FP&A Today

Ready FP&A One: From Assassin’s Creed to Battling Big Budget Bosses – David Fortin

May 21, 2024

Former PwC auditor David Fortin shares his journey from managing FP&A at gaming giant Ubisoft to navigating the challenges of a Saas Startup Polka exit. He discusses fundraising, disinterested investors, budget rejections, and CTOs crying, leading to a successful acquisition by IFS in 2023. Now a full-time YouTuber, he explores Excel tutorials and the impact of Microsoft Copilot on FP&A, emphasizing scenario analysis and AI transformation in finance.

48:23

Creator website

Episode guests

David Fortin

AI Summary

AI Chapters

Episode notes

Podcast summary created with Snipd AI

Quick takeaways

Transitioning from a large corporation to a startup in FP&A requires adaptability and a shift towards Excel-focused financial reporting over advanced tools like Tableau.

Involvement in M&A transactions demonstrates the importance of meticulous preparation, presentation skills, and financial acumen in navigating due diligence processes and providing key insights to potential acquirers.

Deep dives

David Fortin's Career Journey to FP&A

David Fortin, a chartered professional accountant from Quebec, Canada, transitioned from auditing at PwC to the world of Financial Planning and Analysis (FP&A), starting at Ubisoft and then moving to a SaaS startup called POCA. His foray into FP&A was motivated by his love for video games and desire to work in a company he was passionate about. The skills acquired during his auditing days prepared him for the diverse challenges in FP&A, allowing him to seamlessly transition into analyzing financial statements and key performance indicators.

Introduction

2min

Navigating Career Transitions in Finance

30min

Transitioning from Startups to Excel Tutorial Videos and Embracing AI

4min

Applying Corporate FP&A Principles to YouTube Analytics and Future Endeavors

3min

Surviving the Startup World and AI in Finance

6min

Exploring Data Analysis Tools, Gaming Nostalgia, and Excel Functions

4min

As a lifelong gamer, David Fortin successfully landed his dream job managing FP&A at Ubisoft – the $2.79 billion gaming company responsible for Assassin’s Creed, Driver, and Far Cry, For Honor. The former PwC auditor then decided to take on an even more daunting leap. He ran FP&A at Saas Startup Polka “building the plane while we were flying” – cue his boss leaving, learning how to fundraise, facing disinterested investors, budgets rejected by the board, the CTO crying, before managing an eventual successful exit (in 2023 the company was acquired by Swedish enterprise software giant IFS). Now he is a full-time YouTuber teaching Excel and Microsoft Copilot – still using finance and analytics to build his business.

In this episode David talks:

PwC CPA audit coming up that way to FP&A
Quebec, loving video games and landing a role at Ubisoft
Moving from a big company to a startup and a steep finance learning curve
Building the plane while flying in FP&A
Learning the sales pitch of funding round facing questions and disinterterested investors
CTOs crying when the budget is rejected by the board
Due diligence and exit – lessons
Becoming a YouTuber making Excel fun again and grasping Microsoft Copilot
How CoPilot and AI will transform FP&A
Scenario analysis in Copilot
20,000 hours of gaming and my favorite Excel function

Follow David on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/david-fortin-cpa-816b20b5/

Follow David’s YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@piggybankaccountant