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Small Private Company CFO of the Year
CFO, Door to Door Storage Inc.
 When Paul reed was growing up, he wanted to own and be CEO of a mid-sized company.
He's been there. Done that. A couple of times.
So in 2007, when Montlake Capital, the Seattle venture capital firm with which he is a venture partner, needed him to step in as interim CFO of one of its portfolio companies and help turn it around, he didn't hesitate. "I had more of an operating background than anyone in the firm at the time," said Reed, who had previously co-founded Seattle Coffee Company and Taco del Mar. "When I had the opportunity to roll up my sleeves and get back in and help at Door to Door, I jumped at the opportunity."
The Wenatchee native, who's in his 50's, says Door to Door Storage was on its last legs.
Among the challenges Reed and his team faced: the possibility of running out of cash, the possibility of filing for bankruptcy, and a national network with costs that were way out of line. They needed to cut costs, reduce staff by half and improve processes that hadn't been developed to match a nationwide network.
"We were making good progress in early 2008 when the effects of recession started heading straight at us," Reed said.
"Our business is driven by a normal housing market and normal job market, and those are the two (areas) most impacted by this economy. This was an attractive business model before the recession," he said. He had to find even more efficiencies in 2008 and 2009.
Other members of Door to Door's executive team said Reed not only revamped the finance department at Door to Door for better budgeting and metrics, he orchestrated raising a round of equity capital in September 2008 that paid off all the company debt during the national financial meltdown, and negotiated three acquisitions in 2009 that positioned the company for growth in 2010.
Reed is proud of those accomplishments and proud of finishing 2009 with cash flow-positive operating results on revenue of $22 million even as the company's markets were hammered by the recession.
"They were at the bottom of the trough and we brought it back," he said.
- Becky Monk
ASSITANT MANAGING EDITOR
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