John Cornish
Senior Finance & Strategy Consultant
Salary / Daily rate
Lausanne, Switzerland
Freelance, open to permanent contract
Skills
Languages
About me
Intro
MBA-qualified finance & strategy consultant with 10+ years scaling startups and leading financial operations at high-growth companies. Former CFO at logistics scale-up and strategy leader at PayPal, delivering double-digit revenue growth. Specialized in financial planning, market entry strategies, and operational scaling for SMEs and startups.
Work experience
Independent Consultant / Advisor
Self-employedFreelance
Mar 2023 - Present
3 years 8 months
• Providing strategic and financial consulting services to startups and SMEs • Focusing on scaling operations, financial planning, and market entry strategies • Assisting companies in achieving growth targets and improving financial health
Chief Financial Officer
Fairsenden
Sep 2021 - Mar 2023
1 year 7 months
Berlin, Germany
Led finance and business operations as member of the senior management team of 40+ person, last-mile logistics scale-up, including: • Strategic planning, investment planning and scenario analysis • Pricing strategy and commercial deal support • Financial planning, forecasting and analysis • KPI reporting & performance management • Financial operations & cashflow management • Analytical support across commercial & operations teams
Managing Director
GradSkills
May 2019 - Oct 2021
2 years 6 months
Built & launched the Gradskills platform & ecosystem enabling flexible, remote, project-based engagements between students & businesses, including: • Market research and product design • Partnership with designers and developers for MVP launch • Marketing strategy design and implementation • Sales and customer support leadership • Data-driven decision making for user experience enhancement • Adaptation of business model and processes for industry changes
PayPal
Jun 2016 - Dec 2018
2 years 7 months
Berlin Area, Germany
Strategy & BD Manager - New Verticals
Dec 2017 - Dec 2018
1 year 1 month
Berlin Area, Germany
Led strategy & operations for cross-functional 'New Verticals' initiative driving double-digit revenue & engagement growth, including: • Strategic planning & business case development for new vertical entries • Leadership of cross-functional steering committee spanning DACH & EMEA • Go-to-market coordination across core functions (sales, marketing, operations) • Analytical & strategic pricing support to sales and marketing teams • Financial planning for initiative and dedicated business development team • Reporting to senior leadership (VPs, Senior Directors) Led ad-hoc strategic projects on behalf of PayPal DACH senior leadership, including: • DACH Large Enterprise Sales strategy redesign (>EUR 100M revenue, >20 headcount) • DACH / EMEA business case development for major global strategic partnership • DACH strategic response coordination re: major global competitor expansion
Business Development Manager - New Commerce
Sep 2016 - Dec 2017
1 year 4 months
Berlin Area, Germany
Led strategy & operations for strategic business development team (New Commerce) tasked with opening & scaling new market segments in the DACH region. Achieved highest growth across sales org.
MBA Consulting Project
Jun 2016 - Aug 2016
3 months
Berlin Area, Germany
Successfully pitched new vertical growth strategy to PayPal DACH senior leadership, contributing to creation of dedicated strategic business development team (New Commerce).
MBA Candidate
University of St.Gallen MBA
Aug 2015 - Aug 2016
1 year 1 month
St Gallen, Switzerland
• GPA (core & electives): 5.50 / 6.00 • Exchange programme @ Imperial College Business School (London, March-May 2016) • Capstone project: Analysis of PayPal's Strategic Growth Opportunities (result: adoption of recommendations by PayPal leadership and offer to join new team tasked with implementing strategy)
SBCC Group
Jan 2009 - Jul 2015
6 years 7 months
San Francisco, CA, USA
Managing Consultant
Jan 2013 - Jul 2015
2 years 7 months
San Francisco, CA, USA
Directed consulting projects for global investment banks (e.g., Citi, BofA) and investment manager across a range of products and strategies.
Senior Consultant - Investment Banking, Hedge Funds
Jan 2011 - Dec 2012
2 years
Greater New York City Area -- San Francisco Bay Area
Led quantitative and qualitative research and analysis work streams in support of consulting projects involving a range of structured financial products and related markets.
Analyst
Jan 2009 - Dec 2010
2 years
New York, NY, USA
Performed research and analysis in support of consulting projects involving alternative investments and structured financial products.
Education
Tulane University - A.B. Freeman School of Business
Bachelor of Science (BS)
2008 - Present
18 years 10 months
University of St.Gallen
Master of Business Administration (M.B.A.)
2015 - 2016
1 year 1 month