About Rose Ryan
Award-winning RoseRyan’s tailored advisory expertise out of Silicon Valley helps solve evolving companies’ finance and accounting challenges so they can take their businesses to the next level.
Our deeply experienced and innovative consulting professionals integrate seamlessly with your team to bridge the gaps and unlock the potential in your organization. We offer outsourced customized, on-demand and full-stack solutions, services and scalable support at every stage of a company’s life cycle: no matter the size.
More than 1,000 clients – from startups to Fortune 500 companies across a range of sectors, including tech and life sciences, eCommerce, mobile, social media and more – have relied on RoseRyan’s expert advice since 1993.
Who Are We?
At RoseRyan our mentors and matchmakers, coaches and collaborators, corporate veterans and finance whizzes are an adaptable and friendly group. The senior leaders at RoseRyan wear a variety of hats to hire the best, inspire our gurus and keep our clients happy. Kathy, Dave and the rest of the leadership team have the broad, deep experience (from years at the Big 4, Fortune 100 companies, as well as many startups) that clients really trust.
Our trusted guidance allows you to focus on being great at what you do. How can we transform your performance, and accelerate your progress towards success?
Kathy Ryan: RoseRyan Founder and Chair
As Chair, Kathy guides the overall mission, strategy, direction and investment decisions of RoseRyan, which she co-founded in 1993. Kathy started RoseRyan on a mission to let highly savvy finance pros combine challenging assignments with a flexible work/life balance—and the firm has grown beyond her wildest dreams. Today it has over 100 professionals and has won a number of regional and national awards. She guided the firm for 26 years before naming David Roberson as chief executive in 2020 to take the finance and accounting consulting firm even further, into a new era of growth.
Kathy has been recognized as a thought leader, innovator and strategist, building upon her extensive CEO and CFO experience (having worked with more than 50 Silicon Valley startups). She created an innovative business model for RoseRyan, with flexible work arrangements coupled with a highly supportive, values-based culture. She spawned new companies as opportunities arose, including Bizinta, our practice management software subsidiary for professional services firms. In 2019 Kathy and team formed another consulting firm, Kukuza Associates, which specializes in cannabis accounting and finance, to help companies professionalize their finance functions.
Kathy was director of finance at Quantum and tax manager at Price Waterhouse before starting RoseRyan with a colleague, Sue Macias.
Industry and regional publications have frequently turned to Kathy for her leadership insights. San Francisco Business Times named Kathy as an influential woman in Bay Area business in 2015. She’s twice made Accounting Today’s national listing of the sector’s top 10 leaders, known as the Managing Partner Elite. And in 2012, the San Jose/Silicon Valley Business Journal named her one of the most influential women in Silicon Valley.
Formerly a Big Four CPA, Kathy holds a BS in accounting from Santa Clara University. A founding member of FINACA, an association of similar consulting firms across the country, Kathy serves on FINACA’s board and is an active member of St. Michael’s Church in Livermore. Kathy loves golf, needlepoint and (her guilty pleasure) romance novels.
Dave Roberson: RoseRyan CEO
As CEO of RoseRyan, David Roberson leads the day to day business and builds upon the firm’s established reputation for taking companies further, faster. He joined RoseRyan in late 2018 as a member of the executive team and managed key areas of the firm. In 2018, David led the large team engagement that provided transitional services for the Symantec-DigiCert divestiture. RoseRyan Founder and Chair Kathy Ryan named David to the CEO post in January 2020 to champion RoseRyan into the next era of growth.
Prior to joining RoseRyan, David spent six years as an advisor to tech companies, leading major projects in the areas of finance, strategy, due diligence, capital structure, corporate governance, sales and human resources.
David also served as a senior vice president for Hewlett-Packard Co. Before HP, he was president and CEO at Hitachi Data Systems, where he previously held the titles of COO, CFO, CIO and general counsel. He has served as a director of 12 companies including Brocade, Quantum, IGT, Spansion and IDT. He is currently chairman of the board of Push Technology, a global API management company.
David received a BA from the University of California at Irvine and a JD from Golden Gate University School of Law. He studied financial management at Harvard Business School. In his spare time, David mentors a diverse group of people in various disciplines, from recent college graduates to CEOs.