CFO plays an important role in making any start up successful. Get the insights on how to get a start up CFO.

1. www.startupdirexions.com

2. Inastartup ecosystemCFOdesignationisa
misnomerandhe should becalledas
entrepreneurCFO..
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3. Startupsareadifferentbreedofcompanieswhereintherequirementsand
demandsontheskillsetsareofdifferentnature.
Thestartupbusinessenvironmentisfarmoredynamicandvolatile.
Inaconventionaldefinition,CFOkeepsatrackoffinancialhealthofthe
company,facilitatorofthegrowth andplaysaroleofcomplianceofficerforthe
company.
Hisportfolioisquiteextensive,largeandcomplex.Hisexpertisedwellsoverthe
crosscountrytransactionsandregulatoryaffairs.Howeverinastartup
environmentheplaysquiteadifferentrolethanaCFOandheisaequalpartner
withentrepreneur.
CFOcontributesamajorpartincreatingsuccessfulstartup.Followingarethe
keyareaswhereanCFOplaysarolewhichiscrossingboundariesofhis
conventionalrole.
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4. • Astartupbusinessismadeofpeopleirrespectiveoftheideaandconcept.Itspeople
whocreate,run,executeandachievethegoals.Manyoftheconventionalfunctionsof
theCFOtakeabackseatinthestartupenvironmentsincetheyarenotrequiredearly
on.
Everypennyinthebusinessis90%fromequityandwhichisfarmorecostlierthan
debt.Hehastoplayacrucialroleindeployingandspendingtheequitymoneywhich
isproductivefromdayoneorsureawinnerinthelongrun.
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CFO has to become a entrepreneur himself

5. CFOhastoplayadevil’sadvocate
• CFO has to play a role of devil’s advocate most of the time challenging every
idea, method, process, market, new entry , marketing strategy, hiring etc.
• It may sound irritating at times of the constant negative questioning but that
helps to open up the mind of other partners and inculcate the habit of asking
questions all the time.
• He has to challenge the theories and rational behind every decision since most
of them are not proven theories or methods and newly created start up ideas.
• However he has to keep a balance in such a manner that he does not kill the
positive idea and still push for the better evaluated model or idea.
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6. CFO has to change his mind set from being a cash protectorto value creator.
• In a start up CFO has a shoe string budget and he has to experienced enough to
imagine and visualize the far reaching effects of his positive and negative
decisions and its impact on the business.
• He has to constantly visualize the impact on the business prospects. Mark my
words as “ business prospects “ .
• Its not what has gone by but what is coming and will be. He needs to be
experienced enough to channelize the cash to most productive resources.
• However there won’t be any precedence’s available to base the decision and it
would be on his own gut feeling and rational he sees along with the
entrepreneur.
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7. ServiceindustrystartupisalwaysachallengeforaCFO
• In a start up world most of the services are based heavily on technology. Start
up product services are always based on the out of box ideas with no parallel
around.
• For a CFO the complete revenue chain ls left to the visualization and perception
of the entrepreneur and his team.
• In such a situation it is the most pragmatic approach for a CFO to understand
the basics of the technology himself by spending good amount of time and
understanding the consumer cycle behind it.
• Only such in depth understanding will help a CFO to grasp the product and
service and take decisions.
• This immensely helps even while dealing with cost decisions. It is not of much
use to see a paper trail of long justification of costs or expenses but has to feel
the rational from within.
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8. StartupCFOhastobeafriendlyguywithsuppliers/vendorsandstake
holdersinthevaluechain
• Start up CFO is always pitched against all odds from within as well as from
outside. CFO can always become a hard nut but it hardly pays in a start up
environment.
• He has to keep mending his conventional norms and rules of the financial rule
book and become a accommodative CFO.
• It is a very tough balancing act since losing cash or losing customer becomes a
million dollar question.
• Entrepreneur never likes to lose the customer even if it goes beyond the
financial norms and CFO has to find a mid way to handle the situation.
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9. QualitiesaCFOshouldhavewithintobecomeasuccessful
entrepreneurCFO.
• He has to be passionate about the business, needs a liking and appetite to
understand the technology by getting his hands dirty.
• He has to be a avid traveller which will help him to interact with customers,
market, vendors, ground team and help him to deepen his understanding. This
helps immensely while taking decisions.
• He needs to wear a marketing manager’s hat and experience one full cycle of
selling the product. This helps in clearing the vision and broaden the
perspective of the CFO.
• It always help to get an experienced and senior CFO on board whether as full
time or as advisor early on for the success of a start up.
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10. www.startupdirexions.com
We at startupdirexions help the start ups to build , grow and create value
for the stakeholders.