Jesse Ransford spends his days helping companies navigate some of the most complex financial decisions they face. As a corporate finance consultant at Economics Partners in New York City, he supports clients across industries like technology, energy, and retail, offering guidance on valuation, tax structuring, and financial reporting.
In his role, Ransford builds detailed financial models, conducts benchmarking studies, and writes economic reports that help clients make better long-term decisions. Though early in his career, he builds credibility by walking managers through his analysis step by step and openly acknowledging areas of uncertainty in the data.
“I can take difficult-to-understand financial data and boil it down to simple, actionable conclusions,” he said. “I may be new to the workforce, but I've learned how to achieve adept technical competence at comprehending and analyzing vast data sets and identifying the most significant patterns and trends for making smart decisions.”
That attention to clarity helps Ransford guide others through decisions that have long-term implications, from cash flow forecasting to pricing strategy. In a field where assumptions vary widely across sectors, the ability to explain both the numbers and their context has quickly become one of his most reliable tools.
The Habits That Help Ransford Stay One Step Ahead
Originally from Colorado, Ransford earned his economics degree from the University of Colorado, Boulder. In 2025, he relocated to New York City and joined the Manhattan office of Economics Partners, where he now supports a variety of valuation and transfer pricing projects. For every engagement, his goal is to create models that are both easy to follow and also reflect how that kind of business runs in real life.
Ransford credits much of his early growth in finance to the habits he keeps. Every morning, he takes time to review market news, economic trends, and industry updates from sources like S&P Capital IQ, Bloomberg, and the Wall Street Journal.
“This habit keeps me sharp on macroeconomic trends and sector-specific shifts, allowing me to deliver timely, relevant insights to clients and support data-driven recommendations in valuations and transfer pricing analyses,” he said.
By staying curious and well-informed, Ransford sets himself up to spot patterns, ask better questions, and build recommendations that fit the current market.
He also keeps an eye on policy discussions and global developments, running scenario analyses and stress tests to account for how shifts in regulation or geopolitics might affect future financial outcomes. Being proactive helps him identify risks early on and stay flexible when conditions change.
A Smarter Way to Look at Company Value
To Jesse Ransford, valuation isn’t a rigid formula. Instead, it’s part structure, part instinct—something he describes as “more of an art than an exact science.” For instance, he recognizes that a tech company and a manufacturing firm can have similar revenue, but very different valuation profiles.
“Profit multiples in tech valuations are very different from those in the manufacturing sector,” he explained.
Tech firms often trade at premium multiples due to scalability, recurring revenue, and strong growth potential. In contrast, manufacturing companies are valued more conservatively because they depend on physical assets, have cyclical earnings, and operate in capital-heavy environments.
According to Ransford, the key is knowing how to adjust your approach for each sector. By tailoring his assumptions to fit the business model and market conditions, he can develop models that capture the full picture of a company’s financial reality.
How a Simple Oversight Changed His Approach
One of Ransford’s most important lessons came from a misstep early in his career. While working on a discounted cash flow (DCF) model for a home improvement company, he made what he thought were conservative assumptions: flat revenue growth from quarter to quarter.
When he reviewed the model with a senior manager, they asked whether he’d accounted for seasonality. Ransford realized he hadn’t.
With guidance from his mentor, he went back to analyze the company’s historical revenue patterns and broader industry trends. He discovered that spring and summer typically bring in the bulk of home improvement revenue, while fall and winter tend to be slower. They rebuilt —not just in value, but in how cash flow and working capital were distributed throughout the year.
Now, because of that experience, Ransford always takes the time to understand how the business operates before starting to develop a model, taking everything from industry cycles to customer behavior into account. It’s a habit that’s brought more precision and real-world depth to his work.
Building Trust: Ransford’s Step-by-Step Process
Even when the deadline is tight or the data is complex, Jesse Ransford aims to bring a sense of order. Every Monday morning, he meets with his colleagues to talk through the week’s priorities, usually over a cup of coffee. From those conversations, he sorts out what needs his attention right away and what can be tackled later.
Making good use of time has become one of his strengths. Work that involves deeper thinking, like interpreting financial data or meeting with clients, gets his attention. Simpler tasks, especially those that are repetitive, are streamlined through Excel. Automation frees up time, allowing him to stay more focused on higher-level problem-solving.
When it’s time to share his findings, he avoids skipping straight to the result, preferring to explain exactly how he got there instead.
“I've found that being open about my analysis process - working step by step through how I arrived at conclusions and indicating where there are limitations or doubts - adds to credibility rather than detracting from it,” he said.
Ransford has learned that managers appreciate seeing how the data led to the decision, and where its strengths and potential gaps lie. That’s why he keeps his models straightforward, consistent, and easy to understand—saving creativity for the analysis, not the format.
Seeing Gaps Others Might Miss
During a recent engagement, Ransford took on a transfer pricing project for a multinational client. The company believed its pricing strategy was already in line with market standards, but after reviewing the numbers, he had reason to question that assumption.
To find out whether he was right, he ran a benchmarking analysis and compared the client's pricing to similar firms. His research found obvious gaps between the company’s pricing structure and what peer organizations were doing. The differences weren’t minor and suggested that the firm’s pricing model could expose them to unnecessary tax risk and weaken long-term planning.
Ransford walked the team through his findings, showing them exactly where the inconsistencies appeared and why they mattered. While the data pointed to a simple fix, it also uncovered an opportunity to improve.
With this new insight, the client revised their approach, strengthening their audit position and giving them a more consistent foundation for future financial decisions. For Ransford, it was a reminder that research doesn’t just confirm a strategy but can push it in a better direction.
Bringing Mountain Focus to a Career in the City
Before he got involved in the financial industry, Jesse Ransford spent much of his time outdoors. He grew up skiing the steep slopes of the Aspen Highlands and even raced competitively for several years. The skills he picked up on the mountain have carried over into his professional life, teaching him the value of precision, adaptability, and resilience.
“When skiing challenging terrain, I’ve learned the importance of clearly assessing risks and swiftly adjusting strategies based on changing conditions—a mindset I directly apply in the workplace,” he said.
He also credits those outdoor experiences with helping him stay composed under pressure, even when things don’t go as planned. Those qualities have become especially valuable in his work, where difficult client scenarios and complex financial analyses are the norm.
In his earlier years, Ransford also attended a small charter school in Aspen, where he developed an interest in theater. One of his favorite roles was playing the White Rabbit in Alice and Wonderland.
Later, he left Colorado to attend boarding school in New Hampshire, where he formed deep, long-lasting friendships with other students from around the world. Now living in New York City, he’s looking forward to building his career while exploring the city’s neighborhoods, experiencing its culture, and enjoying everything the food scene has to offer.
