When to hire a CFO or your first finance leader
The trigger for a senior finance hire is rarely a revenue number on its own. It is the point where the numbers start driving real decisions and nobody owns them full time. This is how to read the signals, and what to hire at each stage.
The questions founders ask
3 guidesThe signals that say you need a CFO, not another senior accountant: the board wants a forward view, a raise is on the horizon, and no one owns the model. I go through each, and the stages where a first finance hire or a fractional CFO fits instead.
Read the full guideWhat the finance function looks like at 20 heads, 50 and 100, and the order I would hire in. You do not build the whole team at once, and hiring out of order is where most founders waste money.
Read the full guideHow to make the internal case for a finance hire when the founder is still rebuilding the model at 11pm. The cost of not hiring is the part most people skip, and it is usually the bigger number.
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