Stephen T. Zarrilli
As Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer at Safeguard Scientifics, Steve leverages more than 25 years of strategic, financial and operational experience in raising capital, managing diverse organizations and developing innovative financial and corporate strategies, skill sets which greatly benefit Safeguard’s shareholders and partner companies. During the course of his career, Steve has demonstrated an ability to successfully grow and manage a number of entrepreneurial and mature enterprises. He has raised more than $200 million of growth capital through both venture sources and public offerings for a number of businesses, and launched two businesses during the last 15 years, one of which went public in 1999 and the other which currently operates to serve middle market enterprises in strategy, capital development and operational management.
At Safeguard, Steve is responsible for all corporate financial and administrative matters. He focuses on developing longer term asset management strategies for the company, directly participates in providing strategic oversight and support to Safeguard's partner companies, and participates in the development of Safeguard's long-term business strategy. In addition, Steve is responsible for analyzing and helping to identify the value-add that each partner company brings to Safeguard and its shareholders. Steve's public company experience complements Safeguard’s rich history and ensures a strong, disciplined financial infrastructure which drives excellence and accountability.
Prior to joining Safeguard, Steve held a number of financial, operating and board roles in both venture-backed and publicly traded companies. Today, in addition to his responsibilities at Safeguard, he is also the non-executive Chairman of the Penn Valley Group, a middle-market management advisory firm which launched in 2005 to assist middle market companies in capital development, financial and organizational management and corporate strategy. Prior to the creation of the Penn Valley Group, Steve served as the Chief Financial Officer of Fiberlink Communications Corp., a leading provider of remote access VPN solutions for large enterprises. Steve’s prior experiences also include serving both as the Chief Financial Officer and then Chief Executive Officer of US Interactive, Inc. where he led the company’s initial and secondary public offerings. Steve also served as Chief Executive Officer of Concellera Software, Inc., orchestrating the sale of its proprietary technology to Hewlett Packard, and spent over a decade with Deloitte & Touche, where he was responsible for developing an emerging business practice for the firm in Philadelphia.
EXPERIENCE
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Penn Valley Group – Founder and Managing Partner
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Fiberlink Communications Corp – CFO
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Concellera Software, Inc. – Chairman and CEO
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US Interactive, Inc. – CFO and CEO
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Deloitte & Touche – Senior Manager
BOARD MEMBER: Partner Companies and Affiliates
BOARD MEMBER: Independent Organizations
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Arts & Business Council of Greater Philadelphia – Chairman
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Ben Franklin Technology Partners of Pennsylvania – Vice Chairman
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Cadient, Inc.
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Drexel University LeBow College of Business, Center for Corporate Governance – Advisory Board Member
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Economics Pennsylvania
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Greater Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce
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La Salle University – Chairman, Center for Entrepreneurship
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NutriSystem, Inc. (Nasdaq: NTRI) – Director, Chairman of Audit Committee and Member of the Compensation and Nominating Committees
EDUCATION
