Tim Merryweather joins Kevin Appleby on the GrowCFO Show ahead of a Webinar in April about how to value your business. Tim is an experienced CFO. He describes his career journey, including working in London, Singapore, and the Middle East, and highlights his practical experience in valuing and acquiring businesses. Tim and Kevin discussed Tim's early experience at Mouchel, a highly acquisitive former FTSE250 company with a high valuation multiple. They talked about valuing a business being acquired, with Tim explaining that they looked at market indications, valuation metrics, and the combined business's worth. Tim emphasizes the importance of securing relationships and staff during the acquisition process to maximize value. Companies that make frequent acquisitions may increase risk profiles, leading to a lower valuation multiple. When dealing with Private Equity, valuation multiples are based on earnings visibility and forecastability. The quality of a company's management team is a key factor in determining its valuation multiple. Valuing early-stage businesses requires balancing DCF techniques with market experience and size of opportunity as cashflows are uncertain. https://youtu.be/juhLmo9r5mg Links Tim Merryweather on LinkedIn Kevin Appleby on LinkedIn GrowCFO Business valuation webinar Timestamps Business growth and expansion with a South African finance leader. (0:11) Career progression in finance, from controller to CFO. (3:25) Valuing a business through acquisition. (8:19) Acquisition strategies and valuation multiples. (13:35) Private equity valuation techniques and market trends. (18:05) Startup valuation and investment strategies. (22:37) Find out more about GrowCFO If you enjoyed this podcast, you can subscribe to the GrowCFO Show with your favourite podcast app. The GrowCFO show is listed in the Apple podcast directory, Google Podcasts, Spotify and many others. Why not subscribe there today? That way, you never miss an episode. GrowCFO is a great place to extend your professional network. Join GrowCFO as a free member today and participate in our regular networking events and webinars.  Premium members can also access our extensive training centre and CFO Digital Toolkit. You can enrol in our flagship Future CFO or Finance Leader programmes here.  You can find out more and join today at growcfo.net

In the final part of the series on scaling FP&A, Catherine Marks brings together her old team from Virgin Media O2 to discuss the merger of the two organisations and what this meant for the finance teams within each merged company. Regular podcast host Kevin Appleby chats with Catherine, formerly Head of Group FP&A at Virgin Media O2 and now FP&A and Team Training Lead at GrowCFO. They are joined by Julie Parker, who before the deal, was Pre-merger Planning Integration Lead, Finance at O2 and remains in the merged organisation as Head of Finance Integration & Transformation; Tom Writer, who took on the role of Head of FP&A - Consumer Commercial in the merged organisation; and Ed Dannan formerly Central Finance Director at Virgin Media, now CFO at Voneus Broadband. The conversation covered key challenges and strategies for integrating finance teams after a merger or acquisition. The guests discussed their experiences bringing together Virgin Media and O2, highlighting cultural differences, resource allocation challenges, and the importance of speed during integration while managing change. Other topics included measuring synergies, navigating systems integration, and maintaining motivation. The group agreed that having a clear integration strategy and dedicated leadership is crucial to avoid uncertainty during the transition period. Communicating authentically and focusing on both outputs and people aspects were also emphasized as important factors for success. https://youtu.be/lnSXr6up3tw Links Catherine Marks on LinkedIn Kevin Appleby on LinkedIn Julie Parker on LinkedIn Tom Writer on LinkedIn Ed Dannan on LinkedIn Episode 175 Scaling FP&A 2 Choosing the Right FP&A Tools Episode 174 Scaling FP&A 1 Building Your FP&A Team GrowCFO FP&A Competency Framework GrowCFO FP&A Bootcamp Timestamps Scaling FP&A with guests from Virgin Media and Phineas. (0:11) Post-merger integration challenges and strategies. (3:17) Merger challenges in the telecommunications industry, including cultural differences and resource allocation. (6:59) Cultural challenges after merging two companies. (9:12) Cultural differences in mergers and acquisitions. (14:17) Implementing change in organizations, managing uncertainty. (15:49) Challenges and strategies for merging financial systems. (18:01) Merger planning, baseline, and operational metrics. (20:07) Communication and team alignment. (22:26) Finance Processes in Mergers and Acquisitions. (25:25) Finance transformation and change management. (28:54) Mergers and acquisitions in the finance industry. (30:43) Find out more about GrowCFO If you enjoyed this podcast, you can subscribe to the GrowCFO Show with your favourite podcast app. The GrowCFO show is listed in the Apple podcast directory, Google Podcasts, Spotify and many others. Why not subscribe there today? That way, you never miss an episode. GrowCFO is a great place to extend your professional network. Join GrowCFO as a free member today and participate in our regular networking events and webinars.  Premium members can also access our extensive training centre and CFO Digital Toolkit. You can enrol in our flagship Future CFO or Finance Leader programmes here.  You can find out more and join today at growcfo.net

In the second of a 3 part series on scaling your FP&A capability, Paul Barnhurst, the FP&A Guy, and Catherine Marks, head of FP&A and team training at GrowCFO, join Kevin Appleby to discuss FP&A tools. They discuss scaling finance operations with a focus on infrastructure and choosing the right FP&A tools for growing organizations. Paul is a Finance Professional with 12+ years of finance and FP&A experience, including business unit CFO roles. He earned a business bachelor's degree from BYU and an MBA and Master of Science in Information Management from Arizona State University. He is known for his deep understanding of the FP&A software planning space and has recently published an FP&A software market guide. Paul runs his own business providing training services, is a content creator, and hosts two popular finance podcasts FP&A Today and Financial Modeler’s Corner. He provides consulting services for small and mid-sized companies. Paul provided insights on getting infrastructure right and selecting the right planning tools, including Future-proofing FP&A systems with agility, flexibility, and consideration of future needs and strategies. The importance of data organization and having an end-user champion was emphasized. Thoroughly selecting the right business planning tool by considering factors like market size, industry, systems integration needs, and process complexity. Excel limitations and risks were discussed. Implementing performance management systems through a focus on pre-work like defining KPIs and metrics, and experimenting with machine learning/AI capabilities. Keeping processes efficient through a growth mindset, documentation, and continuous innovation as organizations scale. Successfully transferring planning processes to new tools by focusing on design improvements rather than just porting spreadsheets over. Practical advice is to start small, do homework on requirements and avoid being swayed by new tool features without clear needs. https://youtu.be/IFMQB81jk2A Links Catherine Marks on LinkedIn Kevin Appleby on LinkedIn Paul Barnhurst on LinkedIn The FP&A Guy A guide to 3rd Generation FP&A tools Episode 174 Scaling FP&A 1 Building Your FP&A Team Episode 176 Scaling FP&A 3 Navigating an Acquisition with the Virgin Media O2 FP&A Team GrowCFO FP&A Competency Framework GrowCFO FP&A Bootcamp Timestamps Scaling finance and operations with a focus on infrastructure. (0:12) FP&A tools and strategies for growth-stage organizations. (1:21) Future-proofing FP&A systems with agility and flexibility. (6:30) Selecting the right business planning tool for growing companies. (7:43) Selecting and implementing a performance management system. (15:48) AI adoption, process efficiency, and growth mindset in business. (23:12) Implementing new financial planning tools and processes. (26:54) Financial planning and acquisition strategies. (33:40) Find out more about GrowCFO If you enjoyed this podcast, you can subscribe to the GrowCFO Show with your favourite podcast app. The GrowCFO show is listed in the Apple podcast directory, Google Podcasts, Spotify and many others. Why not subscribe there today? That way, you never miss an episode. GrowCFO is a great place to extend your professional network. Join GrowCFO as a free member today and participate in our regular networking events and webinars.  Premium members can also access our extensive training centre and CFO Digital Toolkit. You can enrol in our flagship Future CFO or Finance Leader programmes here.  You can find out more and join today at growcfo.net

In the first of a 3 part series on scaling your FP&A capabilities, we're looking at developing the FP&A team. GrowCFO Show host Kevin Appleby is joined by Jane Riley, Director at executive recruitment specialist Zanda, and Catherine Marks FP&A lead at GrowCFO. Catherine and Jane discuss building a scalable FP&A team to support rapid business growth. The first hire is important. Bringing in a dedicated FP&A professional is a luxury few will be able to afford, so the initial hire will likely be a generalist adapting to changes, says Catherine. Priorities for early-stage companies include cash flow, forecasting, and analyzing financial decisions. Team size and structure should align with business strategy and support functions, potentially including geography for larger companies. Recruiting the right skills and mindset is challenging, as FP&A requires a wide range of abilities. Jane highlights the competitive nature of the recruitment market. Offering variety, progression opportunities, and competitive benefits is key to attracting top talent. Employee turnover needs to be minimised, and Jane brings some great insights around why people leave organisations. Developing both people and culture is important. Direct learning, training, and broadening skills are ways to develop abilities, according to Catherine. Maintaining a strong finance culture and investing in employees can address organizational challenges. https://youtu.be/AlAHP5K5c-c Links Catherine Marks on LinkedIn Kevin Appleby on LinkedIn Jane Riley on LinkedIn Zanda Episode 175 Scaling FP&A 2 Choosing the right FP&A tools with Paul Barnhurst and Catherine Marks Episode 176 Scaling FP&A 3 Navigating an Acquisition with the Virgin Media O2 FP&A Team GrowCFO FP&A Competency Framework GrowCFO FP&A Bootcamp Timestamps Introducing Jane Riley. (0:11) Hiring a dedicated FP&A person for a growing business. (4:03) Hiring challenges in finance and accounting roles. (12:02) FP&A skills and culture. (19:08) Developing FPGA skills and becoming a great leader. (22:23) Factors leading to FPN leader turnover and career progression. (27:37) Building and maintaining a finance team in a growing organization. (33:26) Scaling businesses with DNA from a people perspective. (35:09) Find out more about GrowCFO If you enjoyed this podcast, you can subscribe to the GrowCFO Show with your favourite podcast app. The GrowCFO show is listed in the Apple podcast directory, Google Podcasts, Spotify and many others. Why not subscribe there today? That way, you never miss an episode. GrowCFO is a great place to extend your professional network. Join GrowCFO as a free member today and participate in our regular networking events and webinars.  Premium members can also access our extensive training centre and CFO Digital Toolkit. You can enrol in our flagship Future CFO or Finance Leader programmes here.  You can find out more and join today at growcfo.net

Luigi Testa, CFO at LinkSquares joins Kevin Appleby on the GrowCFO Show to share his journey growing LinkSquares from a small company with $2m revenue, through a $100m fundraise, to one with 100% revenue growth in recent years. LinkSquares helps legal teams automate tasks for more efficient work. Luigi discusses navigating business growth through technology, hiring expertise, and finance leadership as the CFO. His FP&A background has helped provide strategic guidance. How did Luigi navigate a $100m fundraise? Luigi led LinkSquares through a Series C financing of $100 million He discussed how they were able to complete this raise and diligence process in under 70 days. Leveraging tools like their contract analysis product Analyze allowed Luigi to quickly provide investors with contract and other diligence information during the fundraising process. Luigi believes that fundraising success comes from building relationships before raising funds. He emphasizes the importance of networking for CFOs. Luigi and Kevin discuss preparing diligently for fundraising through financial housekeeping and relationship building. Leveraging tools like LinkSquares can streamline diligence. How is the CFO role evolving as the company grows? The evolving CFO role focuses on maintaining healthy growth through efficiency gains. Leveraging AI can create automation and leverage resources. Looking ahead, CFOs will focus on scaling efficiently while capturing market opportunities. Data-driven decisions will guide accelerating or focusing on efficiency. https://youtu.be/yLGTVa1Buhk Links Best Practice Accelerator – Prepare for a Fundraising Process Luigi Testa on Linkedin Kevin Appleby on LinkedIn Timestamps Introducing Luigi Testa. (0:11) Growth strategy and finance leadership with a legal tech company CFO. (2:32) CFO role, responsibilities, and experience. (5:38) Fundraising and growth for a tech startup. (11:26) Fundraising, financial housekeeping, and legal tech tools. (13:12) Building relationships for fundraising and networking. (18:35) Fundraising and due diligence for startups. (21:16) The evolving role of CFOs in business. (27:25) Leveraging AI for business efficiency and growth. (30:00) Find out more about GrowCFO If you enjoyed this podcast, you can subscribe to the GrowCFO Show with your favourite podcast app. The GrowCFO show is listed in the Apple podcast directory, Google Podcasts, Spotify and many others. Why not subscribe there today? That way, you never miss an episode. GrowCFO is a great place to extend your professional network. You can join GrowCFO as a free member today and participate in our regular networking events and webinars.  Premium members can also access our extensive training centre and CFO Digital Toolkit. Here, you can enrol in our flagship Future CFO or Finance Leader programmes.  You can find out more and join today at growcfo.net

Ashley Vukovits, joins Kevin Appleby on the GrowCFO Show ahead of the March GrowCFO Best Practice Accelerator that will give you practical tools and advice to plan a fundraise. She will be the guest in the first of three workshops in the accelerator. Ashley is based in Indianapolis, Indiana and is currently managing director of Liftbridge CXO. Liftbridge CXO specialises in placing fractional CFOs in start-up to scale-up stage technology companies to help them reach the next level of growth. Ashley has been involved in fundraising with many organisations and has experience across different types and sizes of deal. She brings this experience into the podcast conversation with Kevin. Ashley discusses various fundraising strategies for early-stage companies, including angel investors, venture capital, private equity, and debt financing. She emphasizes the importance of knowing cash runway and having a fundraising plan. Ashley explains that different fundraising stages involve different expectations, from a focus on leadership and vision at early stages to providing detailed financial data and substantiation when raising larger rounds. Cultivating long-term relationships with potential investors throughout a company's growth is key to fundraising success. Ashley highlights the importance of existing investors re-investing during her experience fundraising in a problematic 2021 market. Thorough preparation for private equity fundraising is especially important due to increased scrutiny of financial data and processes. Ashley has helped companies improve their readiness through practice diligence runs. Effective management of the fundraising process relies on clear communication and follow-up. The CFO often plays a central "glue" role in driving this while keeping the CEO focused on running business operations. Upcoming best practice accelerator workshops between Ashley and Kevin will provide deeper dives into preparation, relationship-building, due diligence, and other actionable fundraising strategies. https://youtu.be/PSDfMGDWzbw Links Best Practice Accelerator - Prepare for a Fundraising Process Mentoring at GrowCFO  Ashley Vukovits on LinkedIn Kevin Appleby on LinkedIn Timestamps Fundraising strategies for early-stage companies. (0:11) Fundraising stages and strategies for startups. (3:22) Fundraising strategies and best practices. (8:26) Due diligence in private equity investments. (15:02) AI's role in fundraising and due diligence processes. (18:59) Find out more about GrowCFO If you enjoyed this podcast, you can subscribe to the GrowCFO Show with your favourite podcast app. The GrowCFO show is listed in the Apple podcast directory, Google Podcasts, Spotify and many others. Why not subscribe there today? That way, you never miss an episode. GrowCFO is a great place to extend your professional network. You can join GrowCFO as a free member today and participate in our regular networking events and webinars.  Premium members can also access our extensive training centre and CFO Digital Toolkit. Here, you can enrol in our flagship Future CFO or Finance Leader programmes.  You can find out more and join today at growcfo.net

Aneal Vallurupalli is a young CFO making a big impact. His career progression is remarkable, moving from investment banking to CFO roles at various companies, including his current role as CFO at Airbase. Aneal joins Kevin Appleby on the GrowCFO Show to talk about the state of Fintech in 2024. Airbase is revolutionizing finance by streamlining company spending processes through a platform that handles payroll, accounts payable, expenses, and physical/virtual cards. Aneal discussed how Airbase's finance team works closely with product and engineering to develop the platform while also assisting sales and customers. He outlined the importance of the platform's breadth, depth, and consumer-grade user experience for mid-market companies. Aneal Vallurupalli provided some insights into FinTech growth and competition: Aneal believes what matters most is having a strong product and target market that highly values that product. Airbase has found product-market fit and a retaining customer base. He predicted 2024 could be a tough fundraising year for companies without those key strengths, as many 2021 FinTech startups may need to raise funds but lack traction. Aneal noted Airbase had avoided frequent fundraising rounds by controlling its own destiny through a strong business model and multi-year runway from its last raise over 2 years ago. He acknowledged the FinTech funding environment has been volatile, with openings and closings in the IPO, M&A and private placement markets every few weeks. As a CFO, Aneal's focus is assuming the worst and planning accordingly to position Airbase well if market conditions turn. Aneal discussed Airbase's strategy around AI, which is focused on using AI to drive down friction and time for finance professionals within their customer base and employees using the product. For example, developing expense management capabilities allows expense reports to be submitted with no touch by the employee. He also said AI will impact finance teams' day-to-day tasks, such as making expense report submission more seamless. However, he noted AI is not the central theme at Airbase - it is woven throughout the platform to enhance the user experience. Aneal and Kevin agreed that AI tools will be more useful as companies improve their data strategies and ability to analyze clean, homogenized data from various systems. Kevin highlighted the importance of data quality for AI to produce accurate results. https://youtu.be/C-utxGR_j0A Links Aneal Vallurupalli on LinkedIn Kevin Appleby on LinkedIn GrowCFO Automation Accelerator Timestamps Revolutionizing finance with a young CFO. (0:11) Career progression from investment banking to CFO roles. (1:07) Streamlining company spending processes. (5:39) FinTech growth, market competition, and recession predictions. (11:24) AI adoption in finance and its impact on teams. (17:15) AI, data strategy, and giving back in the finance industry. (20:03) Remote-first business model and its pros and cons. (25:42) Remote work challenges and self-starter hiring in fast-growing companies. (30:43) Find out more about GrowCFO If you enjoyed this podcast, you can subscribe to the GrowCFO Show with your favourite podcast app. The GrowCFO show is listed in the Apple podcast directory, Google Podcasts, Spotify and many others. Why not subscribe there today? That way, you never miss an episode. GrowCFO is a great place to extend your professional network. You can join GrowCFO as a free member today and participate in our regular networking events and webinars.  Premium members can also access our extensive training centre and CFO Digital Toolkit. Here, you can enrol in our flagship Future CFO or Finance Leader programmes.  You can find out more and join today at growcfo.net

Nicolas Boucher joins Kevin Appleby on the GrowCFO show and shares his experience implementing AI in finance. Nicolas teaches people how to get started with AI in finance, and this is the focus of the conversation. He discussed many ways of using ChatGPT as an assistant rather than just a search engine. Nicolas discussed how to structure prompts to get the most value from ChatGPT, and gave some great examples, such as drafting letters, writing procedures, and generating training content. ChatGPT can also be used for data analysis, problem solving, and exploring automation opportunities using Python. Kevin and Nicolas discussed the rise of AI-powered assistants like Copilot, more natural language interactions, and increased automation of finance tasks. They emphasized experimenting with AI tools, identifying automatable tasks, and staying up-to-date on new capabilities through communities and courses. Nicolas has 15 years of experience working in finance, first as an auditor at PwC and then at a large French multinational company, Thales, similar to Boeing. He is passionate about helping people grow both personally and professionally. This led him to coaching and training others throughout his career. He now runs his own coaching and training business. Nicolas started sharing his insights on LinkedIn which helped grow his audience and career. He now works as a trainer and consultant focused on teaching AI and ChatGPT for finance professionals. His goal is to help as many people as possible learn how to implement useful AI tools in their work. He has developed practical and advanced