Speakers

Kyle Ahrens

Kyle Ahrens is a finance leader with experience in capital markets, IPO readiness, and scaling high-growth organizations. At CoreWeave, Kyle helped drive the company’s IPO readiness efforts, working across finance, legal, and operations to establish the governance, reporting, and compliance structures required of a public company. He has more than 10 years of experience guiding private and public companies through complex accounting and financial reporting considerations, with a focus on building strong processes that drive transparency, efficiency, and investor confidence. Kyle is passionate about helping organizations navigate the transition to public markets and position themselves for long-term success.

Jamie Barakat

Jamie is a Partner in PwC’s Finance Solutions Advisory practice. From a domain perspective, Jamie specializes in challenges central to the CFO and the Finance organization with over 20 years of experience performing large scale technology enabled finance transformations, M&A integrations/divestitures and business process redesign initiatives. Jamie focuses on leveraging emerging technology to help drive standardization, simplification and automation of client’s core Finance processes and back-office functions to position Finance as an effective business partner.

Jamie has worked across the critical Finance areas such as financial close & consolidation, shared services & outsourcing, management reporting, budgeting & forecasting, public company readiness, global statutory reporting and target operating models.

Jamie completed a two-year tour with PwC in Europe, where he supported a Fortune 50 client with a multi-billion acquisition and post-merger transformation. He is a licensed CPA in the state of Illinois and received his MBA from Northwestern’s Kellogg School of Management. Jamie lives in Chicago with his wife Beth and two children.

Mike Bellin

Mike is a Partner in PwC's Deals practice and leads PwC’s IPO services practice, with over 25 years of experience advising clients with capital market transactions and through complex accounting and reporting issues across the globe.

Mike advises clients looking to access the capital markets, by providing clients with technical and project management advice on accounting and financial reporting issues associated with the SEC registration process, initial public offerings, SPAC mergers, direct listings, debt and equity offerings, and divestitures. Mike helps clients both with their registration process and with the process of preparing to operate as a public company. As a result of his extensive experience with IPOs, he frequently takes on the role of an “IPO Advisor” to help his clients both with their initial registration process, and also with the process of preparing to operate as a public company.

During his career, Mike has worked several hundred IPOs and similar transactions, for both large, as well as IPOs of many smaller and mid-cap privately-held companies for private equity and other sponsors. He is a frequent speaker at conferences and has written many articles and publications on the IPO process and how companies should prepare. He has worked across all industries, and more recently with an emphasis on fast growing technology, software, ecommerce, fintech and consumer / retail companies.

Mike was named one of Forbes Top CPAs in the State in 2025, and one of America’s Top 200 CPAs in 2024. Mike is a Certified Public Accountant and Chartered Financial Analyst. Mike earned his Bachelor of Science and Masters in Accounting from the University of Wisconsin – Madison.

Kristen Best

Kristen is a Director in PwC’s Corporate Technology Strategy practice based in New York, where she focuses on serving private company services clients and enabling their long-term success through technology-driven transformation. She brings deep expertise in aligning technology strategies with business objectives, making it a priority to understand each client’s strategic vision and tailoring solutions that unlock enterprise value. With strong leadership acumen and an end-to-end view of digital enablement, Kristen advises companies on digital transformation, ERP implementation, and pre-IPO readiness technology assessments. Kristen has significant experience developing IT roadmaps, leading transformation offices for ERP programs, and conducting maturity assessments that evaluate technology readiness in the context of both private and public company requirements. She operates with a pragmatic focus on risk identification and mitigation, ensuring clients can accelerate transformation while avoiding common pitfalls. Known as a trusted advisor with a client-first mindset, Kristen has built a strong brand for helping companies navigate complex change with confidence and clarity.

Roshni Cariello

Roshni Banker Cariello is a capital markets partner at Davis Polk. She advises corporate and financial institution clients on capital markets transactions, including initial public offerings and other equity offerings, investment-grade, high-yield and convertible debt financings, private placements and liability management. Clients also turn to her for advice on general corporate, governance and securities law matters. Roshni’s experience spans industries including consumer, retail, technology, renewables and industrials. She was named “Equity Capital Markets Lawyer of the Year” at the 2024 Women in Business Law Americas Awards. In 2023, Law360 named Roshni a “Rising Star” in capital markets. She is also recognized for her capital markets work by Chambers USA and IFLR1000.

Jim Cooney

James Cooney is a managing director and head of Americas Equity Capital Markets at BofA Securities, the institutional broker dealer business of Bank of America. In this role, he is responsible for the firm’s origination and execution of equity, convertible, structured derivatives, and private capital markets businesses.

