Kira Spivak, Founder and CFO
Kira Spivak, founder of VenturePack CFO Solutions, has been easing the minds of CEOs and their investors for 23 years in Denver/Boulder, Colorado and beyond. Ms. Spivak has been working successfully for herself as an outsourced CFO since 2005. As financial technology evolved, Ms. Spivak designed VenturePack CFO Solutions in order to deliver a high quality accounting department, affordably, to her small and mid-sized business clients.
Kira’s voracious appetite for learning and her love of a challenge is evident in her career path, which began in law firms at 17 yrs. old, prior to joining an acquisition investment/management team that managed portfolio company investments, such as Yellow Cab of Denver, SuperShuttle and the Vail/Beaver Creek Jet Center. The same team later formed an SBIC fund where Kira held positions as controller and financial analyst and where she interviewed hundreds of fascinating entrepreneurs. Ms. Spivak went on to gain mergers and acquisitions experience as senior financial analyst and a buy-side representative for an investment bank. As an outsourced CFO, Ms. Spivak advised and negotiated a management buyout for a client company in the construction industry, which she then served as a part-time CFO as it quadrupled in size to $35 million in revenues and 200+ employees.
Kira is a contributor to CFO Magazine, Mastercard’s “Innovative” blog for businesses and has been recognized as an industry expert in digital media and print (American Express, Citibank, Sports Global Source, Snews). Ms. Spivak recently enjoyed being a panel speaker on “Business Divorces” at Fort Collins startup week.
When she’s not taking care of her clients, connecting in the business community, and motivating her team, she can most likely be found outside, biking, skiing, climbing, hiking, and playing sports with her college aged son and daughter. Kira is an active community member with the Colorado Advantage Business Council, the Colorado Mountain Club, Volunteer Treasurer for the Colorado Conservatory for Jazz Arts and loves singing with others at Swallow Hill Music Association.
Jennifer Aichele, Chief Financial Officer (Specialties: SaaS, startups, M&A)
Jennifer came to Colorado from San Francisco, where she spent the last 14 years as an outsourced CFO helping build Silicon Valley start-ups. Notably, Jennifer was the part-time CFO with Zimride, later known as Lyft from 2011 to 2014 where she also performed a NetSuite systems implementation.
This is not Jennifer’s first time living in Denver. She started her career in Colorado in the 1990’s working in the Financial Planning & Analysis group at TCI and AT&T Broadband. After AT&T Broadband and Comcast merged, Jennifer left the company and began her consulting career. Jennifer has over 20 years of progressive experience in finance and accounting working with over 35 start-ups and helping to raise over $500M in equity and debt financing.
When she’s not working with clients, she will most likely be traveling somewhere in the world. Jennifer loves the outdoors especially if she can be on the water: swimming, kayaking, rafting, sailing. She is an avid scuba diver with over 100 dives on 4 different continents.
Jennifer holds a Bachelor’s in Finance from California Polytechnic State University in San Luis Obispo, CA and a Master’s in Finance from the University of Colorado Denver. Jennifer also holds an inactive, non-attest California CPA license.
Jennifer is an active member of the Denver Alumni Chapter of Delta Sigma Pi, a coed professional business fraternity. Jennifer served as a trustee of the Delta Sigma Pi Leadership Foundation raising funds for scholarships and grants and servicing as chair of the audit committee.
Jennifer is a coach and mentor to young entrepreneurs. She has been involved with incubator programs at Astia, Cal Poly Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship, and Innosphere.
Elizabeth Austen, Business Development
Elizabeth first met Kira over 10 years ago at Brannan Sand and Gravel Company where Elizabeth was a biz dev ROCKstar. Pun intended. The pair formed a dynamic biz dev duo for VenturePack after many mutual tests in the climbing gym, lots of laughing, and a clear understanding that they shared a work hard/play hard mentality.
Elizabeth’s no pressure sales style, energy, humor and empathetic nature has smoothed the transition for a number of clients who have found the right home with VenturePack CFO Solutions. Elizabeth came to Colorado from New York in search of satisfying her inner “outdoor freak.” In her spare time, Elizabeth has taught whitewater kayaking and skiing and can also be found rock climbing, canyoneering and mountain biking. In her words, “I love VPCFO because I love offering people amazing solutions.”
Ian Arreola, Accounting Manager
Accounting education is one thing, understanding the world of entrepreneurs in the Denver/Boulder, Colorado area is another and Ian has both. A Colorado native, Ian cut his teeth in the restaurant industry where he developed an appetite for working with partners to launch new businesses. At VenturePack, Ian embraces the day to day accounting management and personally enjoys the exposure to multiple companies and their varied business models.