Columbia MBA, CFA, Buy-Side Analyst and CFO | Finance and Pitch Prep

Ryan D.

Hi everyone - I'm Ryan. Since college, I have had a passion for investing and have spent my life gaining as much knowledge as possible in finance, accounting, investing, and financial/market history. I graduated from the U.S. Air Force Academy as a Distinguished Graduate of Business and spent five years in the Air Force as an Officer. After my service commitment, I attended and graduated with an MBA from Columbia Business School and was also a graduate of the Value Investing Program, where the early practitioners of value investing such as Benjamin Graham taught the likes of Warren Buffett. I have also earned the Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) designation and have 6+ years of experience on the buy-side in finance, both at long/short equity hedge funds and long-only asset managers.

Today I serve as the Chief Financial Officer of a nuclear fusion energy startup, where I lead financial strategy, fundraising, and investor relations. That means the concepts I teach are not academic to me. I build the models, run the valuation work, and sit across the table from investors every week. When we work through a DCF, a capital structure decision, or a cash flow statement, I can show you both how the textbook wants it done and how it actually gets done.