Larry Polizzotto
CFO, VP Finance
Phoenix,AZ
Summary
CFO / VP FINANCE / PRESIDENT / VP SOURCING / VP BUSINESS DEV
Global strategic and execution focused executive with broad technology, industrial and consumer experience at S&P 500 to VC and PE companies. Versatile business, finance, problem solving, operational, technology and communications skills. MBA and BS Engineering degrees.
Overview
37
37
years of professional experience
7
7
years of post-secondary education
Work History
VP Corporate Finance
Shutterfly Inc
05.2022 - 02.2023
- Responsible $2B company's Financial Planning & Analysis, Strategy, M&A, Systems, Capital, Liquidity, Operating Expenses
- Rebuilt team, improved P&L forecast accuracy to 99%, gained senior leadership respect, reduced OPEX and CAPEX 10%, improved cash conversion cycle by 15%, reduced capital expenses by 15%, completed new annual operating plan that tripled revenue growth rate and increased EBITDA 65%
- Proposed 3 M&A transactions and 4 strategic partnerships that would accelerate revenue growth to 10%+ and balance seasonality
- Created financial system based on Oracle EPM/Hyperion/SAP w/real-time P&Ls, balance sheet, cashflow, operating KPIs
Consultant to CEO and COO
Local Motors Inc
09.2020 - 02.2022
- $25M revenue, Electric Autonomous Shuttle Vehicle start-up.
- Created AOP and reduced monthly ’20-21 OPEX & cash burn by 26%
- Established working capital & capital plan to support volume growth
- Created TCO product strategy to achieve 25% leadership share, cost parity with gas/diesel shuttles and scale volumes to profitability by ‘24
- This included 5 year financial & product plans, cash flow, capital required and $95M funding needs
- Led sourcing & procurement to cut product cost 50% by partnering w/suppliers who shared vision for advanced battery, AI, lidar, radar, camera, charging, autonomous software, display, steering, braking & mech systems to drive growth
CFO & VP Shared Services
Nammo Defense Systems Inc
01.2020 - 09.2020
- $600M revenue created from 6 acquisitions
- Responsible for Finance, Accounting, HR, IT, Health, Environment, Facilities, 6 Sigma, M&A
- Developed a comprehensive $45M capital investment strategy to modernize and grow US sites and IT, consolidate sites to cut operating costs 20%, sell and exit $20M business & drive positive cash flow
- Presented to BOD and received approval
- Created new business KPIs to drive improved profitability, operating performance, cash flow and HESS
- Hired 5 new Director reports to consolidate shared services across 6 US sites, integrate M&A and reduce cost 20%
- To drive efficiency and consolidate 6 acquisitions implemented new IT, Paychex payroll, Deltek and HR software systems
- Implemented 6 Sigma across Nammo with several projects at each site to reduce cost, cycle time, inventory and scrap
CEO Senior Advisor
TruTag Technologies
02.2017 - 01.2020
- $50M revenue. VC start-up, semiconductor & hyperspectral imaging anti-counterfeiting solution
- Developed TAM opportunity, market prioritization and business/technology strategy to move from development to commercialization
- Led focus on pharma drugs, food, alcohol anti-counterfeit protection & food safety from pathogens
- Identified target investors and raised $50M series B & C VC and strategic financing to support growth
- Built relationships with 7 major global pharmaceutical companies that are now implementing TruTag on important pills
- Met with major US food distributors/retail to agree to test hyperspectral imaging in food supply chain to reduce pathogens
President & CFO
HZO Inc
07.2015 - 01.2017
- 1B revenue, VC & PE Board, Disruptive nano-coating materials tech.& mfg that protects electronics from liquids for consumer electronics & industrial brands
- Responsible for Finance, Sales, Supply Chain, Strategy, HR, Legal, IT, Facilities
- Strengthened Finance and Accounting team to manage/reduce burn-rate 25%, improved accounting processes & controls to pass first audit and developed 4-year financial plan to move from development to revenue generation and positive cashflow
- Drove 135% planned sales increase and improved operating margins
- Grew project pipeline to $550M and 88 customers
- Raised $24M of increased VC investment & $15M bank financing
- Gained another $50M investment and $15M debt
- Implemented Salesforce, Oracle NetSuite ERP, IT and HR systems to support growth
- Responsible for establishing/negotiating 4 new China factories to support new customers Apple, Amazon, Ford, Samsung etc
- Priced and negotiated key customer contracts
- Negotiated supplier sourcing deals to reduce material and equipment costs.
