Bhaskar A.

I'm a CFO and CIO, a Harvard Business School graduate, and an investor who works on capital, acquisitions and high-stakes financial decisions, the kind that don't allow for guesswork or "we'll figure it out later." I've sat in most seats at the table: fund CEO, private equity CFO and CIO, capital raiser, Fortune 500 acquirer and seller. Over my career, I've been involved in $4B+ of capital raised, deployed or underwritten, across operator-led holding companies, investment platforms and large corporate environments. I've worked on transactions from $20M tuck-ins to billion-dollar acquisitions, and I spend most of my time helping principals, boards and investors make sure the math actually holds up under real pressure. I don't talk strategy in the abstract. I come in when someone needs to understand risk, downside, cash flow and capital structure, and make a clean decision. What I Do Best • Capital Raising & Financing Decisions Debt capacity analysis, capital stack design, covenant sensitivity, and lender- and investor-ready packages. Senior debt, unitranche, ABL, equipment financing, warehouse lines, mezzanine, project finance, seller notes and earn-outs, structured to survive bad quarters, not just good ones. • Acquisition & Buy-Side Finance Conservative underwriting, "bankable EBITDA" rebuilds, pre-LOI earnings reviews, DSCR and cash-flow stress testing, and support through diligence, LOI and execution. • Fractional & Interim CFO For business owners and private equity portfolio companies: budgets and forecasts, cash management, monthly close and KPIs, board and lender reporting, and finance leadership through growth, an acquisition or an exit. • Fund & Investment Platform Finance Building fund financial infrastructure from scratch: capital calls, deployment pacing, reserves, fees and expenses, distributions, waterfalls, and multi-year fund models (IRR, MOIC, DPI). Work designed to stand up to LPs, auditors and IC scrutiny, alongside your fund administrator. • Capital Raise & Valuation Investor-ready models, valuation and cap tables for founders raising capital, built by someone who has sat on the investor side as a fund CEO. • Institutional-Grade Reporting & Governance Board, lender and investor reporting that cuts through noise and drives decisions. Clear cash visibility, clean assumptions and no hidden landmines. Deal Sizes & Sectors Founder-led and lower-middle-market businesses up to $300M EV, plus early-stage companies raising capital. Industrial services, construction and equipment, oil and gas services, mining, energy and data centers, software and AI, fintech and specialty lending, insurance and healthcare. Why Work With Me 1. I've operated at real scale. I've worked across $4B+ in capital and transactions, including Fortune 500 M&A, private equity and operator-led platforms. I've seen firsthand what breaks when structures are fragile, and how to avoid it. 2. I've sat on every side of the table. Investor, lender-facing borrower, acquirer, operator and seller. I work directly with CEOs, GPs, boards, lenders and LPs. I understand how each side evaluates risk, where deals quietly fail, and what actually matters when money is on the line. 3. Harvard Business School graduate. A strong foundation, paired with real execution under pressure. 4. Published thought leader. Forbes Business Councils member and contributor to Forbes and Entrepreneur, writing regularly on private markets, capital strategy and institutional finance. 5. I've built things that didn't work. I've been on the wrong side of assumptions before. That experience shows up today in how conservative, practical and disciplined my work is. How I Work If I put my name on something, I make sure the quality is high and the thinking is sound. I tend to be the grown-up in the room. I'm direct and execution-focused. I'll tell you clearly whether something will work or won't, based on experience. That honesty is usually why people bring me in. If you're running a serious business, raising capital, or building an investment platform and need senior finance support around capital, acquisitions or fund economics, I'm happy to talk. The right decision at the right moment matters more than almost anything else.