AI technology startups benefits when hiring a flexible Chief Financial Officer by Sam McQuade CFO of Panterra Finance
5 min readSam McQuade CFO of Panterra Finance discussing fractional Chief Financial Officer advantages for AI technology these days: Generally, between $10 million and $50 million of revenue is when financial functions gain more complexity. When revenue is scaling up at this fast-moving stage, there is likely a need to establish long-term stability on the finance team. With growing investor relations and capital markets needs, hiring a full-time CFO becomes necessary to handle the responsibility. In later-stage funding events, investor terms may state that a CFO must be hired upon completion of the round. See additional information on Sam McQuade CFO of Panterra Finance.
Improved Investor And Board Relationships: Investors and stakeholder boards expect efficient financial management. . Having a fractional CFO on your team can help strengthen relationships with these key stakeholders and ensure they’re comfortable trusting you to provide financial transparency. Additionally, if your startup is hitting speed bumps, your CFO will find solutions and present them to the board. Expertise In Startup Fundraising: Startup fundraising can be tricky, and one of the biggest challenges startups face. But, a fractional CFO can bring the necessary expertise to make it easier. They can help you build your investor presentation, set financial goals and budgets, and identify potential investors.
Searching to hire your first CFO or wanting only some interim coverage? We offer CFOs for urgent very short term objectives and longer term engagements. Adaptable with clear pricing so you solve the needs of your business and don’t have to get into a potentially bad solution and expensive full time hire. The Fractional CFO and Interim CFO experiences gained by the executives assigned to these positions throughout Panterra Finance offers them a broad perspective of the dynamic changes in international markets. The part time CFO executives at Panterra Finance have access to worldwide teams that are proficient in and have initiated innovative strategies in projects centered on DeFi, Blockchain, Bitcoin, Ethereum, Crypto, Tokenization, ICO, IDO, and STO services.
The chief financial officer (CFOs) holds the top financial position in an organization. They are responsible for tracking cash flow and financial planning and analyzing the company’s financial strengths and weaknesses and proposing strategic directions. CFOs are accountable to both the organization and various regulatory entities and authorities, including the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in publicly held companies. They are well-versed in both generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) and state and federal regulations, such as the Sarbanes-Oxley Act.
Internal factors include sales trends, labor and HR-related costs, the price of raw materials and more, while external data inputs could include opportunity cost for capital, shifts in market demand, emerging competitors and advances in technology. To monitor the external environment, CFOs may rely on government data, analyst firms and business and general media, supplemented with insights gleaned through trade and association memberships and the input of board members, lenders and others. See even more information on Sam McQuade CFO of Panterra Finance.
Friends With Benefits is a decentralized social network. It allows users to connect with each other and share content. It allows the users to collaborate and create new content. Users may connect with individuals who share their interests in other cities through city-specific hubs. The more FWB tokens a user has, the more opportunities to meet and interact with others develop. This is a decentralized autonomous organization (DAO) that uses the power of the blockchain to adjudicate disputes. Kleros is a DAO because it is powered by smart contracts. The Kleros token (PNK) is used to incentive jurors to vote on disputes. When someone wants to submit a dispute to Kleros, they first have to deposit some PNK. If the jury rules in favor of the person who submitted the dispute, then they get their PNK back. If the jury rules against them, then they lose their PNK. Kleros can be used to adjudicate any kind of dispute. It has been used to adjudicate disputes in online markets, freelance platforms, and even in the sharing economy.
Selling your business or looking to buy others? Our experts can lead the deal and make sure that you have a thoughtful ownership transition. We are happy to provide second opinions on valuations as well so you have another perspective and feel better before your close the deal.
Understanding DAO: Now, suppose the same transaction happens on a decentralized network like the Bitcoin network. There is no central entity here. Both parties can interact with each other directly. The product is transferred from A to B, and $100 is transferred from B to A. This transaction is then recorded on a digital ledger which is available to everyone in the network. So there is complete transparency, and everyone knows that the transaction has taken place. This process of recording transactions on a digital ledger is what we call ‘blockchain technology.’ This is not limited to just financial transactions; it can be used to record any kind of transaction. Now that we know what blockchain is, let’s get back to DAO.
To summarize, a fractional CFO brings all the benefits of a full-time resource, but at a fraction the cost. They work an agreed upon amount of time, and on an ongoing basis. The benefits are myriad, and range from improved reporting and decision-making, clearer insight into the business for planning and forecasting, and stronger financial management and controls. Perhaps the biggest benefit however, is how the CEO can transfer the financial and administrative burden to the CFO, and thus free themselves to work on other critical aspects of the business.
Vision, Roadmaps and Business Plans are typically good collaboration processes, however alignment on meaningful strategy is driven by relationships and the CFO cannot over-communicate in this area. In an era of “greenwashing”, the CFO has a real opportunity to lead since success will ultimately be measured with scorecards and transparency. Sharing the Sustainable Story with financial support is the most credible way for stakeholders to see progress.
Smaller companies, incubators and startups could not match the salaries that the full time CFO commanded on the world financial stage. The seeds for the concept of an Interim or Fractional CFO were planted in the mind of Sam McQuade almost 3 decades ago when he first entered the world of International Finance as an Entrepreneur Consultant in Geneva Switzerland after achieving his MBA/MA at European University. During this tumultuous time at the turn of the century on the international financial scene, Mr. McQuade was ahead of his time. He offered as needed financial consultation services for international behemoths the Swiss based Nestle Corporation and the US based medical device corporation Stryker. The focus of his services, which would years later be foundational in the concepts of Panterra was a new model in product development, manufacturing and marketing.
The philosophy of “What got you here won’t get you where you want to go” is ever-present in business once past the initial start-up phase. Businesses launch additional products, open new territories, open additional locations, transact in new currencies, and deal with increasing regulatory requirements. These all require more advanced thinking, tools, and techniques. Many bootstrap startups begin with a part-time bookkeeper and simple systems but later find that they cannot sustain additional business growth and complexity. Systems, resources, processes, and strategies must scale in sophistication as a company grows.