A Senior-Led Team, Not a Solo Act
Behind every Catalyst engagement is a delivery team you can actually work with: typically three to five bookkeepers on AI-enabled, human-led close work, plus two to three fractional CFO / FP&A analysts who model, forecast, and support board- and investor-ready reporting. Senior fractional CFO and COO leadership sets direction, quality bar, and cadence — so nothing waits on a single inbox.
Why Catalyst exists
One founder. 25+ years. ~10 years of AI. Multiple AI-driven ventures.
Catalyst CFO Advisors was founded after a 25+ year career that braided Wall Street equity research and asset management with hands-on CFO/COO operating seats. Brian helped grow a boutique institutional long/short equity asset manager from $3B to $15B in AUM as its youngest named partner — then crossed the table to found, co-found, and operate AI-driven ventures of his own.
That double resume — institutional finance pedigree plus operator scars and a decade of AI implementation — is the foundation Catalyst is built on. The fractional CFO market has flooded with first-time advisors since 2023; many were laid off as controllers and rebranded as "fractional CFOs" the same week. Catalyst sits on the other end of the experience curve. It was built specifically to be the depth-of-experience answer to that wave — for sophisticated buyers who can tell the difference.
“We don't pontificate. We sit in the seat, do the work, and leave you with systems and discipline you can run after we're gone.”— Brian Kostka, Founder
Why the Depth Matters
Founder-attributable experience
Career-long credentials of the person sitting at the table - not aggregated firm vanity metrics.
25+
Years of strategic finance leadership
CFO and senior executive roles, capital markets, asset management, and strategic planning since 1999.
~10
Years of AI & automation experience
Building AI-driven finance and operations since 2013 — long before "AI-augmented" became a marketing line.
3
Firms co-founded
AI-driven compliance, AI scheduling, and the AI/automation practice inside Catalyst.
5x
Institutional AUM growth
Helped grow a boutique institutional long/short equity asset manager from $3B to $15B in AUM.
The founder
The person who joins your seat — and what 25+ years of finance and ~10 years of AI in production actually looks like.
Brian D. Kostka, CFA, FPAC
Founder & President
25+ years leading strategic finance across Wall Street, asset management, and operating companies — including ~10 years building AI-driven finance and operations across multiple founded ventures.
Anti-Commoditization
How to Tell a Real Fractional CFO From a Six-Month Rebrand
The fractional CFO market exploded after 2023. Here is how to vet any provider you talk to — including us.
| Metric | Industry Red Flag | Catalyst CFO Advisors |
|---|---|---|
| Years in Finance Leadership | 5 - 10 years; often an ex junior or non-exec finance FTE | 25+ years across Wall Street, asset management, and CFO/COO seats since 1999 |
| AI & Automation Depth | "We use ChatGPT" — no track record building or running AI in production | ~10 years embedding AI in finance ops; venture work spans AI compliance, healthcare/telehealth, AI scheduling, and the AI/automation practice inside Catalyst |
| Founder-Operator Experience | Zero — first-time fractional, never sat in the exec seat | 12+ years running Catalyst plus CFO/finance leadership at venture-backed, PE-sponsored, and privately funded companies across multiple industries |
| Capital Raised & Deployed | Has only modeled or advised — never closed a round | >$25M secured for SMB clients; institutional Series A and strategic capital across multiple ventures |
| Wall Street Pedigree | No institutional or capital markets experience | Partner at a boutique institutional equity asset manager; helped grow firm AUM from $3B to $15B; sell-side equity research at global bank franchises |
| CFO + COO Scope | Lacks senior finance experience, little or no operational experience | Both functions; packaged as Fractional CFO, Fractional COO, Interim CFO, and Interim COO |
| Crisis Leadership | Has not led through a market collapse, bank failure, or cyber attack | Macro (since 1999): recessions, the GFC, COVID-era disruption, inflation/rate cycles, banking-system stress. Company-specific: cyber attacks, liquidity strain, and national payments-infrastructure outages |
| Time-to-Value | Weeks of "discovery" before producing anything useful | Two-week onramp; first operating model in days; close cycle reduced from 15 to <3 days at clients |
| One-Sided Commitment | Tries to lock into 6–12 month engagements | All CCA contracts are month-to-month — if we don't produce ROI, we don't get paid. |
Use this table as a checklist for any fractional you evaluate — including us.
Operating principles
How we operate
Six operating principles that show up in every engagement — regardless of stage, size, or scope.
Embedded execution, not advisory decks
We sit in the seat, do the work, and leave you with systems and discipline you can run after we're gone. Strategy decks that sit on a shelf are a failure mode, not a deliverable.
Founder-operator perspective
Brian has founded or co-founded multiple AI-driven ventures and held CFO/operator roles through capital raises, scaling, and crisis response. The CFO who joins your seat has been in your seat — the reps are real, not hypothetical.
CFO and COO depth
Most fractionals only do finance. Brian's career braided the CFO and COO seats, which is why we package operations as a first-class offering, not an afterthought.
Tell you what you need to hear
We will tell you when fractional is wrong for you. We will tell you when it's time to hire full-time. Honest counsel is the foundation of every lasting client relationship.
Two-week onramp, then operating cadence
First operating model in days, not weeks of 'discovery'. The discipline of the onramp is non-negotiable; the speed is what separates operators from consultants.
AI-augmented, not AI-buzzword
Catalyst has been embedding AI and automation in finance and bookkeeping ops since 2013 — roughly a decade of production AI. Brian's venture work spans AI-driven compliance, healthcare/telehealth, and AI scheduling. That depth shows up as a discipline with guardrails, not a marketing line.
Our results in action
See the measurable impact of our work.
Talk to the founder, not a sales rep.
Schedule a 30-minute consultation. The first call is with Brian directly - that's how every Catalyst engagement starts.