About Us
We're not the status quo—we got bored of it. So we're changing the way businesses of one are built.
Why We Started
Self-employed professionals are the largest segment of the US Workforce, yet they’re underserved and overlooked, with 90% of them overpaying on taxes. It's why we started Formations: To give the self-employed access, guidance, and help to make the most out of a financial system that was built for corporations, not individuals.
As a business leader deeply familiar with the complexities and roadblocks self-employed professionals face, and with 20 years of experience building one of the top tax and accounting firms in Seattle, Shahar Plinner knew there was a better way to serve the businesses of one.
In late 2019, with a passion for helping real people solve real problems, he brought his newly developed playbook to his best friend and SaaS marketing expert, Uri Bar-Joseph. Together they recognized the need for a holistic financial management solution for self-employed individuals, the fastest-growing segment in the workforce. In 2020 they launched Formations to bring the first predictive tax and accounting solution to the millions of self-employed workers across the United States.
Our Vision
To be the platform of choice for self-employed professionals to manage all of their financial needs.
Our Mission
Help the self-employed keep more of their hard-earned money and give them the peace of mind to focus on what they love most.
Our Core Values
We put people first
We're here for a reason
We make our own reality
Our Operating Principles
Work like you own the place
Earn trust every day
Be positive, stay positive
Embrace the challenge
Don’t be a superhero
Use intuition, seek evidence
Results matter
Never stop experimenting
Keep it simple and build for now
Make something you’re proud of
Leadership Team
Shahar Plinner
Co-Founder and CEO
Uri Bar-Joseph
Co-Founder and COO
Jessica Slosberg
Head of Customer Success
Shiri Bibliowicz
Head of HR
Adi Buber
Director of Operations
Kevin Shively
Head of Growth
Shahar Plinner
Co-Founder and CEO
Shahar is a tax and accounting expert with over 20 years of experience in the field. He is an entrepreneur and known as the “Tax Guru” on the west coast.
Shahar moved to Seattle from Israel and Founded, scaled, and sold a leading tax and accounting firm in the Seattle Metro. Along the years, he served thousands of business owners and perfected the S-Corp management process. Shahar has MBA from Seattle University and owns several S-Corps himself. In his free time he enjoys sports event and spending time with his wife and 3 kids.
Shahar’s super powers: Personal charisma and a loud voice!
Uri Bar-Joseph
Co-Founder and COO
Uri is a growth marketer, with over 12 years of experience in the start-up industry. He ran marketing and demand generation at several Seattle startups as well as at Amazon Alexa.
Before founding Formations, he ran marketing at Mindspace, an Israeli global co-working company, where he got to know and learn about the self-employed market closely. Uri graduated with honors from the University of Washington and holds an MBA in Marketing. Uri and his wife have four children, and he is a huge Seahawks fan!
Uri’s super-power: Separating the important from the trivial
Jessica Slosberg
Head of Customer Success
Jessica brings extensive experience in customer success, program and team management as well as deep love for customers and helping them achieve their goals.
Jessica was born and raised in Seattle. She then spent 12 years in Colorado, including her undergraduate work at the University of Denver, and several years bouncing between Vail, Denver and Aspen. She started her career in working in nonprofits and then made the transition to start-ups and technology. When she isn’t delighting customers, she is spending husband and young son. She enjoys the outdoors, cooking, finding new restaurants and like a true Seattlite – Costco and Nordstrom.
Jessica’s Super Power: Helping customers achieve their goals
Shiri Bibliowicz
Head of HR
Shiri has been in the HR arena since 2002, and most of her career has been within the High-Tech industry. People are her passion, and her goal is always to provide her colleagues with excellent HR service, to be a strategic partner, and to act as a strong employee advocate.
In her HR jobs, she brings a sense of team and culture to engage employees. She has sincere passion and love to make sure that people are treated right and in the right place to maximize their skills and reach their objectives. Shiri always looks at raising the bar and taking people, processes, and the company to the next level.
When she is not in the office, she enjoys the little things in life: spending time with her lovely family, going horseback riding, skiing, wall climbing, hiking, eating well, and keep smiling.
Shiri’s Super-Power: Reading people and strong empathy
Adi Buber
Director of Operations
Adi brings over 20 years of experience in marketing, project management, business operation, and relationship development.
She moved to the USA from Israel, lived in Boston, and finally settled in the Seattle area. Adi has MBA in business management and marketing, and BA in persuasive communication, trends, and technologies in media. When she’s not working, Adi enjoys hiking with her husband and daughters
Adi’s super-power: Multitasking
Kevin Shively
Head of Growth
Kevin is a SaaS go-to-market leader with 15 years of experience building high-growth software companies.
Before joining Formations, he ran marketing for Ally.io through a successful acquisition by Microsoft, Simply Measured through it's acquisition by Sprout Social, and a few other successful startups.
Kevin also spent a year as a self-employed consultant, and his wife owns her own business, so the Formations mission struck a chord with him long before he joined the team.
Kevin’s super-power: Creativity and empathy.
Careers at Formations
We’re proud to help people do what they love. And when we're not changing the lives of our self-employed friends, we might be working from home alongside a furry companion, enjoying a catered lunch and massage in the office, or at our favorite charity on paid volunteer days. We're a people-first business, and it starts with us.