NIKOLA CURIC, MBA 650-***-****; acghrm@r.postjobfree.com

SUMMARY

C-level executive and business leader specialized in and steering companies through phases of rapid development by defining

and implementing financial, accounting and operational policies, procedures, processes, systems and activities to enable fast

future growth without jeopardizing core operations.

Hands on planner and executioner with diversified experience and notable accomplishments in transforming few people teams

and organizations to functional scalable entrepreneurial systems while keeping values, culture and edge in the process.

Experiences in reorganizing and simplifying business processes, leading change management and spearheading managerial,

financial and operational efforts in manufacturing, food processing, financial services, technology and entertainment industries

EXECUTIVE LEADERSHIP COMPETENCIES

Corporate Finance Strategy and Management Leading and defining ERP implementation

Budgeting, forecasting and financial planning M&A and JV Preparation, Execution and Integration

Business Strategy Development and Execution Financial and accounting policies implementation

Performance, Process and Operations Improvement Managing Rapid Organic and Acquisition Growth

Matrix and Cross-Functional Team Leadership Financial & Operational Turnaround and Restructuring

Change Advocacy, Leadership and Management Deal and Transaction Structuring and Execution

WORK EXPERIENCE

April 2009 – June 2014

Interim management executive on several engagements

I was the interim executive of several companies, spearheading managerial, financial and operational efforts. My main goals

were to help the companies turnaround, restructure and streamline. I focused on:

Setting strategic directions and preparing the companies for capital increase or equity sale process

Identifying strategic development directions and value creation points; mitigating value lowering aspects

Determining optimal corporate and transaction structure; opt imizing finances and operations accordingly

Strategic and operational financial management

Optimizing financial leverage and debt structure; optimizing cash flow and leveraging cash cycle

Introducing, defining and implementing ERP solution ; mapping cost and revenue allocation

Defining and implementing financial, accounting, controlling and operational procedures and processes

Executive and change management

Managing company’s culture and values, transforming them from entrepreneurial to corporate ones

Defining organizational and operational structure; defining profit centres, business units and product lines

Implementing business guidelines and manuals; streamlining procedures and processes

These companies were in manufacturing, financial services, food proc essing and retail industries, the business sizes ranged

from $3 million to $110 million while the number of employees ranged from 70 to 1200. In all cases, I reported directly to th e

owners or to the board of directors. Engagements lasted 9 months to 2 yea rs and positions I held were:

Interim CFO at $100M online and land-based sports booking and betting operator

Most significant challenge for the company was the fact that company ha d grown from 30 to 130 retail locations over 2

years while organizational structure and operational procedures had not kept up. Growth had been financed exclusively

from future cash flows and profitability was becoming thin. I implemented:

Corporate structure optimization, resulting in 25% savings on regulatory costs, lowering overall cost by 8%

Clearer analytics (implemented ERP) enabled 15% top line increase through product management

Defining organizational structure and sourcing management team that lead to separation of ownership and

executive structures and management professionalization

Systematizing operational guidelines and controlling procedures paired with business planning and budgeting

approach enabled further controlled organic growth

CFO and Interim CEO at PE portfolio grinding tools manufacturing company

Private equity fund holding majority stake in the privatized manufacturing company hired me to prepare the company for

a sale to the strategic investor. Company had been heavily leveraged, with traditional approach to production and

business. I executed:

Swapping 8% debt for a longer one at 3.5%, that freed-up cash flow used to negotiate better supplier terms,

resulting in doubled profitability margin

Certifying management and quality control systems and implementing globally accepted health, safety and

environment standards resulting in better perception by investors and increased valuation

Optimizing production lowered energy usage resulting in 1.5% decrease in overall cost base

Cash flow optimization and profitability improvements resulted in 40% higher valuation

Interim CFO at $110M mobile services / apps provider and mobile operators’ top-up distribution

I was hired by startup shareholders to professionalize the business that has grown from $2M to $110M in less than two

years by solely leveraging cash flow from suppliers. My engagement was to optimize cash flows and set up organizational

structure, planning, controlling and budgeting procedures. I contributed by:

Implementing Dynamics NAV ERP to enable control of core operations and 6 development projects

Automating sales tracking and payment collection from 9000 POS network, enabling operations to scale further

Introducing product management roles and adjusting the organizational structure to secure each of the projects

enough attention and resources, leading to spinoff of two companies ($30M and $5M)

Development and Marketing Director at $100M food production and processing holding company

I was interim management team member for the largest Serbian private holding company in the integration process of the

acquired food processing companies. My focus was product development and strategic marketing framework development

for five companies. As a part of activity I have:

Set strategic directions for 2 corporate and 4 product brands which were communicated throu gh 12 national PR and

advertising campaigns resulting in the brand awareness increase of 170% and more than doubled market share

(8% to 19%) while keeping the profit margin stable

Optimized and managed 13 product portfolios with over 400 SKUs, introduced 3 new product lines with 24 SKUs

overall resulting in 12% top line increase

April 2007 – April 2009

Corporate Finance and M&A Advisor at South East Europe investment bank

I was consultant team member covering full scope of corporate finance and M&A advis ory, and was active in a variety of

industries, but I focused most on telecom, technology, retail, media and manufacturing. My role in the team included full

financial and business analysis of the clients companies, valuation models creation and coordinati on of all activities and

third-side parties involved in the transaction: financial due diligence, legal due diligence and supporting legal documents.

During that I was:

Structuring and executing transactions with a total value over $ 1.2 billion

Leading the execution of 5 transactions, including $ 100 million cross-border retail chain acquisition

Closely following start-up, private equity, acquisition and consolidation activities in SEE

Executing business valuation, financial analysis and financial models development

January 2000 – July 2006

Co-Founder and VP for International Business Development at one of top 5 European music festivals

I co-founded music festival that became one of the five biggest music festivals in Europe and was several times awarded a

best European festival title. While acting as VP of International Business Development, I internationalized the event, opened

up new markets and attracted thousands of foreign visitors, setting track for future growth of the festival. Part of my activities

included:

Founding offices and creating management and operations teams of 50 people in 8 SEE countries

Introducing matrix structured organization and creating rollout blueprints enabling fast growth

Increasing attendance of foreign visitors from just a few in 2001 to 12.000 in 2006 (out of total 40.000)

EDUCATION

MBA (Master of Business Administration)

IEDC School of Management, Bled, Slovenia

Scholarship awarded, finished in the top 3% of the generation

January – December 2006

Computer Science

University of Novi Sad, Faculty of Natural Sciences and Mathematics, Computer Science

LANGUAGES

Native Serbian, Bosnian and Croatian; fluent English; advanced Spanish; basic Portuguese and Hungarian

SOFTWARE

Very familiar: MS Dynamics NAV ERP, Mis2Open ERP, Pantheon ERP, Sofi ERP, MS Visio, Office and W indows

Familiar: Asana, Salesforce, Quickbooks, MS Project, SQL, Hyperion, Bloomberg, SAP, BAAN, MindMap, Taleo

ADDITIONAL ENGAGEMENT

Member of Advisory Board KA Group Consulting, management consulting and project development services

President of “State of Exit Foundation”, foundation supporting entrepreneurial projects and organizations

PERSONAL INFO

US Permanent Resident

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