Our Team

Who We Are

We are entrepreneurs, investors, business leaders and money managers that spent the last 25 years building, growing and evaluating products, companies and industries - investing our own capital, sweat, and tears alongside our clients while building a heavily regulated and IT intensive organizations.

We are doers who understand what it takes to complete projects successfully; we are analysts and bankers who transacted in hundreds of deals and billions in money raises for private and public companies from startups to industry leaders; we are regulatory and compliance advisers who can assess risk and develop strategies to prevent non-compliance situations; we are tax and estate experts who can offer ideas and solutions based on having done this before, and we are top level programmers and developers who deliver optimized and customized solutions and service designed specifically for you.

We are not the usual consulting firm with processes designed to drive billable hours and dry eraser dust.

Core Team

Vanda Cohen

Ms. Cohen was recruited to lay the groundwork for the network systems and back-office operations at Avian Securities upon its formation in 1998. During her tenure there, Ms. Cohen served as Controller, Head of Information Technology, Head of Human Resources and managed the Firm's Compliance & Regulatory Efforts. As Avian grew from a three person firm to a 30+ person firm, the scope of Ms. Cohen's responsibilities grew. With a small staff, Ms. Cohen was responsible for establishing and maintaining an always up network environment connecting all branch offices and remote employees, assessing and managing all software and services for all branches, designing and maintaining the Firm's website, anticipating and managing FINRA/SEC ever-expanding compliance procedures, compiling and running payroll, preparing and reviewing all company financials, reviewing and submitting all tax documents, managing and executing annual internal company audits, interfacing and collaborating with financial and compliance auditors, drafting and negotiating all vendor contracts, managing and submitting all corporate filings, drafting and applying for government grants, preparing and submitting insurance claims as well as maintaining and reconciling the books and records for the firm and the employees. Using her varied experience and relationships gained through Avian, Ms. Cohen founded GFO Solutions, Inc. in August 2017 to provide management consulting and advisory services to a wide range of small businesses and family offices.

Ms. Cohen holds a Bachelor's Degree from the University of Chicago as well as Master's Degrees from New York University and University of Massachusetts.

Avi Cohen

Avi Cohen brings years of strategic, financial, capital markets, and operational experience to small and mid-market businesses, Investment Funds and Family Offices - improving performance, driving growth and optimizing results. With the unique perspective of a lead investor, analyst, banker, corporate CFO and most importantly an entrepreneur who built a business from $0 to $25M in free cash flow starting with just three people around a self-assembled Ikea table to a company employees and assets in five states and three different countries, Mr. Cohen is spearheading GFO solutions’ consulting efforts by parachuting down into various roles including COO, CFO, Head of Corporate Development and Strategy, Chief Investment Officer and Board Member in a diverse array of client companies and sectors including high tech, healthcare, biotech, medical diagnostics, transportation and heavy machinery.

Mr. Cohen spun out his GFO practice from his role of Chief Investment Officer of a Private Family Office where he oversaw the investment of over $500m in assets allocated among a diversified mix of outside managers and an internally managed PE and long-short mostly equity portfolio. Previously Mr. Cohen founded and managed Avian Securities, LLC, a brokerage boutique delivering fundamental investment research to industry leading Hedge Fund and Mutual Fund clients. His career also included time as a Portfolio Manager at MJM Partners, a mid-sized long/short opportunistic Hedge Fund. Mr. Cohen started his career at Kidder Peabody & Co.’s capital markets after graduating with Honors from the University of Chicago.