About us
Strider Consulting delivers executive-level financial leadership to nearly any company, but focuses primarily on commercial construction contractors in the $5MM–$100MM range. These offerings include fractional CFO and interim controller services, construction-specific financial management, Foundation Construction Software optimization, the strategic counsel that protects and grows enterprise value, and more. See our Services page for a comprehensive catalog.
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What sets us apart is how we earned the expertise. Over 20+ years, our founder ran construction finance from every seat: eight years as controller of a Chicago millwork firm; a decade founding and scaling his own MBE/DBE/SBE-certified contractor past $10MM; CFO of a $50MM+ multi-entity manufacturing group; and today, financial leadership inside a private family office that acquires companies like yours. Every service area listed on the Services page — all eighteen of them — comes from a system he built, a negotiation he sat through, or a mistake he paid for so you don't have to.
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Explore the practice areas on the Services page, or skip straight to a conversation. Either way, you'll get the same thing: straight answers from someone who has carried your risk.
Built in the Field. Proven at the Table.
The Crucible — Founding, Scaling, and Running His Own Contractor
The Boardroom — Proving It at Scale
The Apprenticeship — Learning Every Ledger Line
In 2012, Ryan bet on himself and founded VEI Solutions, an MBE/DBE/SBE-certified commercial glazing and ornamental metals contractor in Chicago. No outside CFO. No consultants. He had to build every department and policy from scratch. As an entrepreneur, he wore a dozen hats - learning about HR, Payroll, Insurance, Legal, Safety, Compliance, Lending, and more. Every system our clients now ask for — cost codes, WIP schedules, union payroll across state lines, surety submissions, policies & procedures, and custom reporting — he built from scratch, because he did not have the resources to have someone build it for him.
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Some Key Examples of Growth:
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3,690% revenue growth in the first three years
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$10MM+ revenue by year four
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335% gross profit increase after his tailored Foundation ERP rollout
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0.88 EMR safety record, earning industry awards
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Scars came with lessons: financing growth that outran cash, negotiating with GCs from the subcontractor's side of the table, partnering with $200MM+ industry mentors, and turning diversity certifications into real market access. His journey has had many successes and failures - and now he can advise with the benefit of knowing what works and what doesn't. When we say we've been there, this is the "there."
Every service on this page has one thing in common: our founder didn't learn it in a classroom or from a client. He learned it with his own money, his own payroll, and his own name on the bond line. He has spent 20+ years in construction finance from every seat that matters — controller, founder & CEO, CFO, and now advisor. That's why Strider Consulting doesn't offer theory. It offers the playbook he built the hard way.
Ryan's career began in the back office of a Chicago commercial carpentry and millwork firm, where he spent eight years as Financial Controller running everything the owner never saw: AP, AR, general ledger, weekly payroll, and benefits for a 30-person union workforce. In his first year, he cut operating costs 13% — and learned a conviction that still drives our practice today: the back office isn't solely overhead; it's where profit hides.
After transitioning to Atlanta, as CFO of a $50MM+ multi-entity millwork and manufacturing group, Ryan negotiated a 50% increase in the commercial line of credit, nearly doubled card capacity, led a company-wide Foundation implementation, and managed the full compliance stack — CCIP/OCIP audits, lien waivers, surety bonds, contract negotiations, and nationwide licensing.
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Today, alongside Strider Consulting, he serves as CFO within a private family office — guiding governance, acquisitions, and investment strategy across a diversified portfolio, and seeing exactly what sophisticated buyers look for when they evaluate companies like yours.
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Multiple service areas, but one common thread — he's done every one of them for real:
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Construction Financial Management
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The WIP schedules, cost codes, and charts of accounts he designed for his own bank and surety, refined at $50MM scale with a new design focused on consolidated financials
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Foundation Software Expertise
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Over nearly a decade as a daily user, owner, and implementer; not a vendor trainer reading from a script. He has extensive experience with the software and can help clients realize the maximum benefit of what's possible with the tools but often is not set up properly or fully.
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Bank & Surety Readiness
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Client financial packages will be built by someone who sat through the underwriting meetings with his own company on the line. We will provide early feedback and make any needed changes to financial statement presentation in order to ensure the most successful submission.
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People, Policies, & Culture
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Employee handbooks, restrictive covenants, culture codes, and payroll systems built from the ground up
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Risk & Insurance
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Negotiated against GC boilerplate for a decade; cost class tracking structures that saved $60,000+ in workers compensation premiums by simply isolating cost code activities and assigning the correct WC class code to the work so it could be tracked granularly rather than all being lumped under the most expensive class code.
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Exit & Succession
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Now on the buy side with a family office, he knows precisely what erodes a valuation and what commands a premium. He also can counsel on succession planning and help fellow owners consider pros and cons of various approaches.
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Most consultants tell you what they've read. Ryan shows you what he's done — then builds it into your company. If you are a contractor with revenues between $5MM and $100MM - or you're a non-construction business who simply needs advice and general business acumen across standard business functions — let's talk.