Third Road Management, a Glen Ellyn-based company providing midsize businesses with part-time chief financial officers, is setting up an advisory board of Chicago-area executives as it looks to fuel the next stage of its growth.
“These individuals have directly supported, assisted and impacted over 1,000 businesses across all stages, sizes and industries,” Third Road President Ryan Kunkel said in an interview. “They plug holes. They lend a perspective. They lend relationships. To have this extended network bench of visionary proven leaders is invaluable. Each one of them comes with their own superpowers.”
The board consists of Haven Allen, CEO and co-founder of manufacturing and hard tech incubator mHub; Desiree Vargas Wrigley, founding general partner of Velocity Catalyst; Laura McNaughton, managing director in the Chicago office of Kroll Securities; and Greg Hedges, president and CEO of the Chicago chapter of National Association of Corporate Directors.
Their areas of expertise include technology, manufacturing, venture capital and investment banking.
Third Road is focused on companies with annual revenue of less than $100 million. The company, which was incorporated in 2015, has tripled its own revenue in the past year.
The company, whose CFOs typically spend between one and three days a week with a client, is riding a wave of alternative staffing solutions that has risen since the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted traditional work arrangements.
“When you are a bootstrapped organization, you have to reach a certain level of size and credibility to kind of assemble the level of talent that will help us at this point,” Kunkel said.
John Frank, Third Road’s founder and CEO, said the formation of the advisory board represents the company’s next big step.
“Our model is working,” he said in a news release. “We are leveling the playing field for growing businesses, proving that the fractional leadership model is a better solution.”
Vargas Wrigley, whose Velocity Catalyst invests in early-stage founders and emerging fund managers, says the work she has done provides a long list of potential new clients for Third Road.
“My pipeline of startups is meaningful, both locally and nationally,” Vargas Wrigley said. “From supporting the team, I can help them see some trends and industries where there is a lot of activity. I think I can be beneficial on deal flow.”
The advisory board also will be helpful in determining Third Road’s expansion, both geographically and strategically, as well as assisting with decisions around new service offerings and strategic partnerships.
“For all of those pivotal conversations, it is nice to have an extra set of ears that you deeply respect,” Kunkel said.
The board will meet quarterly, with the first meeting set for Sept. 10, Kunkel said. He declined to disclose how they will be compensated.