The Backbone: a journey inside finance at a startup - podcast cover

The Backbone: a journey inside finance at a startup

Shubham Datta
The Backbone explores the journey inside finance at high-growth technology startups. Our host Shubham Datta interviews finance leaders at various stages of emerging technology companies to find out their story, key financial and operating metrics they track, how they measure them and what their biggest challenges are. Hear directly from finance leaders at tech startups who are in there day in and day out, serving as the backbone of their company. For more information, check out the www.thebackbone.co
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Episodes

Ep. 37: An Inside Look at Salesforce's $689M Acquisition of Buddy Media & Lessons Learned from Raising $150M+ with Oliver Bell, CFO at Springbot

Oliver Bell , CFO at Springbot On this episode of The Backbone , I chat with Oliver about: His your journey into tech and finance over 15 years ago, with stints in companies like Google to Buddy Media, (acquired by Salesforce) to the SVP of Finance and Operations at Braze, prior to Oliver’s current gig as the CFO at SpringBot. SpringBot — what the company does and what is it all about and why he decided to join the company. The experience leading up to the Buddy Media acquisition and exiting to ...

May 29, 201925 min

Ep. 36: Key Considerations + Metrics for Expanding a Localized Marketplace with Corey Noyek, Finance Manager at Platterz

Corey Noyek , Finance Manager at Platterz On this episode of The Backbone , I chat with Corey about: His transition into tech and what made him decide to join the Platterz, from Deloitte. Platterz — what the company does and what is it all about. What metrics and KPIs are most important to running a localized marketplace across 10 different cities in Canada and the United States and the considerations to assess new market expansion. Learnings from raising Platterz $18M (CAD) Series A round. The ...

May 15, 201921 min

Ep. 35: Getting Dirt Underneath Your Fingers as an Operator with Tom Finn, VP Finance at Solstice

Tom Finn , VP Finance at Solstice On this episode of The Backbone , I chat with Tom about: His 20+ year journey within tech and finance from Ireland. Solstice — what the company does and what is it all about. What it means for an operator to get dirt underneath their fingers. The contrasting priorities of your first 100 days as a finance leader varies from an early stage company, where you are setting up the finance function for the first time to a growth stage company, where you are inheriting ...

May 01, 201923 min

Ep. 34: An Inside Look into Lightspeed's $275M+ IPO & Scaling a Global Organization

Brandon Nussey , Chief Financial Officer at Lightspeed POS At Lightspeed, Brandon oversees Finance, Legal, HR, IT and Payment Operations. He recently led Lightspeed’s $240M (CDN) IPO on the TSX, one of the largest in last 10 years on the TSX. Prior to Lightspeed, Brandon has held many senior finance positions, serving as the CFO of Desire2Learn, Tsavo Media and Descartes Systems Group. Brandon is an operationally minded CFO with experience in public markets, raising capital and M&A. Brandon ...

Apr 17, 201925 min

Ep. 33: Behind the Scenes of SnapTravel's $21m Slam Dunk Series A from Steph Curry with Ankur Bansal, Head of Finance + Business Development

Ankur Bansal , Head of Finance and Business Development at SnapTravel On this episode of The Backbone , I chat with Ankur about: His journey into tech after completing the trifecta of management consulting, investment banking and private equity, as well as being a co-founder with an exit to Groupon. SnapTravel — what the company does and what is it all about. Raising a debt round in conjunction with an equity round. What Steph Curry looks for in his investments. How his diverse background of inv...

Apr 03, 201926 min

Ep. 32: A CFO Must Master Being a Capital Allocator with Sujeet Kini, CFO at Solium Capital

Sujeet Kini , CFO at Solium Capital On this episode of The Backbone , I chat with Sujeet about: His 20+ years of experience in finance within tech serving as the Chief Accounting Officer at OpenText and the Chief Financial Officer at Hootsuite, prior to his current role. Solium Capital — what the company does and what is it all about. Changes in technology that have benefitted the finance function in fulfilling their role as master capital allocators. Learnings as a public company finance leader...

Mar 20, 201938 min

Ep. 31: A Former Banker + Growth Investor Turned Operator on the Consequences of Raising Too Much Capital with Steve Isom, VP Finance at Flywheel

On this episode of The Backbone , I chat with Steve about: His journey into tech with stints in investment banking at Lazard, TD and Jeffries, buyside at North Bridge Growth Equity prior to making the jump to the operating side. Flywheel and what it’s all about. Transitioning between a sell side investment banker, to the buyside investing in growth stage tech companies and then operating. Considerations when determining the amount of capital to raise? (At Cybereason, Steve helped the company rai...

