Senior Leadership

Paul Bertrand

Experienced in diverse industries, Paul has held senior positions with companies ranging from start-ups to large multinational companies. His expertise is in accounting and audit, operational planning, internal controls, information systems, capital formation, transaction structuring, performance improvement and acquisitions and divestitures.

Prior to co-founding Tarsus in 2002, Paul served as the Vice President, Financial Planning and Analysis at Allied Worldwide, a $2 billion international moving, storage and logistics business where he directed all aspects of the financial planning and reporting functions, led the financial due diligence team for a middle market acquisition and was instrumental in developing the overall corporate development strategy for an affiliated start-up company.

Paul previously served as CFO of Triax International, Inc., a closely held investment management company specializing in acquiring and operating small and mid-sized companies where he managed all financial aspects of the organization, including directing all mergers and acquisitions. In addition, he was intimately involved in the operations of the Triax owned companies and was instrumental in designing and implementing the “back-office” functions necessary to manage numerous portfolio companies.

Prior to Triax, Paul served in a number of financial management and audit positions with Angel Fire Resort and KPMG Peat Marwick. Mr. Bertrand has a BBA with honors in Accounting from Southern Methodist University.

Paul Burns

Paul is an experienced executive who has worked with companies from many different perspectives, including as investment banker, member of senior management, equity owner, and C-level strategic and financial consultant. His expertise is in finance, capital formation, mergers & acquisitions, business analytics, performance improvement, transaction structuring, plan development and execution, financial modeling, forecasting, negotiations and risk management.

Prior to co-founding Tarsus in 2002, Paul was CFO of Moveline, Inc., a web-based technology company serving the moving and storage industry. Hired as the sixth employee, he was instrumental in growing the company to nearly 100 employees within nine months.

Before Moveline, Paul was Vice President of George K. Baum Capital Partners, a Midwestern-based private equity firm. As a key member of a small team, he negotiated, structured and executed the acquisition and sale of private companies as well as provided CFO services to a number of portfolio companies.

For the three previous years, he worked on merger and acquisition and capital formation transactions for the Financial Institutions investment banking group at Salomon Brothers, now a unit of Citigroup. Paul has a BS with honors in Finance from Kansas State University.

John Longan

John is an experienced executive with expertise in finance and accounting, budgeting and forecasting, financial modeling, technical reporting solutions, performance improvement and program management.

Prior to Tarsus, John served in various finance positions with Accenture, a large global management and technology consulting company. Those roles included the program management office lead for Accenture’s internal controls compliance program and financial management of large consulting and outsourcing engagements (over $100 million in annual billings) as well as reporting and analysis projects within the Communications and High Tech organizational unit (Accenture’s largest).

He was previously a commodities trader on the floor of the Kansas City Board of Trade. He held a “B” seat, trading value line and natural gas futures in the open outcry pits. He was a pioneer in computer based models for trading, having one of the first computers on the floor of the KCBoT.

John started his career at Sprint working various finance and accounting positions. John has a BA in Finance from the University of Nebraska.

Cal Stolle

An executive leader whose versatile skills are based on deep financial and operating experience. Cal has over 30 years of industry and Big 4 CPA experience. He develops unique and innovative solutions to problems in diverse industries and functional areas such as financial reporting, analysis and planning, cash flow forecasting, KPI reporting, acquisitions, restructuring, divestitures, capital formation, stakeholder communications, working capital analysis and process improvement.

Prior to Tarsus, he served as Interim CFO for DALBO Holdings, a private equity portfolio company in the energy services industry. Previously, Cal served as CFO and Chief Development Officer for Ascension Insurance, Inc., a private equity-backed insurance agency acquisition company. Before Ascension, Cal served as a senior finance officer for Black & Veatch, a large international engineering and construction company.

Earlier in his career, Cal served in several finance and controller positions for growing middle market agribusiness, telecom and energy transportation services companies, where he focused on accounting, reporting, operating metrics, acquisitions and capital formation. He began his career with KPMG, ending as a senior manager specializing in manufacturing, retail, agribusiness, financial services and professional sports industries.

Cal has a master’s degree in accounting from the University of Kansas and BS degrees in Accounting and Economics from Wayne State College in Nebraska.

Ben Olsen

Ben Olsen is an executive leader whose versatile skills are based on deep financial and operating experience. 

Services provided by Ben have largely focused on corporate development, merger and acquisitions (buy-side advisory support, searches, and diligence, as well as sell-side advisory), capital formation, cash flow forecasting and development of stakeholder financial and KPI reporting metrics to private equity and entrepreneur-backed companies. These services have spanned a variety of industries including transportation, industrial manufacturing, staffing and permanent placement, e-commerce, consumer products, wholesale distribution, business process outsourcing, telecommunications, specialty contractors, and medical equipment.  

Prior to Tarsus, Ben served as Managing Partner for The DVS Group LLC, a social impact investment bank specializing in small business and lower middle market mergers and acquisitions. He led a niche practice area focused on buy-side services to not-for-profit clients nationwide which led to multiple engagements across 6 organizations and 6 successful transactions. Other projects included a multi-transaction buy-side engagement with a family office, a 4 year preparation process resulting in a sale to a private equity-backed portfolio company, and numerous successful buy-side projects for executives accomplishing “Entrepreneurship through Acquisition.” 

Ben has a Bachelor of Arts in Latin American Studies from Yale, where he met his wife.