Grow
Operational scaling, strategic partnerships and commercial growth, organization and team build. Scale with technology, not headcount: growth that does not require proportional hiring.
Mariana Coontz
Strategic Finance & Operating Advisory · Board Director
Chief Financial and Operating Officer who built her foundation early in her career at a top-tier global bank, then parlayed that discipline into driving hypergrowth in fintech, leveraging technology and AI to scale, leading an 8x increase in valuation to unicorn status in under three years and building the capital, partnerships, technology, and operating infrastructure behind that growth.
Tech-forward by conviction: scale with technology, not headcount, and adopt AI with the controls to match.
How I help
- Advise founders and CEOs Strategic finance and operating advisory for tech startups at various stages.
- Partner with investors Operating advisor to private equity and venture firms on portfolio finance, capital, and scale.
- Serve in the boardroom Independent director and Audit Committee financial expert.
JPMorgan ChaseEarly career foundation: $1T+ in assets and liabilities.
Synchrony FinancialPublic company, $2B in annualized revenue.
ImprintRaised over $1B in debt and equity capital, driving disciplined growth.
Advisory · Coontz Consulting
Strategic Finance & Operating Advisory
Through Coontz Consulting, Mariana provides strategic finance and operating advisory to tech startups at various stages: growing the business, funding that growth, and building the finance, risk, and operating infrastructure to sustain it.
“I’ve sat on both sides of the table, inside a global bank and in the CFO seat at a hypergrowth fintech. So I know what lenders look for, and how to approach them from a position of strength. I do the work myself.”
The work draws on both seats she has held, Chief Financial Officer and Chief Operating Officer, at institutional scale and at hypergrowth speed. Engagements are senior and hands on: Mariana does the work herself, alongside founders, CEOs, boards, and investors.
Fund
Capital strategy, debt facilities, warehouse and ABS / securitization, liquidity and capital planning.
Build
Finance function build-out, FP&A, accounting and audit readiness, enterprise risk, internal controls, partner bank and regulatory infrastructure. Adopt technology and AI with the controls to match, so automation never outruns governance.
Lead
CEO and board counsel, strategic planning, governance and public-company readiness, operating advisor to PE and VC firms on fintech portfolio companies.
Board Service
Financial expertise, in the boardroom.
Independent director and Audit Committee financial expert, bringing an operator's record to the oversight work of the board.
Mariana qualifies as an Audit Committee financial expert under NYSE and SEC standards, with a career spent on the questions audit, risk, and finance committees exist to answer: capital, liquidity, controls, and the quality of financial reporting.
At Synchrony Financial, she had direct interactions with a public company board on risk, capital, liquidity, and financial results during her Synchrony tenure, through an IPO and the separation from GE. As an operator, she delivered a first flawless Big 4 audit and an inaugural Fitch AAA-rated ABS.
She previously served on the board of the Darien Arts Center (2021 to 2023).
Brings an operator’s perspective on technology and AI adoption, and the risk and control frameworks that must scale with it.
Audit Committee Readiness: NYSE & SEC Requirements
| Requirement | NYSE / SEC Reference | Relevant Experience & Qualification |
|---|---|---|
| Independence (no material relationship) Met |
SEC Rule 10A-3(b)(1); NYSE §303A.06 & §303A.02 | No current or recent compensatory fees, executive or employee relationships, or affiliations with any company or its subsidiaries. |
| Audit Committee Independence (additional) Met |
SEC Rule 10A-3; NYSE §303A.07 | Meets the heightened standards prohibiting any direct or indirect compensatory fees (other than board fees) and any affiliation. |
| Financial Literacy Met |
NYSE §303A.07(a) | Extensive CFO-level FP&A, capital planning, treasury, and financial reporting leadership at public and private companies. |
| Accounting or Related Financial Management Expertise Met |
NYSE §303A.07(a) | CFO and operating officer leadership across banking and fintech; satisfies the NYSE requirement and exceeds it via the SEC Financial Expert designation. |
| Financial Expert, Attribute 1: Understanding of GAAP and financial statements Met |
Item 407(d)(5), Reg S-K | Extensive CFO/FP&A leadership; prepared, analyzed, and reported complex financial statements at public and private companies. |
| Financial Expert, Attribute 2: Ability to assess GAAP application to estimates, accruals, and reserves Met |
Item 407(d)(5), Reg S-K | Led capital planning, stress testing (CCAR/DFAST), and enterprise risk at Synchrony and JPMorgan Chase ($1T+ in assets). |
| Financial Expert, Attribute 3: Experience with financial statements of comparable breadth and complexity Met |
Item 407(d)(5), Reg S-K | Oversaw capital allocation and stress testing for over $1 trillion in assets and liabilities at JPMorgan Chase; directed capital and liquidity reporting at Synchrony; led securitizations and a Big 4 audit at Imprint. |
| Financial Expert, Attribute 4: Understanding of internal control over financial reporting Met |
Item 407(d)(5), Reg S-K | Steered Imprint through its first flawless Big 4 audit; built treasury risk and control frameworks at Synchrony and JPMorgan Chase. |
| Financial Expert, Attribute 5: Understanding of audit committee functions Met |
Item 407(d)(5), Reg S-K | Provided direct interactions with public company board committees on risk, capital, liquidity, and financial results at Synchrony. |
Mariana fully satisfies the independence, financial literacy, and expertise standards required for Audit Committee service on NYSE-listed and Nasdaq-listed companies and under SEC rules.
