Jen Ford is a seasoned executive with a background in e-commerce, retail, travel, and technology. During her career, Jen has worked in both public and private companies, from start-up to Fortune 100. She has led successful teams in a broad range of finance, operational and strategic functions through the highs of triple digit growth, IPOs, and acquisitions as well as the lows of cash constraints, restructuring, and a global pandemic. Notable roles include her position as Chief Commercial Officer & CFO at TurnKey Vacation Rentals (second largest VR property manager in the US), head of Finance at Snap Kitchen (an omni-channel, prepared food concept), head of Investor Relations and a member of the IPO team at HomeAway ($3B+ market cap), and multiple overseas assignments in Europe and Asia with Dell. Jen is adept in scaling companies from early stages to maturity and has extensive experience guiding management teams on balancing growth and profitability, building critical operational infrastructure, and creating financial discipline. As a leader, Jen is known for her genuine and transparent leadership style and while she is unwavering in her drive for high standards, she leads with an emphasis on culture and connection. Jen has played a key role in helping start-ups gain traction through strategic partnerships and has been a core member of the launch team for commercial agreements with Starbucks, Whole Foods, and Aramark (Snap Kitchen), and Marriott (TurnKey). Jen has an extensive fund-raising history, having brought in more than $125M of equity and debt while in the CFO seat, in addition to the $750M raised while leading Investor Relations. She has been involved in more than 15 acquisitions, including HomeAway’s acquisition by Expedia for $3.9B and TurnKey’s acquisition by Vacasa, and has led due diligence and integration activities.In 2019, Jen was awarded the Austin Woman Product Innovation Award and was a finalist for Austin’s CFO of the year. In 2018, she was recognized as one of Central Texas’ Most Influential Women by the Austin Business Journal. Jen currently serves on the Advisory Board of CXO NOW and on the Steering Committee of the CFO Leadership Council.In her current role as an Advisor to Founders, CEOs and CFOs at high-growth companies, Jen is a sounding board, coach and ally. Leveraging over 20 years of experience as an operator, financial steward, and partner to Founders and CEOs she helps teams become a better version of themselves, drive stronger execution, and build value across the organization.
Listed skills include Financial Analysis, Forecasting, Pricing, Financial Modeling, and 18 others.
