Jud Capital · Fractional CFO services for direct-to-consumer brands

Fifteen years inside direct-to-consumer brands.

Judson Pitman has spent the last fifteen years as the in-house finance lead for direct-to-consumer brands, working through the messy middle that founders feel most acutely. Scaling past $5M. Raising capital. Managing inventory through Q4. Running a sale process.

He has held the Head of Finance seat at Glade Optics, and worked across brands at every stage from $1M to $250M, including Vista Outdoor, Revelyst, Bell Helmets, Giro Sport Design, Dometic, QuietKat, and CrossFit.

Jud Capital is the productized version of that work. The practice runs a small number of monthly retainers for direct-to-consumer founders who need a CFO rather than hours of advice, and want the close, the cash forecast, and the board pack to land in their inbox each month, on time.

A real CFO function. On a monthly retainer.

Jud Capital

Founders usually call when one of three things is true.

01
Cash is tight, and the cause isn't clear.
02
A raise, sale, or lender conversation is approaching, and the financials aren't ready.
03
The business has outgrown founder instinct, and someone needs to own the numbers.

Three engagements, scoped to where the business is.

All engagements are monthly retainers. Pricing transparent below.

Tier I

Financial Operating System

The monthly rhythm of a real finance function, without the full-time hire.

$2,500 – $3,500 per month

Monthly close & clean P&L
13-week cash forecast
Working capital view
Channel-level contribution margin
Monthly review

Get started

Tier II

CFO Partnership

A CFO in the room: strategic, available, and accountable for the numbers.

$5,000 – $8,000 per month

Everything in Tier I
Annual budget & scenarios
Monthly board pack & investor reporting
Inventory & open-to-buy planning
Weekly check-in + ad-hoc access

Get started

Tier III

Capital & Exit Readiness

For brands actively raising, refinancing, or running a sale process.

$10,000 – $15,000 per month

Everything in Tier II
Capital raise support
Board advisory
Diligence-grade financials & data room
Defensible operating & exit model
Lender, investor, and buyer meetings
CFO seat through close

Get started

What's delivered, every month.

A productized engagement, not hourly consulting. Here's what lands in the inbox.

Cash flow forecasting

A rolling thirteen-week cash forecast you can rely on for payroll and inventory decisions.

Contribution margin by channel

Real economics on Shopify, Amazon, wholesale, and retail, net of fees, fulfillment, and returns.

Inventory & working capital

Open-to-buy, sell-through, and the cash tied up in every SKU. Planned, not reacted to.

Annual budget & scenarios

One annual plan, three scenarios. So when the year doesn't go to plan, the next move is already known.

Monthly forecasting & close

A clean P&L within ten business days, and a re-forecast that incorporates what actually happened.

Board reporting

A board pack that tells the story: KPIs, commentary, and the asks. Investor-ready each month.

Capital & exit readiness

Diligence-grade financials, a defensible operating model, and a CFO in the room when it matters.

One-time projects

For founders who need a specific lift: a model, a process, a lender package. Not a retainer.

Built for a specific kind of brand.

Stage

$1M to $10M, growing fast.

Direct-to-consumer brands at $1M to $10M in annual revenue, growing thirty percent or more year over year.

Channel mix

Multi-channel by necessity.

Shopify D2C as the anchor, with meaningful revenue from Amazon, wholesale, or retail. Reconciling channels is part of what makes the close hard.

Team

Founder-led, no full-time finance.

Founder, or founder plus a small team. A bookkeeper handles the day-to-day. Twelve to twenty-four months from a full-time finance hire.

Capital

Self-funded or post-seed.

Self-funded, lightly funded, or post-seed. Often a line of credit or inventory financing. Not chasing a Series A on a hype trajectory.

What the work has produced.

Selected results from the last several years operating inside direct-to-consumer brands.

Outcome · Exit $45M

Led the successful exit of a direct-to-consumer business. Diligence, model, and CFO seat through close.

Outcome · Profitability +$5M

Improved profitability of a $30M direct-to-consumer business by $5M through margin discipline and channel-mix work.

Common questions.

How is this different from a bookkeeper or an accountant?

A bookkeeper records what already happened. An accountant files what already happened. The work here is to tell you what to do next: forecast cash, model scenarios, plan inventory, and bring decision-grade financials to your leadership team and your board.

What does a typical engagement look like?

The first 30 days are onboarding: getting your books, your systems, and your forecast in shape. From month two onward, you get a clean monthly close within ten business days, a rolling 13-week cash forecast, a working capital view, channel-level contribution margin, and a board pack delivered the same week every month. A standing monthly review for retainer clients, plus ad-hoc access for partnership-tier clients.

When should I hire a fractional CFO versus a full-time hire?

Most direct-to-consumer brands at $1M to $10M are twelve to twenty-four months away from needing a full-time finance hire. A fractional CFO retainer fills that gap with senior decision-making, without the salary, equity, and ramp-up of a permanent hire. When the business outgrows fractional, the transition to a full-time CFO is part of the work.

What software and systems do you work in?

Everything is built around whatever stack you're already using, so there's no need to rebuild or migrate anything. Experience with NetSuite, QuickBooks Online, Shopify, Amazon Seller, and many other tools used in early-stage DTC companies. Forecasting and modeling happen in Excel or Google Sheets. If your business runs on something different, I'll work within whatever systems you have in place.

How long do most engagements last?

Most monthly retainers run twelve to eighteen months. Many extend further as the practice grows with the brand. Capital and exit-readiness engagements typically run six to twelve months on a focused project basis, often through the close of a transaction.

A fractional CFO for D2C Brands.

Fifteen years inside direct-to-consumer brands.

Founders usually call when one of three things is true.

Three engagements, scoped to where the business is.

Financial Operating System

CFO Partnership

Capital & Exit Readiness

What's delivered, every month.

Cash flow forecasting

Contribution margin by channel

Inventory & working capital

Annual budget & scenarios

Monthly forecasting & close

Board reporting

Capital & exit readiness

One-time projects

Built for a specific kind of brand.

$1M to $10M, growing fast.

Multi-channel by necessity.

Founder-led, no full-time finance.

Self-funded or post-seed.

What the work has produced.

Common questions.

New engagements begin with a thirty-minute conversation.

Get in touch