By FLG Partners
As FLG celebrates its 22nd anniversary, the model built in 2004 feels more relevant than ever.
In its 22nd year, FLG Partners stands as a firm shaped by experience, market change, and a clear understanding of what boards and growth-stage companies truly need from financial leadership.
From the start, Tuesday, January 27, 2004, FLG was built with intention. It was never a traditional consulting firm, nor set up as a staffing model.
FLG has always been a partner-led organization designed to bring seasoned CFO judgment into moments that matter: capital raises, board scrutiny, operational inflection points, and periods of rapid growth.
These choices were shaped by the early 2000s, when regulatory change and shifting capital markets raised the bar for financial leadership.
They were also shaped by the experiences of the firm’s founders, beginning with Jeffrey Kuhn, whose career made clear both what the firm needed to be and what it should deliberately avoid.
What emerged was a firm designed to evolve with its clients, adapt as markets change, and hold itself to a high bar for integrity, collaboration, and truth in the boardroom.
The Experiences that Defined the Firm
Jeff grew up in Northern California, studied at UC Davis, and began his career in investment banking at Kidder, Peabody & Co., one of the most profitable privately held investment banks on Wall Street at the time.
It was prestigious and demanding. It was also unsustainable.
Investment bankers routinely worked 100-hour weeks. Travel was constant. One moment crystallized the cost. A last-minute international flight meant Jeff missed his daughter’s first birthday. Another followed soon after, and the lesson was unmistakable.
Success that requires everything else is not success.
When GE acquired Kidder, Jeff returned to San Francisco. At the time, technology companies were still emerging in public markets. Software IPOs were rare. Microsoft’s 1985 IPO was the exception, not the rule. Silicon Valley was dominated by hardware and semiconductor companies, and Jeff moved closer to that ecosystem.
After a later restructuring, he made a choice most bankers avoided. When his boss left Kidder to become the CFO at a former client, a semiconductor capital equipment company, the alternative path forward was clear. What looked unconventional proved formative. Jeff made the leap to Silicon Valley companies, gained operating experience, and built deep relationships with venture capitalists who would later shape FLG’s early growth.
One lesson stayed with him: Business development is not optional.
“Don’t be shy about picking up the phone,” Jeff says. Trust is built through direct relationships, not distance.
When a Market Gap Becomes Obvious
FLG began with a shared recognition that existing models did not serve Silicon Valley well.
Several future partners were working within a national finance services firm built for scale and standardization. Silicon Valley moved faster. Companies grew quickly, and boards expected sharper judgment. The gap between what founders needed and what traditional firms delivered continued to widen.
By early 2004, two forces made that gap impossible to ignore.
- Sarbanes-Oxley raised expectations for financial controls, transparency, and board accountability.
- At the same time, regulatory changes forced a separation between investment banking and research, fundamentally altering how companies prepared for public markets and earned investor credibility.
Meanwhile, a majority share of global venture capital flowed through Silicon Valley. Companies were expected to have their act together earlier, not later.
The opportunity was clear. The model to meet it did not yet exist.
Six Partners and a Deliberate Choice
FLG was founded by six partners: Jeff, Skip, Doug, Jim, Connie, and Victor. The name, Financial Leadership Group, was agreed to quickly. Although even then, it was clear the firm, always direct and forthright, would simply be known as FLG.
There was no inherited hierarchy. No physical office. No interest in replicating large-firm structures and bureaucracies.
Everyone would be an equal partner. Knowledge would be shared freely, and help would be given without tracking compensation. The expectation was simple: be a good partner.
Jeff stepped into the managing partner role early, largely because someone needed to lead, and growth required accountability. More than half of FLG’s first 100 clients came from his relationships, but the intent was always collective.
Collaboration at Its Core: How FLG’s Culture Took Shape
As the firm grew, its culture was reinforced less through policy and more through behavior.
FLG remained virtual by design. Partners met monthly over dinner, running the meetings with the discipline of a boardroom. Discussion points included client challenges and pipeline prospects. It was an opportunity for partners to ask directly for help.
The objective? Shared learning.
“We had an intense desire to learn from each other’s mistakes and successes,” Jeff recalls.
Over time, the firm grew to roughly 20 partners. What clients valued most was not a single advisor, but access to collective experience whenever needed.
“When you have a dozen brains who know this profession well, you carry them around,” Jeff says. “When you need help, everyone jumps in.”
That collaborative model remains FLG’s defining advantage. And today that current FLG partner experience rounds out to about 950 collective years.
Integrity as a Firm-Wide Obligation
From its earliest days, FLG drew a clear line around integrity.
“My responsibility is to tell you the truth,” Jeff says. “Let’s get to the truth so we can fix this.”
That principle applies in boardrooms, with investors, and internally. The firm’s reputation was built by addressing issues early, even when uncomfortable.
“If you get a reputation for always telling the truth and not putting up with nonsense, people remember,” Jeff says.
Recruiting today still reflects this standard. References are extensive. Technical skills matter, but character matters more. The firm looks for people who can operate under pressure without creating it.
When mistakes happen, they are addressed directly, quickly, and transparently.
Carrying the Model Forward
Twenty-two years later, the markets FLG serves look different. Technology and Life Science cycles are faster, and expectations from boards and investors are higher. Artificial intelligence is reshaping Silicon Valley much as, likely more than, semiconductors once did.
What has not changed is FLG’s foundation.
- FLG remains partner-led.
- It still operates without a physical headquarters.
- It still believes the best outcomes come from experienced people working together, telling the truth early, and solving problems directly.
That continuity matters as the firm looks ahead.
Today, FLG comprises 27 active interim CFO partners working with established Fortune 500 enterprises and mid-sized startups across the Technology, Life Sciences, and Consumer sectors. The seasoned team, all proven CFOs before joining, brings a collective 900+ years of CFO experience to their clients.
“FLG was built on sound judgment, integrity, and collective experience,” says Managing Partner Jennifer Cho. “Our responsibility now is to apply those same principles to the realities our clients face today, new technologies, new risks, and to meet, if not exceed, expectations from our clients, boards, and investors.”
Silicon Valley remains a center of gravity for innovation and capital. Venture funding continues to concentrate there. The need for board-ready financial leadership has only intensified.
FLG was built for moments like this. It was created to evolve with the market while staying anchored to the values that made the firm trusted in the first place. This is what made FLG different in 2004. It is what continues to define the firm today.
