Evergreen Finance

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the President and Owner of L2 Counsel.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Evergreen Finance?

Franctional CFO services for numerous emerging growth companies.

What were your goals for this engagement?

Financial support for startups.

SOLUTION

How did you select Evergreen Finance?

Amazing capabilities, full scope, tax, accounting, everything.

Describe the engagement in detail.

We have engaged Evergreen Finance to support numerous of our startup and emerging growth company clients with financial, tax and accounting services.

Describe their billing or cost structure.

Hourly, fixed and monthly.

What was the team composition?

Jenny S.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Can you share any outcomes from the engagement that demonstrate progress or success?

Jenny and her team have been instrumental in helping my clients build financial models required to raise capital and report to the board of directors of venture backed companies. Jenny has gone far above the call of duty in making value added introductions to many of our clients to financing sources and other potential sources of talent.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

The team at my company, L2 Counsel, and Jenny's company, Evergreen Finance, have forged bonds of trust and confidence that are beneficial for our clients. We communicate on common Slack channels, texts, WhatsApp, GoogleDrive, Google Hangout, Zoom, Microsoft Teams, LoopUp and many other channels that are preferred by our clients to drive teamwork.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

The broad array of experience and expertise that Jenny and her team at Evergreen Finance can bring to bare on behalf of our clients is really impressive, from garage to global, state sales tax to international tax structuring. Their vast knowledge in their field is a lifesaver.

Are there any areas for improvement?

None.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

We’re a four-year-old company that makes computer chips and software the runs on top of it with a customer base that is data centers, companies that make servers, robotics, and anyone using AI technology. I’m the COO of the company.  

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Evergreen Finance?

We needed someone to run our finances for us. For about two years, they’ve been doing that for us. In advance of hiring a finance department, we outsource our finance work to them.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They work with our budgeting, handle our bookkeeping and accounting, work with the tax authorities, collaborate with our auditors and accounting firm, and more. Additionally, their team runs Quickbooks for us as well as our model. We also have them interact with vendors we use to run money in and out of the company. For instance, they’re our main contact with banks. When we were looking into debt raises, they drove research and due diligence with various lenders. 

What is the team composition?

Our main point of contact is Jenny (CFO), who does everything for us. I know there are others working in the background.  

How did you come to work with Evergreen Finance?

I wasn’t involved with the decision because I wasn’t with the company at the time they were brought on. It’s likely that one of our investors recommended them.  

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent about $400,000–$500,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We’ve been working with them since around January 2018.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?

We haven’t seen any issues at all, despite our internal team growing fast. Jenny’s been great in acting as part of the team rather than waiting for assignments to come to her. She’s willing to drive projects forward proactively as if she were one of our employees. They produce high-quality work on time and bring tools and contacts into the company. They’re very well networked, so we’re able to access whomever in the finance, banking, or investment communities.  

How did Evergreen Finance perform from a project management standpoint?

They’re incredibly responsive, willing to attend to tasks over the weekend, on holidays, and late at night. They’re always available to us. We communicate through text, email, phone calls, meetings in person, and more.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their responsiveness and availability in talking through our challenges really distinguish them. Jenny brings a lot of experience and a strong financial perspective to the table. Through networking, an understanding of the community, and her expertise, she’s really helped our company.  

Are there any areas they could improve?

Nothing comes to mind because we haven’t encountered big issues. I would consider using their services for fundraising, but we’d likely bring in other resources for that task in reality. 

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Use them as a CFO. They can do basic accounting and bookkeeping, but you wouldn’t be getting the most out of their team. Bring them into every financial aspect of the business.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the CEO of a data visualization firm.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Evergreen Finance?

We were fundraising for venture capital. They helped us prepare our pitch.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They took a look at our materials and created a company overview document that VC investors would find compelling. We spent a lot of time discussing, reviewing, and practicing our decks and our pitches. They also created a pro forma financial plan for us, going out two years, showing all our expenses and expectations of revenue. It was a very collaborative process, involving many edits going back and forth.

What is the team composition?

We just worked with Jenny (CFO).

How did you come to work with Evergreen Finance?

They seemed to be well connected to the Silicon Valley VC community. They made some good introductions.

How much have you invested with them?

We invested $31,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked together from April to August of 2020

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?

Unfortunately, there was too much optimism — although that wasn’t their fault. The company was too early to successfully fundraise, but since then it’s done quite better. We were very happy with the final results of what they produced for us, however.

How did Evergreen Finance perform from a project management standpoint?

We communicated a lot over Zoom and email.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They’re confident in what they’re doing and in us, and that helped us inspire confidence in ourselves.

Are there any areas they could improve?

They could have been more realistic for our opportunities. However, we had a lot of people telling us we had a great chance of fundraising.