mike's experience working with over 20 venture capital firms spans from fund formation and set up, to managing the ongoing finance operations for venture funds.  His venture firm clients include Maples Investments, Angel Investors, Granite Global, Leapfrog Ventures, Dali Hook Partners, Dot-Edu, DFJ InCube Ventures & Sequoia Capital Liquidating Trusts. Additionally, Mike has been a key financial contributor acting as CFO for Kace Networks, Mimosa Systems, StumbleUpon, Playback Media and SiNett working with the Executive teams to ensure best practices.

Prior to joining Kranz & Associates, Mike was CFO of Ehrlich Rominger, where he completed a merger transaction before devoting himself full time to Kranz & Associates, the company he helped launch the creation of.  Mike began his career at the Chicago office of KPMG where he became a Senior Audit Manager and technician active in their National Peer Review and Healthcare Technical Training.  He relocated to California to start the audit practice as a partner at Frank Rimerman, a small local CPA firm that primarily specialized in taxes.

Mike was born and raised in the Windy City, graduated from the University of Illinois and is a CPA (inactive).  He has been an active leader in his community serving as both President and Treasurer of the Menlo Park Rotary as well as Chairman of the Finance Committee for the Rotary Foundation.  He is a "never say die," hard-core Bears and Cubs fan.   When he's not with his clients (or watching his teams lose), Michael enjoys exercising, reading Kindle books and family time with his wife and four children on Maui's beaches.  

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Bob Murphy

bmurphy@kranzassoc.com
650-854-4400, ext. 110

Bob is a veteran CFO with over 20 years experience working with venture backed software and communication companies. Bob has managed companies through the evolution from start-up to rapid revenue growth (two of his companies appeared on the INC 500’s fastest growing private companies) and on to a successful acquisition. He has extensive experience raising venture capital creating business plans, forecasting and budgeting, debt financing, and has a special focus on helping companies develop and define their business models and figure out key business drivers.

During his time at Kranz, Bob has been continuously working on fundraising activities, supporting due diligence and providing guidance to companies including Altus Learning, a video search and management system, & iCharts, interactive chart creation, HotChalk, learning management systems.

Bob’s past experience includes CFO for Five9, a leading SaaS provider of call-center software and he served as CFO for Ventaso, a sales and marketing software company, Savvis Communications, data centers and private networks and Access America, telecom services for the SMB market. He’s grown companies from sales of $1 MM with a few employees up to $50MM with over 500 employees.

Bob grew up in New Jersey and received his BA (in Philosophy) from Washington College and his MBA at UCLA. Bob began his career as a money manager in New York, before moving onto investment banking, where he managed the IPO’s for several emerging growth companies before getting the start-up bug. Bob is an avid tennis player, and always has a few books going, both fiction and non-fiction. Now that both children are in college, he hopes he can find his golf game.

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Lourdes Rabelo-Spang

lrspang@kranzassoc.com
650-854-4400, ext. 206

Lourdes has 25 years of financial experience with companies ranging from multi-million dollar corporations to working with incubators through six years of growth and ultimate sale.  Her expertise in revenue recognition, sales operations, and international operations make her an invaluable asset for high growth companies. She is also well versed working on venture firms, an added plus for management teams. 

Lourdes has been working at Kranz & Associates 15 years. Her clients include Agitar Software which she worked on from inception to sale, El Dorado Ventures, Kace Networks (acquired by Dell), and is also responsible for training new staff.  Her longevity in financial consulting for many companies is invaluable to companies who need an expert in implementing systems, procedures and standards, including revenue recognition and sales operation practices, to help companies grow rapidly.

Prior to Kranz & Associates, she was a Financial Analyst for Kraft General Foods where she prepared the manufacturing budget, handled cost accounting, and headed the Process Improvement Team.  As a Senior Cost Analyst for Capri Sun, she supervised cost accounting, prepared manufacturing forecasts and assisted in the design and implementation of their McDonnel Douglas cost system.  At L.S.I. Sierra Electronic Division, Lourdes handled general accounting, Accounts Payable, Accountants Receivable, Collections, Payroll and staff training.

Lourdes' "claim to fame" is that she worked for Kranz & Associates before its formation.  Deborah hired her as a consultant to Mayfield portfolio companies that later became Kranz & Associates' clients.  She graduated from Cal State Hayward with a B.S. in Accounting. She was born in Cuba, is fluent in Spanish, and in her off-hours, she faithfully attends and volunteers for her son's sports activities of baseball, football and martial arts.

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Jack Yu

jyu@kranzassoc.com
650-854-4400, ext. 214

Jack is an experienced financial executive with over 20 years of experience at venture backed high tech start-ups and public companies. He has extensive international experience especially in China, UK, and India.  Jack helped raise funds from top tier venture firms, secured venture debt and is highly experienced in strategic planning, international tax planning and operations, revenue recognition and equity matters.

Jack has worked on a variety of clients at Kranz including Teracent (Acquired by Google), Zoosk, an online dating service, Skyline Solar, a scalable solar power company and Applied Microstructures, a manufacturer of nanoscale films for applications in high tech industries.

A native of China, Jack has extensive management experience in the Asian Pacific Region where he set up the operations for Afanti, Inc, an online consumer datamining and market research company he founded. Jack's past positions also include CFO & VP Finance at both Infotone Communications and BoardVantage.

Jack attended Stanford University's Executive Education in Graduate School of Business, has an MBA from the University of San Francisco and a BS of Business Administration from Xiamen University.  His hobbies include black diamond skiing and pro-cycling. He built his first racing bike by watching a YouTube video.

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Matt Ackerman

mackerman@kranzassoc.com
650-854-4400, ext. 132

Coming soon

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