Zepz

Non-Executive Director for Zepz entity boards in US, UK and Belgium

Non Executive Director

Chief Financial Officer of Zepz, global cross-border remittance company which includes WorldRemit and SendWave brands; backed by Accel, TCV and LeapFrog Investments.

Managed global team of 135 across FP&A, Corporate Development, Controllership, Treasury, 
F/X Trading, Technology Transformation, Internal Audit, Procurement and Accounts Payable 

Lead negotiation with subordinated debt creditors to revise debt covenants, allowing company to 
exit covenant default from Sep’22 

Secured $60M of senior-secured debt funding for global remittance flows, key tasks included 
negotiating debt pricing and leading due diligence processes 

Implemented employee stock option program; including 409(a) valuation, option pricing, 
walkthrough of equity instrument and potential exit value 

Lead functional integration of Sendwave business unit into wider Zepz group, reducing headcount 
by ~28% and yielding ~$13m annualized cost savings across Operations, Technology and Finance 
Positioned company for operating cash flow breakeven by Q4’23

Chief Financial Officer

Fast

April'22: Acqu-hire sale to Affirm, company ceases operations

Jun'22: company enters into liquidation process, Assignment for Benefit of Creditors (ABC)

Led exit and wind-down processes: 1) acqui-hire sale to Affirm; 2) headcount and operational restructuring efforts; 3) transfer remaining operations to dissolution firm for Assignment of Benefit of Creditors (ABC) liquidation process

Managed team of 10 across FP&A, treasury, tax, accounting operations, sales finance, vendor 
management, facilities and corporate security 

Led all fundraising and acquisition discussions; included walkthrough of 5-year operating plan, 
management presentation and diligence materials 

Appointed to Board of Directors to lead remaining wind-down activities, managed
team of 15 through Assignment of Benefit of Creditors (ABC) liquidation process

Chief Financial Officer (acquired by Affirm (NASDAQ: AFRM))

PayPal

Lead team of 15 across reporting, forecasting, opex budgeting, accounting operations, marketing analytics and internal controls activities for Venmo business

Selected by PayPal senior management to help lead turnaround with Venmo monetization efforts

Developed and implemented plans for enhancing Venmo platform to include Crypto, Co-Brand Credit card, Debit Card and commerce services

Turnaround has yielded ~$900M annualized revenue (~70% growth y/y), positive transaction margin and positioned for contribution margin scalability by end of FY’22

Partner with Investor Relations team for Q&A of Venmo business with Sell-Side/Buy-Side analysts and PayPal Board of Directors

Provide detailed monthly operating review sessions for PayPal senior executive team on current and projected performance with revenue, transaction margin and monetization per user

Coordinate with Risk and Payment Operations teams in order to optimize transaction losses and transaction expenses for Venmo products while balancing against revenue targets

Business Unit CFO, Venmo

Lead accounting operations, forecasting, fair value assessment, reporting activities, SOX testing and loss reserve modeling for all Global Credit programs (~$17B of managed assets) 

Implemented automated accounting ERP system, eliminating daily manual accounting entries for $3B annual program volume and reducing monthly close process time by five hours

Delivered annual savings of ~$500K through restructuring efforts; included 20% reduction in headcount, expanded responsibilities for key talent and outsourcing of reconciliation activities

Developed comprehensive balance sheet and P&L model for forecasting portfolio program performance, funding requirements and EPS impact; utilized for portfolio fair value assessment 

Enhanced monthly portfolio credit review for PayPal CFO, included key metrics for GAAP vs non-GAAP performance, balance sheet impact, credit quality assessment 

Key accomplishments include:
Divesture of $7.9B US Consumer Credit portfolio to Synchrony Bank
Acquisition of Swift Capital; integration of controllership functions and accounting for purchased asset valuation
Launch of credit country expansion for Germany, France, Canada, UK markets

Global Credit BU Controller

Recruited into PayPal Global Credit Business Unit to implement similar risk governance and oversight program previously developed for PayPal Luxembourg Bank entity.  Currently leading implementation effort with all first-line of defense functions operating within the merchant credit programs and international consumer credit programs.  

Developing and implementing measurable risk appetite framework to evidence merchant credit program and international consumer credit programs are operating within defined risk tolerance thresholds; key categories include Operational Risk, Compliance Risk and Model Risk.

Overseeing global issues management & remediation processes for assigned credit programs.

Implementing proactive monitoring & testing program of selected operating functions to evidence performance of key controls and to identify vulnerabilities within the control environment.  

Providing monthly reviews to PayPal Global Credit senior executive leadership team, PayPal Luxembourg Bank entity leadership team and PayPal Global Enterprise Risk Management & Compliance with status of high residual risk mitigation efforts and performance of key controls.

Director, Head of Business & Compliance Controls (Global Credit)

Promoted from Controllership position to develop and manage new end-to-end product governance and risk oversight framework for all products and services across EMEA within PayPal Luxembourg Bank entity; includes leading discussions with PayPal Europe Executive Staff and key leadership stakeholders within EMEA to align on redesign of new governance structures and monthly agenda of evaluating Credit programs and implementation of PayPal Global Enterprise Risk standards.

