Former CFO David Johnston is the current principal of dbj Consulting LLC, a firm that provides fractional CFO services and advises life sciences companies. He is the former chief financial officer of several Massachusetts biotechnology and life sciences firms.
Current Position
In 2019, he founded dbj Consulting LLC. After over three decades as a corporate CFO, he established a firm to provide financial expertise to smaller emerging life sciences companies that cannot afford a full-time, experienced CFO. Many of his clients have fewer than ten employees and are virtual. When clients sign on with his firm, they receive the fractional, part-time services of an experienced CFO. Due to his extensive experience, he can efficiently create and implement action plans.
The trend of emerging companies employing part-time C-level executives benefits the firms and the executives. With his consulting firm, where he serves as a fractional CFO for multiple companies, David can better balance his work and family life. Additionally, it helps him avoid burnout and become healthier and more productive over time. It also keeps his interest by providing him with a variety of experiences.
CFOs benefit small emerging biotech companies by assisting in the development of financial relationships, the management of financial resources, and the provision of financial planning counsel. CFOs can also strengthen the business's foundation and increase accountability. Part-time CFOs are compensated on an hourly or flat rate basis and only for the hours they work. Companies can hire an experienced part-time CFO for less than a full-time CFO because they only pay for the time spent.
CFOs play numerous crucial roles in biotech companies, such as securing funding and overseeing grants, financial reporting, budgeting, guiding compliance, and assisting with the company's future market trajectory planning. In some instances, CFOs serve as CEOs, particularly when cash flow is crucial.
Some of his firm's clients employ CFOs but retain them for his strategic advice. He believes a disciplined, professional, humorous approach works well for entrepreneurs.
Written Work
As a former CFO, Johnston is also a prolific blogger and writer on biotechnology and finance-related topics. His articles have been published on Medium, Tumblr, the Buckeye Business Review, DrBioScience, and other online business and medical websites.
Since 1998, he has held senior-level finance positions with life sciences companies. His first finance position in the life sciences was with Genzyme as senior vice president of corporate finance, corporate planning, and analysis. Sanofi acquired this Cambridge, Massachusetts-based biotech company, a global pharmaceutical and healthcare company headquartered in Paris. After Genzyme, he served as CFO for two multinational corporations based in Boston that aimed to develop cancer-treating and -curing drugs.
Before his first senior-level position at a biotechnology company, he held financial positions at companies in other industries.
He has received numerous awards for his financial and strategic insight.
Competences and Experience
He uses his extensive experience to assist clients of bj Consulting. He has experience in the following:
He has experience in the following:
Leading Initial Public Offerings
Creative, non-dilutive royalty financing
Advising companies on strategic stock buy and sell solutions
Managing SEC reporting and financial analysis
Investor relations
Corporate finance
Strategic planning and the setting of Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)
Financial modeling
Mergers and acquisitions
Advising startups on how to raise funding and plan their financial future
Corporate development
Financial analysis
Acquisition integration
Revenue recognition
Due diligence
The Sarbanes-Oxley Act
Developing and rethinking capital allocation strategies
Improving operational efficiencies by analyzing bottlenecks
Helping companies use financial data to make decisions
Education
Former CFO Johnston obtained a bachelor's degree in science from Washington and Lee University in Lexington, Virginia. He earned an MBA from the University of Michigan's Stephen M. Ross School of Business in Ann Arbor.
Volunteer Work and Generosity
Several non-profit boards benefit from his financial and strategic expertise. For instance, he previously served on the board of directors at RAW ArtWorks. RAW Artworks is a youth arts organization based in Lynn, Massachusetts, that provides free programming in various art disciplines. He has also served on the board of directors for Tissue Banks International Inc., the world's largest ocular tissue provider.
Hobbies and Other Amusements
He reads voraciously. Rinker Buck's The Oregon Trail: A New American Journey is one of his favorite books. While the book is interesting for its information on traveling the Oregon Trail with a mule-drawn wagon, it is also applicable for entrepreneurs of small biotechnology companies. The book describes how the two adventurers overcome obstacles and uncertainty while maintaining their focus on completing the trail.
Johnston resides with his family in the Greater Boston area of Marblehead, Massachusetts.
Leading Initial Public OfferingsCreative, non-dilutive royalty financingAdvising companies on strategic stock buy and sell solutionsManaging SEC reporting and financial analysisInvestor relationsCorporate financeStrategic planning and the setting of Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)Financial modelingMergers and acquisitionsAdvising startups on how to raise funding and plan their financial futureCorporate developmentFinancial analysisAcquisition integrationRevenue recognitionDue diligenceThe Sarbanes-Oxley ActDeveloping and rethinking capital allocation strategiesImproving operational efficiencies by analyzing bottlenecksHelping companies use financial data to make decisions. Portfolio: http://davidjohnstoncfo.com/
