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Eric Ashman

About

I am a strategic advisor to founders of venture capital-backed startups. I have spent my career helping founders and CEOs realize their vision while navigating the challenges of building a high-growth early-stage company.

Present

  • Strategic Advisor, Executive Coach, Mentor
  • Advisory Board & Mentor @ EforAll Roxbury

Past

I’ve spent my career partnering with founders and CEOs to navigate the challenges of building great companies.

Nearly 90% of venture-backed startups fail to reach their series C or find a path to an exit. At some stage in their journey, most founders will find themselves unable to raise their next round, with no clear way forward.

I’m at my best when the chips are down, the path forward is blocked, and the chances of success seem low. This is true whether I’m leading a venture-backed startup through a strategic pivot after a failed fundraise or hurtling myself down a mountain on a pair of skis or my mountain bike.

I’ve navigated the bursting of the dot-com bubble, the Great Recession, and the Covid shutdowns of 2020. I’ve experienced a failed fundraise and raised over $165 million in venture capital. I’ve made tough choices to extend cash runway and leaned in to accelerate growth when the opportunity ahead of us was clear.

I bring all of that experience to every project. I am a trusted advisor that can provide an outside perspective. Someone who is helping you balance competing interests and different points of view so that you can make critical decisions as quickly as possible.

Highlights

  • As Interim CFO and then President of M.M.LaFleur, I led the company through a strategic pivot that extended our runway and better positioned the company to manage the impact of Covid on our business.
  • As the CFO of the Huffington Post, after a period of high growth in sales, audience, and team, I led the process that sold the company to AOL for $315 million.
  • As the President of Thrillist Media Group, we executed a spinout of the DTC e-commerce business, JackThreads, while simultaneously closing two separate funding rounds totaling $54 million from two different groups of investors.
  • Less than a year after the spinout of JackThreads, we executed a simultaneous four-company merger, with a $100 million investment from Discovery Communications, to create Group Nine Media.
  • As the dot-com bubble burst, I led the restructure of Text 100, a global public relations agency, reigniting growth and profitability by improving operating margins, accelerating global expansion, and aligning global compensation incentives.
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