Numbers tell a story
The work is not finished when the report is accurate. Leaders also need to understand what changed, why it changed, and what to do next.
Meet John Zdanowski
A CFO who sees the whole system.
John is an entrepreneurial CFO, investor, and business engineer who has spent more than two decades helping founders prepare, raise, grow, and sell.
Entrepreneurial CFOInvestorBusiness engineer
Entrepreneurial CFOJohn ZdanowskiSDCFO.Group
100+private equity and debt financings
Dozensof venture capital rounds
2IPOs
16acquisitions
Operator perspective
Finance should make the business easier to run.
John’s work sits at the intersection of strategy, finance, data, and execution. He looks beyond the statements to understand how customers, capacity, capital, and cash actually move together.
That perspective shapes SDCFO: build the financial infrastructure, reveal the economics underneath the business, and give founders a small number of dependable signals they can use every week.
Systems create freedom
Clear definitions, trusted data, and a disciplined operating rhythm give a founder more room to lead—not more finance work to manage.
Economics shape strategy
When contribution, acquisition cost, retention, capacity, and cash are connected, growth decisions become far more concrete.
Selected company experience
From early-stage financing to IPOs and acquisitions.
Across his career, John has served as a co-founder, founding investor, board member, and fractional CFO for venture-backed startups and growth companies.
General Assembly
Supported the company on its path to a $413 million acquisition.
Market Leader
Experience spanning the company’s public offering and later $355 million acquisition.
Second Life
Helped grow revenue eightfold while moving the business to profitability.
Assembled Brands
Helped the company raise $100 million.
Commissions Inc
Acquired for $45 million and later resold for $220 million.
Robin Healthcare
Closed a $50 million Series B financing.
Selected examples from a career spanning venture capital, private equity, M&A, operating finance, and company exits.
Beyond the spreadsheet
Farming, family, and big ideas.
Outside of work, John focuses on farming, family, and reflecting on systems and strategy. Mornings often start with coffee, writing, and deep thinking—then turn toward helping friends, family, and founders dream bigger and make the next step real.
“It’s all good.”Advice to his younger self, looking back from age 80
John’s perspective, built into the work
Three connected systems. One clearer business.
SDCFO brings strategic guidance and financial execution together, so better decisions are supported by better infrastructure.
01
CFO System
Model the business, reveal unit economics, and guide the decisions ahead.
Explore the CFO System → 02Accounting System
Create the controlled financial record leadership can trust.
Explore the Accounting System → 03Data System
Connect and maintain the private data foundation underneath the reporting.
Explore the Data System →Meet John
Bring your hardest financial question.
Tell John what is changing in the business, where the numbers stop being useful, and which decision needs a clearer answer.
Start a Conversation