CFO and VP Sourcing & Procurement
Honeywell International
01.2012 - 05.2015
- Vice President Electrical Aerospace & Defense Sourcing & Supply Chain. $5B spend, 950 suppliers, 150 staff, 2013-15
- Drove 4+% annual cost savings to EBITDA, improved quality & delivery 15% on $2B Electronic & EMS/CEM material spend & $3B for design-to-spec subcontracts by leading global supplier strategy, selection, relationships, negotiations
- Created strategy to simplify supply chain to best of breed, vertical integration, dual source, value engr., full life cycle
CFO Aerospace & Defense Sourcing & Procurement, $14B material and subcontract spend. 3000 global suppliers 2012-13
- Increased save from 1% to 4-5%/yr by integrating with manufacturing, R&D, suppliers & marketing & changing culture
VP Finance and Investor Relations
First Solar Inc
05.2008 - 01.2012
- Solar energy leader market cap $20B, $4B rev, S&P 500 2008-2012
- Vice President Finance, Investor Relations, Banking, Strategic Partners, M&A, Insurance & Communications skills
- Recognized by Institutional Investors Magazine and recipient of the highly coveted “All American Executives” award for Best Investor Relations Professional in 2010, 2011, 2012 by buy and sell-side. Result of a successful IR start-up after IPO
- Built a high-quality long-term shareholder base and increased sell-side coverage from 19 to 57 global analysts
Finance Executive Director
Dell
05.1997 - 05.2008
- CFO / Exec. Dir. Finance Consumer Retail, Services & Online Business, Investor Relations, 2005-2008
• Drove a 25% profit improvement in a $500M P&L as CFO responsible for all finance, accounting, and budgets - Executive Director Suppliers, Business, Product and Advanced Disruptive Technology Development, 2003-2005
• Led business, marketing, supplier sourcing & engineering team focused on semiconductors & imaging created $1B revenue - Executive Director Dell Corporate Planning, Budgets, Strategy, M&A Reported to CFO, 2001-2003
• Doubled revenues to $60B by leading division and C-level executives to create strategic and annual operating plans
• Achieved EPS goals 10 quarters by re-engineered P&L & Cash forecast/annual operating plan process. Cut costs 10%
• Reviewed quarterly operational, cash metrics, strategy and M&A proposals with C-level executives and Board of Directors - Director Cloud Computing/Hosting Service/SaaS- Suppliers, Finance, Business Dev. Marketing, Operations 2000-2001
• Led the start-up of SMB & Consumer Hosting & SaaS services which grew to 16K customers, $50M revenue 1st year
• Developed global market & business plans / roadmaps, hired 17 professionals, negotiated supplier services contracts, created service product offerings and e-commerce site. Executed operations to achieve sales and customer satisfaction
• Negotiated the business sale to Sprint for a $125M gain - Director Enterprise Servers & Storage – Finance, GM, Strategy, Supplier Sourcing, Bus. Dev., Marketing 1997-1999
• Led an executive team to start-up Dell’s storage systems business and grew revenue to $500M year 1; $5B in 5 years. Developed marketing, technology, and financial strategic plans, negotiated with suppliers and received BOD approval to hire 150 people. Established international operations and launched an innovative product line • Grew server revenue from $.3B to $6B, #2 share by preparing comprehensive server financial & business launch plans
• Proposed and analyzed strategic M&A transactions to accelerate the growth of the server and storage business
• Developed business models, pricing, marketing programs, manufacturing strategies and negotiated alliances to grow
• Worked with regional sales GMs to create strategic and operating plans and shared best practices to expand globally