Jim joined Merrill Lynch in 1996 as part of the Investment Banking coverage group focusing on a wide range of strategic and financing assignments. Jim has specialized in covering clients across several sectors including healthcare, asset management, insurance, industrials, and transportation. In addition, he has executed more than 1000 transactions for issuers across all products since joining the firm’s Equity Capital Markets group in 1998. His expertise covers IPOs, marketed add-on, and secondary offerings, accelerated global tenders, block trades, convertible and exchangeable bonds, as well as corporate derivatives. His global experience also includes an equity capital markets rotation in Hong Kong. Jim graduated with a B.S. in finance from Pennsylvania State University with Honors. He is based in New York City.

Bo Delacruz

Bo joined Drexel Hamilton in January 2025 as an Associate on the Capital Markets team. A U.S. Army Veteran, Bo brings a unique blend of discipline, leadership, and mission driven focus shaped by his service with the elite 75th Ranger Regiment, including two deployments to Afghanistan. Following his military career, Bo transitioned into corporate leadership, serving as a Senior Manager at Amazon in Miami.

In 2023, he further expanded his expertise by completing the Goldman Sachs Veteran Integration Program, strengthening his foundation in finance and professional development. A passionate advocate for “service after service,” Bo actively supports veteran and community focused organizations. He contributes to Special Olympics of Florida, serving on the committee for the Race for Inclusion and mentors fellow Veterans through groups like Three Rangers Foundation.

At Drexel Hamilton Bo is not only a key contributor to the firm’s capital markets efforts but also embodies its dual mission of delivering financial excellence while empowering veterans. His commitment to service, both in uniform and beyond, continues to have an impact across the firm and the broader community.

John Gleason

John Gleason is an experienced Managing Director in PwC’s Deals practice. Based in Chicago, IL, he focuses on advising clients on accounting, and financial and SEC reporting issues that arise during the capital raising process, including IPOs, secondary market transactions, high yield debt offerings, and a spectrum of financing transactions as well as providing advice on the accounting and reporting for complex structuring, acquisitions, other technical accounting topics.

John brings his front-line experience as a client facing banker, auditor, and analyst at a commodities trading advisor to bear in providing independent and objective advice in helping clients navigate the challenges that arise with the capital raising process as well as other transactions affecting companies’ capital structures. John has served key clients in the retail, pharmaceutical & life sciences, industrial products, financial services, manufacturing and transportation spaces and has been integrally involved in the initial and go forward compliance efforts of his clients with the requirements of the Sarbanes-Oxley legislation.

He has executed and advised on some of the largest IPOs and follow-on offerings over the past two decades, including mergers with special purpose acquisition companies and other SEC registrations. Additionally, he advises his clients on complex structuring, leveraged buyouts, and mergers and acquisitions in the United States and internationally including driving issue resolution between bankers, lawyers, auditors and advisers as well as serving in a project management capacity.

Additionally, John is a frequent speaker at conferences and has written many articles and publications on the IPO process and how companies should prepare, including being the lead author of PwC’s flagship Roadmap for an IPO publication and How non-GAAP measures and KPIs can Impact You IPO as well as being recently featured on PwC’s Path to Public webcast bringing his extensive depth of expertise on Up-C IPOs.

John received his BA in Chemistry and Chemical Biology from Cornell University and an MBA in Finance and International Management from the University of Rochester. John is also a CFA charterholder and a licensed CPA in Illinois and New York as well as a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants.

Emily Huber

Emily is a Director in PwC's Deals Practice, specializing in Capital Markets Accounting and Advisory Services (CMAAS).

Emily has over 15 years of experience providing audit and advisory services, primarily within the retail and consumer and biotech industries. As part of the Deals Practice, Emily focuses on providing support and assistance to both audit and non-audit clients throughout the IPO readiness assessment process as well as the IPO execution phase (e.g., early identification and resolution of complex accounting issues, providing assistance in the SEC comment letter and review process, assisting with working group coordination and the comfort letter process, performing a review of financial statements for compliance with Regulation S-X public company disclosure requirements, etc.). In addition, Emily advises and assists clients in identifying and resolving complex technical accounting issues resulting from strategic business transactions (e.g., purchase accounting, consolidation, stock-based compensation, debt, etc.), as well as those arising from the adoption of new accounting standards (e.g., leasing).

Prior to joining the Boston Deals practice, Emily spent six years in the New York retail and consumer audit practice and completed a two-year international secondment within the PwC Bermuda audit practice, where she served as a global account lead on several large, multinational audit engagements. During this time, Emily advised and assisted clients on several complex technical accounting matters (e.g., debt offering, restructuring, consolidation, VIE analysis, adoption of new accounting standards, etc.).

