How does financial work at small tech companies differ from jobs at tech giants like Google, Twitter, eBay? How will CFO priorities be changed? What adjustments do CFOs need?
At the spring CFO leadership conference held in the first week of June, the two CFOs (Slice Lauren St. Clair (pictured above) and Philo Juliana Hayes) peers into the audience how they were carried out in CFO work after a financial mission at the big-name technology organization.
Stclair is the former CFO of StubHub International and Ebay North America. She published Nerdwallet in 2021 and moved to Pizza Tech Company Slice two months ago. Hayes became CFO of Streaming Company Philo in 2023, spending nearly six years at Google and ten years on Twitter before making his final job as SVP in Sales and Corporate Finance.
Both women feel that jumping to a new organization is suitable for them.
After revealing Nerdwallet, Stclair stayed for three years. She decided, “After wanting to create something new again, I left. With a new team, with a new team, with a new team set, with a new business leader, learn from them.” Consumers' travelling from the e-commerce marketplace business was also motivated. “I thought vertical Saas would be the next step,” she said.
Similarly, Hayes wanted to be a company that could help her grow. “What I like about it is, 'I know everyone, and I know what each person is doing, it's just fun and different.”
What can CFOs take away from the Stclair and Hayes experiences?
Please ask first
Immediately launch an agenda on finances, quickly evaluate your operations, and “it looks bad,” “it's too late,” or “it makes no sense” to your team is not a wise approach. “We learned from Nerdwallet that listening, observing and asking a lot of questions to try and figure out why we do it is a more effective approach,” Stclair said. Stclair has adopted that style for the slices. Two and a half months later, she is beginning to develop her own ideas and opinions. But “I feel like I have to take care of my business and my team first before I can push anywhere else in the organization,” she said.
be patient
Hayes worked with the global teams at Twitter and Google, so she got used to funding people from other parts of the world working on issues, or answering any of her 6pm Slack requests while she was sleeping. “You woke up and it's over,” Hayes said. Philo has teams on the East and West Coast, but not overseas, so she had to adjust. “I might send something to the ether [late in the day]but no one is going to see it” or do nothing about it overnight. Hayes had to learn to be patient. [what I sent them]She said.
Decide your priorities
You have limited resources and people. In private companies, it is essential to look ahead and pave the way for them to “think about what's coming next,” rather than constantly responding. To do that, Stclair said there is a need to prioritize. “What do you have to do? What's good to do and what's all [busywork] We've always done it so did we come here? ” She further said, “What can we stop doing? What is the consequence of not doing this?” Stclair gives her team members permission to say no to certain activities that do not add value or have a significant impact.
Take advantage of the benefits
One of the attractions of being a small company like Philo is its speed of execution. “If you have five product people and ten engineers, they can do something together pretty quickly… it's easy to make a decision or change something.” Some of Philo's early employees were very close to CFOs and when the company grew, they still went directly to him for the decision, avoiding departments like HR. How can you deal with that problem without slowing down your organization? Phillo brought in executive coaches to help the team make decisions, Hayes said.
Focus on profitability
“We're in an age where we need to be profitable,” Hayes says. Philo's secret sauce is efficiency. It has far less overhead than peers. Still, contrary to the world's Netflixes, it is selective about the innovations it funds, and it needs to be carefully tested and tracked. One new forecasting method Hayes tried this year was to start forecasting at a profit margin that the company is trying to hit and work in the opposite direction, rather than starting with top-line revenue. “It was a fun thought exercise,” Hayes said.
Please give me advice
On Stclair's last day on eBay, she received the text “Welcome to eBay CFO Alumni Network.” “I didn't even know it existed, but former manager, mentor, you named it and all helped me,” Stclair said.
