Ronald F. Smith provides fractional CFO and accounting services through Venture Financial Management LLC. He has over thirty years of business experience including ten years in public accounting and 20 years in private industry. Since 1987, Ron has served as the Chief Financial Officer of eight technology-based emerging growth companies, including a public company, and provided fractional CFO services to numerous other companies. During this period, he was directly involved in raising over $150 million in venture capital and debt financings. Ron’s experience in the venture capital industry is exceptionally broad and includes having raised venture funds from over thirty firms and strategic investors. In addition to private equity experience, he has also managed merger and acquisition transactions as both a buyer and seller. As part of both M&A and private equity transactions, Ron has led in-depth due diligence efforts and coordination of technical, legal, and financial aspects of transactions. His operating experience in guiding and managing growth in entrepreneurial business environments is the result of a variety of assignments requiring adaptable management skills. He has managed the finance, accounting, legal, and software production functions, in addition to overseeing human resources and administrative tasks. He has extensive experience in both domestic and international software licensing and has negotiated numerous end user, OEM, VAR, and reseller relationships primarily in the software industry. All of Ron’s private industry experiences have involved technology-based business models providing him with extensive experience in the management and protection of intellectual property. Ron’s experience has also afforded him the opportunity to supervise tasks associated with corporate governance and shareholder and investor relations.