James Walling
CFA, MBA
Accretive Strategies Consulting Group

James ‘Jim' Walling, CFA is the founding principal of Accretive Strategies Consulting Group. Jim has worked in the consulting, corporate finance, and valuation area for over two decades, all of it spent in the dynamic environment of the Silicon Valley. Much of Jim's career was spent in big4 professional services firms, but he has also worked with startups and established financial services firms. Jim has consulted on:

  • Value related issues from 409A valuations for Series A venture-backed startups to multi-billion dollar transaction purchase price allocations
  • High uncertainty capital allocation strategy and modeling, including real option analysis using decision analysis and Monte Carlo simulation, for Fortune 100 companies
  • Financing and M&A financial modeling
  • Complex structure modeling for major capital intensive firms
  • Structuring, design and valuation of bespoke compensation securities for companies and senior level executives
  • Derivative and structured product modeling and valuation for top PE firms and companies with convertible notes, debt-related warrants and embedded derivatives in leases and other contract/financing structures

    Prior to founding Accretive, Jim held executive director role in Grant Thornton's bay area valuation practice, where he coordinated the complex securities team nationally. Prior to this Mr. Walling was the COO of Silicon Valley Bank Analytics, Inc. where he successfully executed a turnaround of the valuation practice. Jim previously was a managing director at PwC, where he ran the San Jose valuation practice, led the West region complex instruments valuation team and provided primary support to the National complex instruments valuation leader.

    Jim holds an MBA from Santa Clara University's Leavey School of Business with a concentration in finance/investments and a BS in Marine Sciences from Stockton State College with a concentration in marine biology. He has spoken, written and taught on corporate valuation, real options, derivative security structures & valuation and advanced equity compensation security design. Jim holds the Chartered Financial Analyst designation and has instructed on alternative asset valuation for the local analyst society CFA review program.

  • See also: