CFO Insights

We have an in depth talk with Anthony Danon, an investor running the Cocoa fund and focusing on fintech.For CFOs in our community, he shares some remarkable tips on identifying a great tech business to work with …..… as well as laying down key identifiers for successful founders. Anthony has spent >9 years in fintech as an operator, VC and angel, having done 34+ investments. He is a pre-seed/seed investor into companies like Atlar, Hyperline, Primer, Pivot, Ramp Network, Tide, TrueLayer, Two and Wayflyer. Most recently, he co-founded Cocoa, an angel fund backed by tech founders.He believes believe 'Fintech is everything' and he looks for single-minded determination in founding teams.

In this episode, we speak with Douglas Squirrel, super experienced Consulting CTO. We focus the discussions on his work in developing a high-performing tech leaders. He includes some remarkable stories from his Tech career on how CTOs can support business outcomes.CTOs and CFOs are often kindred spirits and can drive business transformation when they unlock a close business partnership

Christian Wattig, an FP&A expert with 14 years of leadership experience, discusses what separates exceptional from average FP&A teams, optimizing the planning process, and implementing advanced tools like machine learning models in this insightful podcast.

Shane Leonard, experienced CFO with an entrepreneurial background, discusses becoming a trusted advisor to founders and the role of CFOs in startups. They also cover M&A activity and valuations in the tech industry, building trust with stakeholders, the changing role of CFOs in the age of AI and automation, and the significance of clear storytelling for CFOs.

In this episode, we talk to Ian Sutherland, CFO at Tide the UK company building a modern business current account, optimised for small business ownersIan has been CFO at Tide for six years, and during this time he realised that he could align his passions for tackling climate change and set Tide on a path to achieve Net Zero. In this discussion with him we build an understanding on why Net Zero sits neatly within the skills framework of a CFO.

Mitchell Fasanaya, founder with three businesses to his name, discusses startup pivots and the power of staying lean. He shares real-life examples from his ventures and emphasizes the importance of moving fast with platform decisions. Mitchell also talks about the qualities he looks for in his first finance hire for SearchLand. Throughout the podcast, he explores the importance of practical skills for young entrepreneurs, the birth and journey of Fanbytes as an influencer marketing agency, pivoting into the property sector with Searchland, funding approaches and finding product-market fit, and how Searchland is revolutionizing the construction industry with technology.

In this episode we talk to Patrick Hoogendijk. Patrick is an accomplished professional with 25 years of experience in Angel investing, venture capital, private equity, and building startups from seed-to-scale. Always working closely with passionate founders, he takes on the embedded CFO/COO role to set strategy and execute rapidly. We discuss in detail what it takes to operate as an in-demand portfolio CFO in the US tech scene and he shares some deep insights in how CFOs can operate commercially and work closely with founders and the C-suite.

In this episode, we talk to Alysha Randall of Fast Growth Consulting. Alysha is a super experienced FD and CFO now working portfolio with a range of high growth businesses.We explore her interest in building courses to support the growth of the CFOs of the future. We examine managing and leading, and why discerning the difference is not always obvious. And we discover a few surprising tips of hers when looking to really double down on leadership behaviours expected of CFOs

In this episode, we speak to Jonny Plein, cofounder at YASO, formerly a finance professional and member of the Startup CFO community. We discuss key learnings from the recent Yaso preseed funding round and build an understanding of what it takes to create a business in China. He shares how YASO works with western brands to facilitate their access to the important Chinese consumer market. As a serial founder he discusses in detail things that founders look for in their finance business partner, making this one a must-listen for CFOs seeking to optimise their commercial partnership with the CEO.Your host is Guy Hutchinson and this podcast was brought to you by Startup CFO.https://startupcfo.tech/Music:Pumpkin Blues by Daniel Fridell and Sven LindvallLicensed through Epidemic Sound

Guy Hutchinson, cofounder at Startup CFO talks to Edward Keelan from Octopus Ventures. Edward has held positions with Octopus for fifteen years, now focusing on the B2B software vertical, overseeing deal origination and his role on their investment committee.In this episode we reflect on a world where growth at all costs is a thing of the past, we learn about why CFOs are great at pursuing fundamentals and assess the key growth efficiency metrics that VCs are focused on.