Laureen DeBuono

Laureen DeBuono

Laureen DeBuono joined FLG Partners in 2011, served on the firm’s Management Committee from 2014 until 2017, and was elected Managing Partner in early 2020.

Laureen has over 35 years of senior management experience as President and CEO, COO, CFO and General Counsel of various private and public healthcare |consumer |retail products and technology companies.  She continues to serve as a Board Advisor| executive coach to CEOs and C-Suite executives, and as a Member of the Board of Directors of both public and private companies, chairing their respective Audit or Governance Committees.

Laureen has helped companies succeed by assisting them with corporate and financial strategy, rapid revenue growth, successive fundraising and IPOs, public company advising and Wall Street communications, operational infrastructure guidance, M&A, restructurings, conflict resolution and transformational change.  In particular, she has excelled at helping companies, Boards and CEOs navigate the many transitions that a company moves through to reach critical value inflection points, from early stage through financings, product launch and rapid revenue build, operational and global scale-up, going public (IPO), M&A, restructurings and exits.

In January 2018, Laureen became the Interim CFO and Advisor to the CEO at HotelTonight, a San Francisco-based mobile travel app, and assisted in its sale to Airbnb in April 2019. Laureen also served in late 2016 to 2017, as an advisor to the CEO and Board of Directors at BuildDirect, a Vancouver-based building goods company. From 2014 to late 2016, Laureen served as an Advisor to the Board of Directors and Interim CFO at Rodan+Fields, a hyper-growth, private, $1.5B premium skincare company with a robust e-commerce and social-selling business model.

During her career, Laureen has successfully raised over $2B+ in private financings and IPOs, completed $10B+ in M&A transactions, retired over $500M in company debt, negotiated over $2B in revolver credit arrangements for companies, and has overseen several SOX implementations. Just prior to joining FLG in 2011, she was President and CEO of Coapt Systems, Inc., a surgical products company from 2008-2010, and secured bridge financing to expand its product lines prior to the acquisition of the business by MicroAire Surgical in late 2010. As CFO of Thermage, Inc. (2003-2008; medical technology), Laureen led the company’s IPO, raising over $100M in both the private and public markets during her tenure, and led the acquisition of Reliant Holdings.   She also assisted as a Board member in the sale of Invivo, Inc. to IMCG Group in a $400M transaction in 2004, and the sale of VISX, Inc. to AMO (now Abbott Ophthalmology) in a $2B+ transaction in 2005. As CFO and COO of ReSound Corporation (1998-1999), Laureen was responsible for all global operations, and led the negotiations to sell the company to GN Great Nordic in a $400M+ transaction in 1999. And as EVP and General Counsel of Nellcor Puritan Bennett (1992-1998), she led the negotiations to sell the company to Mallinkcrodt, Inc. (now Medtronic) in a $2B+ transaction in 1997 as well as all post-merger integration.

Laureen is a frequent lecturer in corporate and financial strategy, IPOs, M&A, board governance, executive leadership, restructurings, post-merger integration and exits.

Laureen earned her B.A. from Duke University, Summa Cum Laude and Phi Beta Kappa, an M.A. from Stanford University as a Stanford Fellow, and a J.D. from New York University (NYU) School of Law where she was a Root-Tilden Scholar.  She is a member of the State Bar of California, as well as an alumnus of the Directors College at Stanford University School of Law and has been a certified NACD Board Leadership Fellow. Ms. DeBuono is also an Audit Committee financial expert.

With regard to Board service, Laureen is currently the Lead Independent Director of the Board of Directors of Rani Therapeutics (NASDAQ:  RANI), and also serves as Chair of its Audit Committee. She is also a member of the Board of Directors of Saluda Medical (private) and serves as Chair of its Audit Committee. She was a Member of the Board of Directors of Cradle Holdings LLC, a private, luxury good retail company, as Lead Operational Director from 2012 until its acquisition by Puig Barcelona in January 2015.

Laureen also served on the Board of Directors of the following public companies:

• Turtle Beach Holdings (NASDAQ:  HEAR), a public gaming headset and sound technology company (Chair, Governance Committee) (2014-2017).
• Cadence Pharmaceuticals, Inc.  (NASDAQ:  CADX), a public specialty pharma company, until its acquisition by Mallinkcrodt, Inc. in March 2014 ($1.2B transaction) (Member, Audit Committee) (2014-2015).
• VISX, Inc. (NYSE:  EYE), a public vision correction company, acquired by AMO/Abbott in late 2005 ($2B+ transaction) (Chair, Audit Committee and Member, Compensation Committee) (2003-2005).
• INVIVO, Inc. (NASDAQ:  SAFE), a public patient safety monitoring company acquired by IMCG Group in 2004 ($400M transaction) (Chair, Audit Committee, and Member, Compensation Committee) (1998-2004).

Laureen is also a mentor to entrepreneurs and has coached several first-time CEOs at Breakout Labs, a healthcare incubator, as well as a coach to other CEOs and C-Suite executives.

“Laureen DeBuono is truly rare in this world, both as a person and as a professional. She brings a unique blend of real life experience along with a passion and skill for coaching. She has an uncanny ability to motivate individuals such as myself and to help push others to think critically, constructively and often outside the box! Laureen’s candid feedback and tactful approach to accountability keeps me focused on the work that will be most impactful to our organization. Laureen’s listening skills are first rate. She would pick up on issues instinctively, prepare thoroughly for sessions, and teach me techniques to deal with specific situations I was facing. Laureen would employ a good mix of behavioral models, role playing tough discussions, “in their shoes” empathy exercises, and mapping out actions to take by our next session. Laureen keeps you focused on taking small actions that move you incrementally toward your goals throughout the coaching process. Being an effective leader takes time, desire and hard work. Laureen immediately helped me develop my own goals to measure my effectiveness in my role. It was refreshing to work with Laureen and to achieve milestones in such a short amount of time. If you are looking for one of the smartest investments you can make in your career – this is it…I am forever inspired from this experience!”

GINNA RAAHAUGE, VICE PRESIDENT, IT, CISCO SYSTEMS INC.