Led cross-functional teams with implementing remediation plans of identified residual risk areas derived from EMEA Enterprise Risk team assessments and Internal Audit reports; includes designing detailed project plans with clear ownership within local business units.

Developed new process for integrating new PayPal acquisitions into PayPal Luxembourg Bank entity in order for acquisition to expand into existing PayPal EU markets; currently leading cross-functional efforts for integrating Braintree, Paydiant and Xoom acquisitions.

Prepared quarterly update to PayPal Luxembourg Bank Supervisory Board of Directors with regards to EMEA risk management activities.

Led internal preparation efforts and diligence responses for CSSF regulatory credit program on-site inspection of PayPal Luxembourg Bank entity.

Director, Head of Risk Governance & Internal Controls (EMEA)

Created and managed operational readiness framework for launching and monitoring new credit expansion initiatives in US, UK and German markets.

Developed detailed, multi-year financial and operating plan for PayPal Luxembourg Bank entity at product level; entailed assembling complex business cases for Credit Expansion initiatives and presenting to PayPal Europe executive staff and PayPal Luxembourg Supervisory Board.  

Constructed initial plans of end-to-end operational process oversight of newly launched European credit products; presented framework to PayPal CFO and Global Controller.

Led monthly financial reviews of credit products in US and UK in order to ensure financial accuracy, access key business drivers and ensure accounting accuracy.

Controller - Global Credit (Luxembourg Bank entity)

Provide in-depth market and financial analysis to Executive Management and BU leaders on potential acquisition targets, strategic partnerships and new vertical and product opportunities.

Provide updates to PayPal BU leaders on PayPal competitors, government banking regulation,  new payment technologies and other industry trends around mobile, digital goods, local e-commerce and social networking.

Collaborate with business development on sourcing M&A targets and strategic partners for PayPal.

Co-lead implementation of crowd-sourcing analytical tool to measure consensus and validate hypotheses around various strategic issues around PayPal's business.

Senior Manager - New Ventures Finance

SVB Financial Group

Provided strategic and financial analysis for senior executive management team and board with regards to potential domestic and foreign acquisitions, strategic alliances, joint ventures, new product introductions and equity investments.

Presented analysis and conclusions to various board members, senior executive management team members and other global business unit leaders.

Associate Director - Corporate Development

ZillionTV

Developed company business model for interactive, personalized consumer TV entertainment service; including product pricing, detailed revenue model, 5-year operating budget and per household analysis.

Produced Executive Summary and Investor Memorandum for Series B financing which included marketing plan overview, technology overview, competitive landscape and financing plan.

Negotiated, drafted and executed strategic partnership agreements with large Communication Service Providers for trial and commercial deployments of ZillionTV™ Service. Guided discussions with CSPs by presenting detailed ROI analysis for service deployment. 

Conducted introductory discussions and investor diligence efforts with equity investors and debt providers; efforts have yielded over $25M of financing.

Presented regular updates and guidance to Board of Directors regarding business model issues, competitors and financing efforts.

Senior Director

TriplePoint Capital

Led deal support for over $60M in venture debt and venture leasing financings for early-stage digital media, online gaming and software companies and late-stage telecommunications equipment companies.

Responsibilities included conducting operational and management due diligence, valuation, pro forma cash flow analyses and credit assessments and preparing diligence memorandums for commitment committee presentation.

Senior Associate

Cisco Systems, Inc.

M&amp;A Finance (September 2006 - February 2008): 
Deal lead supporting all investments and acquisitions within Data Center, Physical Security and Silicon industry segments (approximately $300M in acquisition deal value and $200M in investment value).  Provided executive briefs to CFO and other senior finance executives on pending acquisitions within industry segments.

WW Channels Finance (July 2005 - August 2006): 
Led financial support for Technology Sales and Programs group within Cisco’s WW Channels division (approximately 110 employees, $85M operating expense budget, $20M COGS budget).

Finance Business Manager

Needham & Company

Participated in the execution of numerous Mergers &amp; Acquisitions sell-side and buy-side advisory assignments that entailed organizing the working group list, conducting due diligence processes, preparing presentation materials for fairness opinions and writing sales memorandums.

Corporate Finance Analyst

Senior public-company finance leader with extensive global experience launching, scaling and managing businesses.  

Senior finance leader with extensive global experience with IPO readiness, public company finance & operations, ERP / Finance Transformation projects, team building and venture capital fundraising.   

Facilitated preparation for PayPal spin-out with credit portfolio valuation and 10-K/10-Q documentation drafts (Credit business), providing ongoing input for each quarterly / annual deliverable with SOX audit testing and certification.  

IPO readiness knowledge with seasoned operating experience across variety of Finance, Controllership, Risk Management and Strategy functions within a public company setting.  Direct experience with VC and capital fundraising having facilitated $120M+ equity and debt financing.   

Specific operational experience in FP&A, accounting operations, M&A valuation and integration (acquisition / divesture), financial modeling, Treasury/capital allocation, VC capital raising, SOX and audit activities, SEC reporting, risk management and strategy.  

Strong working knowledge of US GAAP.  CFA Charterholder.

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Robert A. Mitchell, CFA's Linkedin Analytics

Robert A. Mitchell, CFA

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