courses on the topic. https://youtu.be/uamDikynzgE Links Nicolas Boucher on LinkedIn Kevin Appleby on LinkedIn Join the AI Finance Club GrowCFO FP&A Boot camp GrowCFO Automation Accelerator Timestamps Implementing AI in finance with Nicolas Boucher. (0:11) Using AI language model GPT for writing tasks. (4:16) Using AI tools for training and problem-solving in finance. (11:06) Using AI tools for data analysis and automation. (15:10) Automating finance tasks with Python and AI. (21:48) Finance technology trends and the role of CFOs. (26:21) Using AI tools for productivity and automation in business. (33:37) Find out more about GrowCFO If you enjoyed this podcast, you can subscribe to the GrowCFO Show with your favourite podcast app. The GrowCFO show is listed in the Apple podcast directory, Google Podcasts, Spotify and many others. Why not subscribe there today? That way, you never miss an episode. GrowCFO is a great place to extend your professional network. You can join GrowCFO as a free member today and participate in our regular networking events and webinars.  Premium members can also access our extensive training centre and CFO Digital Toolkit. Here, you can enrol in our flagship Future CFO or Finance Leader programmes.  You can find out more and join today at growcfo.net

Adam Shilton, a leading voice on Linkedin and founder/host of Tech for Finance, discusses the current state of AI in finance, including advancements in AI tools, automating tasks, and improving workflows. He highlights tools like Notion AI, GPT for Sheets, and Microsoft CoPilot. Kevin shares his experience using AI tools for podcasting and building learning materials. They predict greater AI autonomy in 2024 and emphasize the importance of process optimization before implementing AI.

Kevin Appleby interviews Thomas Zweifel about his career as an author and consultant. Thomas explains that he writes books based on mistakes he has made working with clients in different cultures and industries so that others can learn from his experiences. Thomas is an award-winning author. Some of the books he mentioned writing include Culture Clash, about mistakes made working in different cultures, and Strategy into Action. His most recent book, Gorilla in the Cockpit, discusses how biases at the start of projects can lead them to fail. Their discussion touches on the importance of culture when executing strategy. Thomas talks about discovering the "bottle" of underlying assumptions that guide an organization's thinking. He also emphasizes that the CFO has a key role to play in determining what activities are still relevant to the strategy and saying no to things that are obsolete. When discussing strategy in an uncertain world, Thomas advocates for his "Strategy and Action" approach of focusing on catalytic 100-day projects rather than multi-year plans. This allows organizations to test ideas quickly and adjust course if needed. Other topics covered include biases that can derail projects from the start, focusing each day on meaningful accomplishments, and using displays and routines to keep teams oriented towards strategic goals. Throughout, Thomas emphasizes examining assumptions and standing in the future as keys to strategic execution. Links Dr Thomas D Zweifel on LinkedIn Kevin Appleby on LinkedIn GrowCFO Best Practice Accelerator - Deliver Your Business Growth Plan Free video training with Thomas: 4 Secrets for Realizing All Your Commitments (Professional, Financial, Personal) with Freedom, Power and Peace of Mind. Thomas' Books on Amazon UK and USA Timestamps Introducing Thomas Zweifel (0:11) Strategy execution and leadership challenges. (0:20) Project failures and biases in decision-making. (4:02) Unconscious biases in decision-making in business. (8:18) Strategy execution and cultural analysis. (12:09) Strategy and decision-making in a rapidly changing world. (17:02) Productivity tips for putting strategy into action. (24:14) Time management and productivity strategies for leaders. (28:28) Find out more about GrowCFO If you enjoyed this podcast, you can subscribe to the GrowCFO Show with your favourite podcast app. The GrowCFO show is listed in the Apple podcast directory, Google Podcasts, Spotify and many others. Why not subscribe there today? That way, you never miss an episode. GrowCFO is a great place to extend your professional network. You can join GrowCFO as a free member today and participate in our regular networking events and webinars.  Premium members can also access our extensive training centre and CFO Digital Toolkit. Here, you can enrol in our flagship Future CFO or Finance Leader programmes.  You can find out more and join today at growcfo.net