Hire the Best Due Diligence Specialists
in the United States

I help clients investigate people and companies, verify records and online footprints, and resolve online reputation issues. INVESTIGATIONS & DUE DILIGENCE • Background research on individuals and companies • Identity, employment, credential and contact verification • Court, corporate, public record and open source research • Locating people and difficult to find information • Source verification, timeline analysis and evidence organization • Research support for legal, business and sensitive personal matters ONLINE REPUTATION & DIGITAL FOOTPRINT • Online presence, reputation and privacy audits • Identification of harmful, outdated, duplicate or unauthorized content • Legacy account recovery, profile cleanup and account closure • Publisher, platform and website owner research and outreach • Assessment of realistic removal, correction and deindexing options • Privacy and data broker cleanup, remediation planning and monitoring My work is discreet, thorough and clearly documented. I give clients an honest assessment of what is realistic, explain the available options and provide regular updates.

I am a technical and business-focused consultant, advisor, and writer with 25+ years of experience supporting science and technology-driven companies. I blend deep technical fluency with executive-level strategy, product insight, and high-stakes communication. I have supported 100+ startup and SME teams across edtech, biotech, medical devices, cybersecurity, SaaS, AI and ML, blockchain, robotics, finance, and health and wellness. I have been instrumental in the growth of 9 startups, including 6 that I co-founded, with 3 exits so far. My background includes founding leadership, authoring 75+ patent applications, and contributing to more than $2.5B in combined equity and competitive grant funding. What I do I help teams turn complex ideas into clear, investor-ready, customer-ready, and reviewer-ready materials that hold up under scrutiny. I work closely with founders, scientists, engineers, and executives to produce content and strategy that is precise, persuasive, and aligned with real business constraints. Typical outcomes include faster fundraising cycles, tighter product decisions, cleaner diligence, stronger partnership conversations, and fewer expensive misunderstandings. Core offerings Investor, partner, and customer narratives • Pitch decks and investor narratives, including messaging, positioning, and data room readiness • One-pagers, executive summaries, and strategic briefs • Market framing, TAM and SAM logic, competitor landscapes, and GTM strategy Due diligence and transaction support • Investor due diligence document sets for preseed through later stages • M&A planning, diligence support, and integration-ready documentation • Startup valuation modeling and analysis, including assumptions, scenarios, and narrative defensibility Grant and non-dilutive funding • SBIR and STTR Phase I and Phase II proposals for NSF, NIH, DoD, and DOE • Specific Aims, technical narrative, innovation case, commercialization strategy, budget support, and full compliance formatting Product and technical documentation • Product requirement documents and functional specification documents • Technical white papers, lite papers, and architecture or method deep dives • Product and specification documents, validation summaries, and customer-facing technical narratives IP and patents • Provisional patent drafting, including interviews, embodiments, and complete filing-ready structure • Full utility patent drafting, including claims support, detailed embodiments, and figure coordination (diagrams and drawings included as needed) • Attorney-ready formatting and prosecution-friendly clarity Strategic communications • Founder communications, outreach messaging, and executive-level writing for high-stakes situations • Press announcements and thought leadership that stay technical enough to be credible, and clear enough to be shared How I work My process is collaborative and structured: I get to clarity quickly, turn ambiguity into a plan, and deliver artifacts that teams can actually use. I can plug in as a hands-on creator, a strategic editor, or a fractional partner who stays close to the business and product. Rates and retainers Standard hourly rate: $95 per hour. Retainers (discounted): • Weekly: $900 for 10 hours at an effective rate of $90 per hour • Biweekly: $1,700 for 20 hours at an effective rate of $85 per hour • Monthly: $3,200 for 40 hours at an effective rate of $80 per hour Monthly engagement minimum applies. Fractional retainers are available. Special discounts may be available on a case by case basis, including mixes of equity and hourly rate. Background PhD in Physics, with graduate degrees in Mathematics, Electrical Engineering, and Computer Science.

