Renting a CFO can help you have a strategic partner to realize your vision
Startups are hard. Most fail. Even ones with great ideas. So, how do you maximize your odds of success? Hire the best team you can afford. Including a Strategic Chief Financial Officer with the skills, experience and vision to be your business partner and trusted advisor. Muhammad Ali had Angelo Dundee. King Henry VIII had Thomas Cromwell. Luke Skywalker had Obi-Wan Kenobe. Who’s got your back? It could be your part-time CFO.
Can’t you get away with just an accountant? In a word, “no”. Accountants are important and help you figure out what’s happened in the past and report the same to your internal and external stakeholders. But you are an early-stage company. You need to drive the bus by looking ahead through the windshield, not behind in the rear-view mirror. Smarter finance is forward looking – it helps you chart the best course.
Shouldn’t you be doing this yourself as the CEO? Again, “no”. Best case, you are actually capable of filling this role. But this isn’t the best use of your precious time. You need to drive the company’s product and sales, build the team and be the company’s face to the outside world. Time spent in finance is time spent away from your highest and best purpose. Worst case, you screw it up.
But can you afford and attract a top-quality CFO? Yes! Because you don’t need this resource full-time and can pay only for what you need. We live in an on-demand world. Don’t buy servers – rent time from AWS. Don’t buy a car – book an Uber. Don’t buy a vacation home – go on Airbnb. And don’t hire a full-time CFO (yet) – rent one from a reputable On-demand CFO firm. You probably only need 0.5-2.0 days per week, can find A-list talent with expertise in your field and be up and running in days. And when you’re ready to make a change, it’s simple to move on or upgrade to a full-time resource.
Here are 5 key things you get from a part-time Strategic CFO:
- Build and maintain your business and financial model. How will you monetize your idea? How should you price and deliver the product or service? How much cash is required to hit your next milestone? When do you need to raise your next round? What resources can you afford and when should you deploy them? How do you know if it’s working and when/how to pivot when the market gives you feedback? Your CFO helps you answer all these questions.
- Leverage your management team so you can punch above your weight. The CFO is a core member of your team even if they are not sitting in your office 50 hours per week. They bring expertise, contacts and credibility to your company and can help you manage all the internal/administrative functions so your time can remain focused on building and growing the top line. A proven CFO also gives board members, investors and other outside stakeholders confidence in you and the company.
- Be your strategic partner and key sounding board. CEO is a lonely job, even in the biggest companies. The best CEOs have trusted strategic advisors that they can rely on to help them execute their plan and give them honest feedback. This is hard in an early-stage company where you can’t really afford to build a large team of experienced talent. And more times than not, the rest of your senior team is drinking from the same Kool-Aid jug that you are – that’s why they’re there. Your investors and advisors can help play an important role here, but they have lots of other demands on their time and priorities. Your CFO is dedicated to your success and can bring critical outside perspective. Most likely, he or she has seen many of the issues you’re facing before – and can access the knowledge of the rest of their firm on your behalf.
- Increase your access to the capital you need. Cash is the lifeblood of your company. Most likely you will want to tap external sources now or in the future. This could be from equity, debt, strategic partnering, public offerings, M&A or some other source. Your CFO can help guide you on how to approach these capital sources, how to craft the right story, answer their questions and due diligence requests, negotiate and close the right deal and maintain good relationships with these new partners post-closing. He or she will also make sure you’re always ready to raise the next round – preferably before you need it.
- Immediate return on investment. Because you only pay for what you use, a part-time CFO can be surprisingly affordable. And if they deliver on even a subset of what they have to offer, they should pay for themselves many times over in terms of both your bottom line and your probability of success.
Rent the CFO cover you need. No-brainer.