The High Performance CFO

2014 SaaS Founder Meetup - SFO

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Agenda

IntroPart 1: The EssentialsPart 2: Advanced TopicsWrap up: Good vs. Great CFOs

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introductionmark macleod

CFO

Advisor

Investor

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Part 1: The Essentials

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What a CFO does…• Act as a right hand to the CEO

• Capitalize the company and preserve financial strength

• Monitor, measure and continually propose improvements to the performance of the company

• Maintain a deep command of business fundamentals and financial performance, including comparison to relevant benchmarks

• Maintain deep relationships with key external stakeholders (directors, investors, lenders, bankers, analysts, competitors, industry peers)

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What do they look like?

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CFO Role Evolution

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When should you hire a CFO?

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Where do you find them?

Investors Your lawyer Other entrepreneurs

Look for: Recent exits True startup people

For part time: Avoid double part time

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Part 2: Advanced Topics

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SaaS Math

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Financial Reporting

Do:•Report in $000s•Compare to budget•Show month on month trends (numbers, graphs)•Report KPIs•Add management commentary•Ship in a timely manner

Don’t:•Send your entire chart of accounts•Expect much reaction

Audits:

•Just go ‘big 4’

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Finance Org Design

Blue functions are in place today. Others are coming

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Runway

Why do startups die?•No cash

Implications:

•Always have $

How much should you raise?

•$ to get to the next value creating milestone with wiggle room

Avoid:

•Having to raise•Tiny seed rounds

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CFOs & Marketing

Old School New School

Hard to measure. Easy to cut spend

Directly tied to growth. Need to work together

Today’s reality:•Data-driven marketing

•Tons of measures. Short on insights•Finance needs to partner with marketing

•Challenging concepts for finance. i.e. “lift”

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CEO leverage

•CEO has the toughest job in the building

•Only CFO can come close to seeing what the CFO sees (360 view)

•Best CFOs will provide leverage to the CEO to help scale & sanity

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Titles: VP vs. CFOs

Considerations:•Stage

•Experience needed

•Ambitions (public)

VP, Finance CFO

Focus Minding the ship (reporting, controls, budgeting)

Fundraising, deals, growth

Experience Senior finance leader but never been CFO

Prior CFO experience or rock star who’s ready

Differentiator Can go beyond financeExperience & networks for raising capital

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Good vs. Great CFOs

Good Great

Funding the business

Diligence readiness. Build great financial models & reporting

Has the relationships & experience to find great investors

Strategy Supports strategy through models, etc.

Directly contributes to and sets strategy

Deals Provides finance & legal support

Actively sources, supports & closes key deals

Execution Supports through reporting, etc.

Raises the bar by helping all departments execute better

Focus Excellent finance leadership

Running the business

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Questions?

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thank you

mark macleod@startupcfo

startupcfo.ca