About Us

Kurt Rathmann

CEO & Founder

LinkedIn Profile

Kurt is a born and raised entrepreneur. He brings a diverse background measuring and growing businesses and functions as the Chief Everything Officer. He has a keen focus for growing revenue, refining operations, and developing people. He is a news junkie, technological optimist, and has inherited the travel bug with a passion for exploring the world with his awesome wife.

Francis Sullivan

Chief Technical Officer

LinkedIn Profile

Francis leads ScaleFactor’s development team and brings over 30 years of experience building relevant products for the systems management, enterprise, and medical systems fields. Francis spent the last 13 years as the CTO and Co-Founder of Spiceworks where he helped transform the SMB IT industry. Before that, he held technical leadership positions at Motive, Tivoli, Tandem, and Sunquest Information Systems.

Gary Forni

Chief Operating Officer

LinkedIn Profile

Gary’s focus is on acceleration finely tuned for success. He brings 25+ years of experience in launching industry-disrupting technologies and business models. Previously, Gary served as the CEO of multiple companies and spent extensive time at Intel as the Worldwide Director of Marketing where he started four new businesses. Outside of the office, Gary enjoys spending sunny days water skiing on the lake.

Robert Gilbreath

Senior VP of Marketing

LinkedIn Profile

Robert is responsible for marketing here at ScaleFactor. While his background is diverse, he has most recently been focused on SaaS customer acquisition and retention. Robert is passionate about building marketing organizations and developing the people who allow for high-growth outcomes. He’s never shy to tweak a bit of code or take apart a piece of hardware. When not driving leads, he enjoys spending time outdoors with his wife and three children.

Brian Simmons

VP of Products

LinkedIn Profile

Brian is responsible for building customer facing products to present complex data in a simple, intuitive way. He focuses on customer needs working towards scalable, automated solutions that change the way businesses and growth companies make decisions. When he’s not developing FinTech’s next big idea, he enjoys traveling the globe with his wife in a quest to visit 50 different countries.

Eric Steinhoff

Senior VP of Lending

LinkedIn Profile

Eric is passionate about connecting small businesses to the best sources of capital when they need it. He brings over 20 years of experience and an impressive wealth of knowledge surrounding lending. Eric began his career at Capital One, where he worked in product development and credit risk management in their Virginia, London, and Toronto offices. Most recently, Eric was the Chief Credit Officer of ApplePie Capital. When he’s not at the office, he enjoys spending time with his wife and two boys.

Laarni Canoy, MBA, SPHR

Director of Talent Acquisition

LinkedIn Profile

Laarni is responsible for talent acquisition at ScaleFactor. She helped triple the size of the company over the course of a year and finds the fast pace of hyper-growth startups invigorating. Laarni is passionate about people and culture, startups, building teams, and networking. When not recruiting, Laarni immerses herself in books, traveling to exotic destinations, spending time outdoors with her dog, trying new cuisines, and spending quality time with family and friends.

Derek Felderhoff

Director of People

LinkedIn Profile

As the first employee, Derek eats, breathes, and sleeps ScaleFactor. He is the Culture Warrior. He focuses on internal operations including cash flow, culture & HR, and facilities management; he is a true utility player and provides support wherever needed. When not at the office, the rest of Derek’s bandwidth is spent with his family, friends, and two dogs.

Kristen Johnson

Director of Customer Experience

LinkedIn Profile

Kristen leads ScaleFactor’s Customer Experience team. Prior to ScaleFactor, she managed a portfolio of multinational companies across multiple industries, including construction and automotive. In her time at ScaleFactor, she has helped define the standard for account management. She is also the resident animal lover and owns seven pets including two miniature donkeys.

Yaya Zhou, CFA

Director of Finance

LinkedIn Profile

Yaya believes that disruptive technology makes the world a better place. She helps ScaleFactor complete this mission by maintaining its financial strength, financing its growth, and managing its resources. Yaya holds an M.S. in Finance from Pepperdine University and a B.S. in Finance from Donghua University in China. When not in the office, she enjoys spending time in local pottery studios and exploring new restaurants with her husband.