New executive hires will accelerate marketplace strategy
- ScaleFactor is expanding its offering to include a marketplace for the specialized financial needs of small businesses
- ScaleFactor has added Rose Punkunus, Lori Williams, Josh Lipton, and Scott Shepherd to its executive bench to help lead the marketplace push and champion the 2.020 vision
- New leadership and realignment of employee base will guide the company’s progress towards the vision of serving all small business financial needs through a mix of technology and a marketplace of certified service providers
ScaleFactor, the accounting and finance platform for small business, announced its “2.020” vision, the latest in a series of initiatives to digitally transform the way business owners, bookkeepers and accountants collaborate within the back office ecosystem. The move builds upon the momentum created by its Series C funding, recently announced strategic partnerships, and new lending and expense management products. ScaleFactor 2.020 expands the company’s current platform offer beyond software aimed at small business owners to also include a marketplace for on-demand financial support.
“At ScaleFactor, our north star has always been and will remain helping small businesses succeed,” said Kurt Rathmann, Founder and CEO of ScaleFactor. “Our customers have taught us that great technology is only part of what small business owners need to feel financially confident. They also crave solid advice that fits their business, budget and timeframe. We’re excited to enable them to tap into a marketplace of financial professionals offering right-sized, on-demand solutions.”
To realize its vision, ScaleFactor has appointed four new executives to its leadership team. They are: Rose Punkunus, Chief Financial Officer; Lori Williams, Chief Delivery Officer; Josh Lipton, VP of Product; and Scott Shepherd, Chief Legal Officer. This seasoned group of executives each bring a strong background in the delivery of marketplace-based solutions, further accelerating ScaleFactor’s ability to design the future of work across the ecosystem of small business finance.
A greater focus on developing a marketplace of finance professionals will also bring internal restructuring for the ScaleFactor team. A portion of ScaleFactor’s finance professionals will be retained to foster the new marketplace from within, while ScaleFactor will also make assistance available to those who wish to start independent businesses as certified pros within its marketplace ecosystem.
New Leadership Brings Marketplace Experience to ScaleFactor
Rose Punkunus, CFO, will lead financial operations for the company, utilizing her experience in finance and marketplace operations to help fuel ScaleFactor’s growth. Rose brings a mix of financial, operational, and product experiences from her tenure at organizations including Apple, Fundbox, and Uber.
Lori Williams, Chief Delivery Officer, will lead operations at ScaleFactor, where she is responsible for the people, operations, and technology that allows us to serve our customers. Lori brings executive experience at organizations such as IBM, Appirio, and Gigster and is passionate about growing global cloud companies and marketplaces. A graduate of Baylor University, she is excited to help build the next great Texas technology company.
Josh Lipton, VP of Product, joins the ScaleFactor team from Favor, a leading on-demand delivery company operating in over 130 cities with a workforce of 75,000 runners. Josh is passionate about designing and operating marketplaces that create meaningful opportunities for people to contribute work and expertise. As an entrepreneur himself, Josh has experienced first-hand the gaps in the small business finance ecosystem and is excited to help build a marketplace-based solution to address them.
Scott Shepherd, Chief Legal Officer, most recently served as the Chief Legal Officer at Khoros, the industry-leading customer engagement platform, where he was responsible for global legal operations and compliance. Prior to Khoros, Scott spent more than 15 years in law-firms, primarily as a litigator. He was also commissioned as a 2nd Lt. in the USMC and eventually achieved the rank of Lieutenant Colonel in the Reserves. He received his J.D. from the University of Texas School of Law.
