Chris K. Jones

About Chris K. Jones

Chris is a life long entrepreneur, starting his first company at 23 to provide accounting services in Princeton, NJ. In the late 1990’s Chris worked as an outsourced CFO, raising capital for start-ups in NYC’s Silicon Alley. He raised over $2MM for a text to speech company and negotiated the sale of their software to Microsoft. His next start-up was a mobile gaming company, but unfortunately, Chris lost his entire investment in the aftermath of 9/11 when the phone companies discontinued the project. Although jobless and deep in debt, Chris rebuilt his outsourced accounting and CFO firm and expanded it into Westchester, NY. In 2006, Chris won a Rising Stars, 40 Under 40 Award, where he met a fellow-award winner and his future business partner in Durante Rentals (DR). In September 2009, he became a co-founder and CFO of Durante Rentals, a construction equipment rental company located in the Bronx. Within ten years, Durante Rentals grew to 11 locations in NY, NJ, and CT and had 125 employees. As CFO, Chris’ financial and business strategies enabled the company to expand beyond 30% per year, and he raised over $40MM in debt financing. DR made the Inc. list of fastest-growing privately held companies seven years in a row. Chris is a three-time winner of CFO of the year, Person of the Year from the SBA, and a sought out speaker on financial strategies for high-growth companies internationally. In 2019, Chris led the negotiations in the sale of DR to Clairvest Group, a Toronto based Private Equity firm. The sale was completed in late June 2019, and Chris now sits on the company’s Board of Directors. In August 2019, Chris formed Think Strong Ventures (THV) to continue his interest in supporting early-stage companies. A lifelong fitness advocate, martial artist, and Buddhist, Chris has been practicing meditation and mindfulness for over 30 years. His interest in personal wellbeing prompted him to become the lead investor of Verb a health and wellness accountability platform that has grown exponentially during Covid-19. THV investments are in health, wellness, podcasts, and entertainment. Chris formed Think Strong Productions for the development of his audio drama Headcase (Headcase.FM). Originally written as a TV pilot, his script won awards in NY, LA, Toronto, and London. Chris is also turning Headcase into a novel so it will have a full publishing and audio versions in early 2021. You can learn about Chris\' other literary work at

Experience

1. Co-founder and Board Member

   Durante Rentals

   Sep 2009 — Present · New York, NY, US

Education

• Northumbria University

  BS, Accounting, Business Administration

• The College of New Jersey

  BA, Accounting, Business Administration