A poor valuation doesn’t just cost you thousands—it can cost you millions $$$, along with wasted time and stress. I help searchers, private equity groups, and business owners value private small to midsize businesses for investment, partner buyouts, tax, and litigation purposes. Unlike many finance freelancers on Upwork, I’ve personally invested in, operated, bought & sold, made and lost money on private acquisitions and investments. That real-world risk taught me the stakes of an inaccurate valuation. For the past 15 years, I’ve analyzed thousands of startups and small- and mid-sized businesses and have become certified across multiple SME appraisal and finance bodies. I am certified by the National Association of Certified Valuators and Analysts (NACVA) and the International Society of Business Appraisers (ISBA). I follow a structured process that documents every step, explains conclusions, and ensures credibility. Services Include: 🤝 Partner Buyouts - deliver certified, accurate and defensible valuations when an owner is considering selling to a business partner or related party. 📑 Business Acquisition Investment Review & LBO Analysis – get value of a private business you are considering acquiring or investing in. 🧾 Tax & Estate Valuation – independent certified business valuations for estate and gift tax reporting as required by the IRS. ⚖️ Litigation Valuation – lost profits and economic damage reports based on court-tested techniques that deliver accurate estimates of SME private business value. 🚀 Startup & Venture Capital Valuation – get an accurate and defensible pre-money value for your startup or investment. 📈 Strategic Planning – provides owners, leadership teams, and investors with a clear view of business value to guide growth strategies. 🚚 Equipment Valuation – Certified desktop appraisals for machinery, vehicles, and other equipment assets. 🧮 Quality of Earnings - assess the quality of reported EBITDA adjustments and discretionary earnings of the business 💵 Proof of Cash – our best defender against fraud and manipulation of financial statements 🔄 Working Capital – create accurate estimates for operating working capital needs and target PEG for negotiations. 💼 Acquisition CFO – support from post-acquisition accounting integration and cash flow forecasting. Why Work With Me: ✔️ Authoritative knowledge: thousands of businesses analyzed ✔️ Certified across multiple Institutes (CVA®, BCA®, CMEA®, FMVA®, and more) ✔️ Proven structured process that documents every step for credibility ✔️ Deliver fast turnaround (24–48 hours) when deadlines are tight ✔️ Top Rated on Upwork with 100% job satisfaction rating What Upwork Clients Say: 💬 “Josh is exceptional at what he does and provided the exact skills I needed for a potential business acquisition. Accountants might be able to review financials, but Josh knows exactly what to look for. 💬 "Josh is hands down one of the best consultants I’ve worked with on up work. He is perhaps the most professional person I’ve worked with, as well as the most talented business valuation expert I’ve ever worked with." 💬"Working with Josh has been one of the best decisions we've made. We're happy to recommend him to anyone looking to understand the value of their company." About Me: I’m Josh and 15 years ago when I got out of the military I wanted to buy a business. When I got the numbers from the business I wanted to buy, despite having a degree in finance, I could not come up with how they put the numbers together. I outsourced the analysis to different financial professionals but got conflicting information on the business’s value. The pressure mounted as I was about to put up a significant amount of my net worth, and I could not sleep. From that moment, I vowed to never be put in this position again and have been on a quest to know how these companies are valued. This past decade I’ve analyzed thousands of these businesses along with gaining multiple business appraisal institute certifications. To go along with my degrees and certifications, I have read over 400 books on private business valuation and transaction analysis. My credentials include: ✸ Certified Valuation Analyst (CVA)® ✸ Business Certified Appraiser (BCA)® ✸ Certified Machinery & Equipment Appraiser (CMEA)® ✸ Financial Modeling and Valuation Analyst (FMVA)® ✸ Professional Bookkeeper (PB)® ✸ QuickBooks Specialist (QS)® ✸ Profit and Growth Expert (PGE)® ✸ Certified Turnaround Analyst (CTA)® ✸ Accredited Small Business Consultant (ASBC)® ✸ M.S. in Applied Economics (MSAE) – Johns Hopkins University ✸ M.S. in Finance (MSF) – George Washington University ✸ B.B.A. in Finance—Radford University ✸ Certificate in Forecasting in Organizations—Johns Hopkins University ✸ Certificate in Real Estate Finance and Investment—New York University I’m new to Upwork and offering introductory pricing to build client relationships here. I offer a free consultation, so send me a message.

I have over 10 years of experience with companies of all sizes and industries. I have extensive experience in bookkeeping, reconciliation, preparing financial reports, A/R, A/P, payroll. I also provide advanced financial analysis, budgeting, and cash flow forecasting to help business owners make informed decisions and plan strategically. In addition, I support clients through mergers and acquisitions by conducting financial due diligence, valuations, and post-acquisition integration to ensure a smooth transition and accurate reporting. I am very tech savvy and can learn any new process or software I have not come across before. I have strong experience with QuickBooks, Excel, Gusto, ADP, A2X and many other third party applications used in bookkeeping. Basically - whatever money touches, I can help you with!

I love entrepreneurs and working in entrepreneurial environments. I've written over 50 business plans, created pitch decks and developed financial models for ventures across multiple industries which have helped raise over $100 million in funding. Through this experience, I have gained a strong understanding of what investors look for when making a decision and the types of questions that must be addressed in order to secure funding. My experience is not limited to consulting. I've helped start 14 companies, one of which was a finalist in the TechCrunch disrupt competition, four have exited. I hold an MBA in finance from Thunderbird School of Global Management -- ranked #1 in the world for Global Business. And I have used my experience to help others as a Professor of Entrepreneurship to Master's-degree candidates. I also volunteer my time as a mentor to startup entrepreneurs at two accelerator programs. I have been a published author since 2001. This includes having collaborated on three books on entrepreneurship, one of which sells over 1 million copies and another that President Bill Clinton wrote the forward to. I enjoy working for clients that want to have a major impact on the world. ABOUT MY WORK My work has been profiled in The Washington Post and Investor's Business Daily. Additionally, my client work has been the subject of an episode on The Simpson's and featured in a song by a Platinum-award winning country music artist. Clients that I have advised include the following industries: Alcohol, Cannabis, Big Data, Artificial Intelligence, Retail, AR/VR, mobile, gaming, construction, agriculture, social networking, data security, consumer food products, entertainment and enterprise resource planning.

Open to fixed price or hourly rates for consulting, including fractional CFO, financial modeling, structuring, presentations and investment materials for acquisitions and fundraising opportunities in the corporate, middle market, private equity, venture capital, startup and family office sectors. I typically close 1-2 transactions a quarter. Will assist in the distribution of investment opportunities to a pre-existing network of investors and financial institutions for your company or project. The client must compensate for discovery and strategy services. A trilingual networker that has developed 250+ business, investment, and capital market opportunities, including regional strategies and connections with executives and investors in both North and South America, Stephen is considered a leading voice on investment between the Americas. Network includes 7.5K+ investor, executives and family office contacts paired with 3K+ financial institution relationships. Contacts span multiple geographies, including the United States, Canada, Mexico, Panama, Colombia, Peru, Chile, Brasil, UK, France, Germany, Spain, China, Japan and India.