Finance Director
IBM Corporation
05.1985 - 05.1997
- Program Director Finance, Pricing, Product Planning, Marketing – RS/6000 Server and UNIX Software, 1995-1997
• Managed Pricing, Business Planning and Product Marketing and made $2B investments for $15B in revenue for server, microprocessor, semiconductor, and software products
• Received CEO Award for leading cross-divisional marketing and strategy teams for IBM server, software, and microprocessor brands with annual sales of $20B that resulted in brand repositioning and new growth initiatives - Senior Manager Software Finance Operations and Planning, Venture Capital, M&A, 1994-1995
• Analyzed Lotus & Tivoli software acquisitions of ~$5B which started IBM’s transformation to a software company
• Managed $2B expenses and established client, server, Internet software financial team to launch software and services
• Drove software sales by evaluating and negotiating $50M partner application funding for venture capital investments - Manager Business Development, Planning, Sales, Pricing – RS/6000 Server and UNIX Software, 1989-1994
• Marketed and negotiated pricing and terms for $950M in large global OEM sales, joint ventures, IP licenses, development, manufacturing and equity partnership contracts for the server, software, and semiconductor divisions
• Managed $1B budgets for the strategic IBM, Apple, Motorola PowerPC microprocessor and software alliance
• Grew strategic server revenues to $3B by creating new compensation incentive plans
• Created server product market positioning and financial optimization model to grow to $1B in sales in the first year - Staff Financial and Cost Analyst – IBM/ROLM Telecommunications and Disk Drives, 1985-1989
Education
MBA - Finance & Marketing
Kelley School of Business, Indiana University
Bloomington, IN 08.1983 - 05.1985
Bachelor of Science - Industrial Engineering – Production & Complex Systems
Purdue University
West Lafayette, IN 08.1978 - 05.1983
Skills
CFO, Corporate Financial Planning Analysis and Development
Strategy, M&A, IPO, Financing, Budget, AccountingInvestor & Banking Relations, Media, IT, HR, LegalCOO, GM, P&L, Start-up, Growth, Cash Flow mgmtPresident, Sales & Marketing, Business Dev PartnershipsSupply Chain, Sourcing & Procurement, Contract NegotiationsProduct Marketing & Portfolio Planning, Pricing, RevenueBusiness, Product & Disruptive Technology DevelopmentAffiliations
Institute for Supply Management
• Keynote speaker 2016 ISM Annual International Conference: Strategies for Driving Cost Productivity Through People, Partnerships, Product and Process
Austin Chamber of Commerce, 2005-2008
• Chairman Economic Development & Technology Committee responsible for attracting 700 businesses to Austin and supporting growth of existing businesses which contributed to Austin job growth at twice the national average
• Member of the Education committee that worked with local educators to provide employees to meet business needs
Timeline
VP Corporate Finance
Shutterfly Inc
05.2022 - 02.2023
Consultant to CEO and COO
Local Motors Inc
09.2020 - 02.2022
CFO & VP Shared Services
Nammo Defense Systems Inc
01.2020 - 09.2020
CEO Senior Advisor
TruTag Technologies
02.2017 - 01.2020
President & CFO
HZO Inc
07.2015 - 01.2017
CFO and VP Sourcing & Procurement
Honeywell International
01.2012 - 05.2015
VP Finance and Investor Relations
First Solar Inc
05.2008 - 01.2012
Finance Executive Director
Dell
05.1997 - 05.2008
Finance Director
IBM Corporation
05.1985 - 05.1997
MBA - Finance & Marketing
Kelley School of Business, Indiana University
08.1983 - 05.1985
Bachelor of Science - Industrial Engineering – Production & Complex Systems
Purdue University
08.1978 - 05.1983