Laura serves as Chief Financial Officer of SI-BONE, a medical device growth company located in Santa Clara, CA. Her passion for the University of Wisconsin-Madison is a result of the life changing experiences she had while earning her BBA in accounting and finance. She wants to give back to the University and to the current students and does so through her role on the WAVE Advisory Board, among other outlets.
After graduating from UW, Laura joined PricewaterhouseCoopers as a Business Assurance Manager. After a few years with the multinational accounting firm, Laura decided to continue her studies. She earned an MBA from Stanford University in 1995 before spending five years at McKinsey & Company in Chicago, IL.
Since leaving McKinsey, Laura’s focus has been on leading growth-oriented companies from the CFO position. She has been CFO of six companies over the last twenty years, including at Madison’s own Promega, and public companies Bruker and Progyny.
Currently at SI-BONE, Laura serves as CFO and is a Financial and Operational Strategist with responsibility not just for the financial function, but also manufacturing operations, reimbursement, legal, human resources, and information technology. Recently Laura led SI-BONE through a successful initial public offering, raising $124 million. Through her role as Operational Strategist, Laura improved manufacturing operations to increase gross margins to over 90%. While focusing on reimbursements Laura grew U.S. patient insurance eligibility (covered lives) from 133 million to 250 million.
Laura currently serves as Board Member, Audit Committee Chair, and Compensation Committee Member for ShockWave Medical and was previously a board member for private companies Stemina and Terso Solutions. Laura has also previously served on the Dean’s Advisory Board of the Wisconsin School of Business.
Laura admits that her passion for working in an entrepreneurial setting with high-growth companies comes from her tendency to get bored of doing the same thing all the time! Even though she has carried the title of “CFO” at many companies, at growth companies her responsibilities extend well beyond simply finance. “You never stop learning at a growth company” she says about the experience.
On working with students from WAVE class, Laura says “the students that I talk to have an incredible depth of knowledge in their area of expertise.” She admits that many of them “know their product better than I ever will.” Her value comes in advising these product- or service-focused students on the business practices they need to turn their invention or idea into a cash-flow generating enterprise. Laura has a vast network with expertise across varied domains, and provides advice on challenges such as crafting a business plan or strategies for initial funding.
Laura is an avid Wisconsin, Stanford and Bay Area sports fan with her husband and two children. We are very happy that Laura’s passion for Wisconsin is still strong and that she remains involved even from the West Coast!
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