About · Pivotal Moments
Built in the hard moments.
Twenty plus years across banking, public company finance, and hypergrowth fintech, with each chapter defined by a moment that required building under pressure.
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Chapter One
JPMorgan Chase
Executive Director and Assistant Treasurer. As Assistant Treasurer, she was responsible for $50 billion in annual capital deployment. Capital allocation, planning, and stress testing (CCAR / DFAST) for $1T+ in assets, through the Global Financial Crisis. During the financial crisis, she worked on complex acquisitions, including Bear Stearns.
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Chapter Two
Synchrony Financial
Senior Vice President with a pivotal role in the IPO and GE separation at a public company with $2B in annualized revenue. Ran FP&A, led enterprise risk and capital planning and stress testing, and established treasury risk and finance oversight, with direct interactions with the public company board.
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Chapter Three
Imprint
Chief Financial and Operating Officer for three years. Led an 8x increase in valuation to unicorn status and more than 200X revenue growth. Scaled the business without scaling headcount, leveraging technology across operations, finance, and compliance. Raised over $1B in debt and equity capital, driving disciplined growth. Built meaningful partnerships with global brands. Led the inaugural Fitch AAA-rated ABS transaction and steered the company through its first flawless Big 4 audit, while leading Business Development, Operations, and Compliance.
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Chapter Four
Now
Through Coontz Consulting, Mariana advises fintech founders and CEOs on the work she knows firsthand: raising and diversifying capital at a lower cost of capital, building the finance, risk, and control infrastructure that growth demands, establishing operating rhythms across executive teams, and scaling partnerships and operations with discipline. She also partners with private equity and venture capital firms as an operating advisor on fintech investments, and serves on boards, where she brings the perspective of an operator who has sat in the executive seat. Recent proof: at Spring Oaks Capital, Mariana advised on the first bank debt facility in the company's history, oversubscribed and delivered 12 months ahead of plan, running the process heavily leveraging AI with a one-person team. Read the story on LinkedIn Three ways she helps: advise founders and CEOs, partner with investors, and serve in the boardroom.
Roots
A Bronx native and daughter of immigrants, Mariana holds bachelor's and master's degrees from Fordham University. She lives in Connecticut with her husband, Mickey, and their five children. Her values:
- Hard work
- Respect
- Integrity
- Family
- Faith
One principle runs through all of it, at home and at work: the golden rule. Treat others as you would have them treat you.
Perspectives
What shapes my thinking.
Principles earned in the work, and the books and words returned to most.
The Operator's Playbook
Colleagues describe her as tough but fair: a high bar for herself and her teams, paired with genuine empathy for the people she leads.
Capital is a strategy, not a transaction.
Hire people who can run it without you, then let them.
Scale with technology and AI, not headcount, and never let automation outrun governance.
Build the infrastructure before you need it: audit, liquidity, and risk in good times.
Bring the board the hard numbers early.
Run at the hard conversation. Problems do not age well.
My Bookshelf
Business & Leadership
How companies are built, led, and made to endure.
The Worlds I See
Zero to One
The Score Takes Care of Itself
Grit
Elon Musk
BE 2.0 (Beyond Entrepreneurship 2.0)
Faith & Family
The foundation everything else is built on.
Mere Christianity
Twelve Extraordinary Women
Curious by nature, a student by discipline. I have never stopped learning.
Words I Return To
“The amount of good in your life depends on your ability to notice it. More beauty, more progress, more peace. Gratitude sharpens your vision.”Lewis Howes
“The most common error of a smart engineer is to optimize a thing that should not exist.”Elon Musk
“Do small things with great love.”Mother Teresa
“By failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail.”Benjamin Franklin
Advise founders and CEOs
Strategic finance and operating advisory for tech startups at various stages.
Advisory →Partner with investors
Operating advisor to private equity and venture firms on portfolio finance, capital, and scale.
Now →