Emily holds a B.S. in Business Administration, summa cum laude, from Bucknell University. She is a CPA licensed to practice in both New York and Massachusetts.

Rob Ryan

Robert is a Partner in PwC’s Risk & Regulatory practice with more than 19 years of experience delivering assurance and advisory services to SEC registrants.

Robert specializes in pre-IPO and post-IPO public company readiness solutions and helps lead PwCs IPO solutions related to governance, risk management and internal control. Robert has significant experience in establishing SOX and risk management programs for newly public companies with a focus on scalability and cost efficiency. Robert also supports his clients in establishing and operating high performing internal audit functions.

Robert is based out of the PwC Chicago office. He has a Bachelors of Science in Accounting and Finance from the University of Pittsburgh and is a Certified Public Accountant in the states of Illinois and Pennsylvania.

Mike Viola

Michael has over 35 years of experience in progressing finance positions with competencies in investor relations, treasury and strategic finance decision-making leading global cross-functional teams. He spent over 20 years at a Fortune 15 leading telecommunications company where he held a variety of finance leadership roles including Treasurer, SVP of Corporate Finance, and SVP of IR. As an IR Leader, he led the investor relations function including hosting investor days, managing investor presentations and quarterly earnings, press releases, roadshows and working closely with the investor community.

Erika Weinberg

Erika L. Weinberg, Co-Chair of the New York Corporate Department, provides broad-based corporate counsel to financial institutions and companies, including in connection with public and private equity and debt financings and general securities matters. p>

Drawing on her extensive track record handling significant transactions and complex financial regulatory issues, Erika serves as a strategic advisor to clients from across industries, including financial services, healthcare, media and entertainment, telecommunications, manufacturing, and retail. Her work includes initial public offerings, follow on offerings, bridge lending and loan commitments, liability management transactions, including debt exchange offers and tender offers, public and private equity offerings as well as secured and unsecured high yield debt offerings. Additionally, Erika advises clients on periodic and current filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission and satisfying requirements set by the national securities exchanges.

Erika is a member of the American Bar Association, the New York State Bar Association, and the Association of the Bar of the City of New York. She previously served as the Co-Chair of the firm’s Women Enriching Business (WEB) program in the New York office.

Paul Wierzba

Paul is a Director in PwC's Deals practice, where he brings over 14 years of specialized experience advising clients on capital markets transactions, with a primary focus on the Technology, Media, and Telecommunications (TMT) sectors—particularly unicorn and decacorn companies—as well as other high-growth innovators across diverse industries.

As a seasoned IPO advisor, Paul has guided numerous clients through preparing for and executing initial public offerings. His expertise spans IPO readiness assessments, SEC uplift initiatives, registration statement filings, comment letter resolutions, and ongoing public company compliance strategies. He frequently serves as a lead working group member, coordinating with investment banks, lawyers, auditors, and stakeholders to drive issue resolution, ensure regulatory alignment, and facilitate smooth execution. Paul identifies potential roadblocks early, enabling clients to navigate challenges efficiently and support successful offerings.

Beyond IPOs, Paul advises on a broad spectrum of transformative transactions, including mergers and acquisitions (M&A), secondary offerings, high-yield debt financings, and complex structuring deals - both domestically and internationally. Paul has played a key role in numerous IPOs, M&A deals, and public company readiness projects, most notably serving as lead advisor on several unicorn and decacorn transactions—including two of the top five technology IPOs of all time. His hands-on involvement has contributed to these deals, providing strategic value through market insights and proactive issue resolution.

An Honors graduate of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Paul holds both a Bachelor of Science and a Master of Science in Accounting. He is a Certified Public Accountant (CPA) and a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA).

Samantha Zytko

Samantha is a New York-based Deals partner in PwC's US Capital Markets and Accounting Advisory Services (CMAAS) practice with over 17 years of experience with PwC. Samantha is an experienced IPO advisor, co-leading the IPO practice in New York and having advised many clients through the process of preparing for and executing initial public offerings. Samantha has worked with numerous companies on IPO readiness, SEC uplift, SEC registration statement/comment letter processes, technical accounting, and advised companies on what it means not only to go public, but also be public. She brings deep IPO experience to an engagement and drives value for her clients through early identification of potential issues that could hinder a successful public offering.

Samantha has worked on numerous IPOs for companies based in the NY region and continues to contribute to thought leadership. Additionally, Samantha serves as the US-liaison to our PwC Global IPO team, bringing US listing expertise to cross border listings. Samantha is a graduate of Saint Joseph’s University and is a licensed CPA in New York and New Jersey.