Mar 06, 201934 min

Ep. 30: Customer + Revenue Churn at a SaaS Company with Recurring + Services Revenue w/ Cory Michalyshyn, CFO/COO at Solink

On this episode of The Backbone , I chat with Cory about: His journey into tech from audit at Deloitte to a Controller at Optelian, before making the switch to his current role at Solink. Solink and what its all about. Thinking through both revenue and customer churn at a company that generates revenue based on the number of locations; and if services revenue impacts pricing considerations. The most challenging aspects of Cory’s role going from a full team of 13 to 55 in the last few years. His ...

Feb 20, 201928 min

Ep. 29: The First 100 Days as a Finance Leader of a Venture-Backed Startup w/ Bryn Knox @ BenchSci

On this episode of The Backbone , I chat with Bryn about: His journey into tech including stints at Walt Disney Studios, Century Fox and Wave Financial, prior to his current role at BenchSci. Benchsci and what is it all about. His first 100 days and what he prioritized as a set up the finance function as the first finance hire at BenchSci, after the company had raised $8M Series A round. Effectively fulfilling a finance leader’s role as the “gatekeeper”, while optimizing for ROI. The importance ...

Feb 06, 201927 min

#28: Scaling a Finance Function of a High Growth Company with Strategic & Institutional Investors

featuring Tiffany Hsiao , VP Finance at Rubikloud . On this episode of The Backbone , I chat with Tiffany about: Her time with PwC Vancouver and Melbourne where she worked on mining, real estate, infrastructure and manufacturing clients, prior to taking the plunge into tech at Rubikloud and what that transition was like for her. Rubikloud and what it’s all about. The biggest changes in her role as the company went through various rounds of financing, and the processes/procedures she had to put i...

Jan 23, 201921 min

Ep. 27: Raising a $27M Financing Round & Managing the Ever-Changing Priorities as CFO w/ Dave Pooley

On this episode of The Backbone , I chat with Dave about: His journey into technology with stints at Miovision, Fibernetrics and Kitchener-Waterloo based accelerator, Communitech, prior to joining Axonify. Axonify and what its all about. Serving the enterprise market and what that means what considerations the finance leader has to make, including the size of investment round and choosing the right investor. Managing the ever-changing priorities as the CFO, and how priorities change in a smaller...

Jan 09, 201935 min

Special: Exploring a Revolutionary Revenue Model for Education w/ Austen Allred, CEO @ Lambda School

Joining me on this special episode of the Backbone is Austen Allred, Co-Founder and CEO of Lambda School - a training program specializing in coding, computer science, and web development, with a revolutionary tuition model that asks graduates to pay once they land a successful job. I chat with Austen about: 1. His journey so far and how it was instrumental in the founding of Lambda School in 2016. 2. Lambda School and what it's all about. How Lambda School challenges traditional the university ...

Dec 19, 201819 min

Ep. 26: Raising a $32M Growth Round + the Symbiotic Relationship Between Finance & Operations

On this episode of The Backbone, I chat with Samiksha about: - Her path into technology and comparing working in large companies with fast-growing tech companies. We also chat about her international experiences in Melbourne and Auckland. - Uberflip and what it's all about. - Lessons learned from Uberflip's $32M growth financing round led by Updata Partners and what it means to balance raise process with day-to-day responsibilities as the VP Finance and Ops. - The symbiotic relationship between ...

Dec 05, 201824 min

Ep. 25: Correlating Non-Financial Metrics into Financial Outcomes + More w/ Trisha Egberts @ Figure1

On this episode of The Backbone, I chat with Trisha about: - Her path into health and technology after starting her career at PwC, and moving to CAMH - the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health before jumping into tech and at her current role as Finance Manager at Figure1. - Figure1 and what it's all about. - The most important metrics to track for the largest crowd-sourced medical platform and how to correlate non-financial metrics into financial outcomes. - The challenges of balancing ad-load...

Nov 14, 201821 min

Episode 24: Learnings from Starting and Shutting Down a Startup + Balancing Multiple Product Stakeholders with Mark Jarvie, VP Finance at Drop

On this episode of The Backbone, I chat with Mark about: His journey into tech after being an auditor and investment banker at EY, then moving leading finance at Shomi, prior to joining Drop; What Drop is all about; Balancing Drop's various stakeholders including consumers and brands and how Mark thinks about those that generate revenue for Drop (brands) versus consumers who use Drop for free; The valuable lessons from Shomi as one of its earliest employees on the project to shutting it down; Th...

Oct 30, 201827 min

Episode 23: Learnings from Raising/Exiting $700M+ in Deal Value for Software + Hardware and the Importance of a People-First Approach in Finance with David Brennan, Chief Financial Officer at Ecobee

On this episode of The Backbone, I chat with David about: What he attributes to being a part of many technology success stories and the advice he'd impart on finance leaders. The biggest difference between software and hardware technology companies and how it effects the capital raise or acquisition process? What Ecobee is all about, and how it became a global brand in home automation. About his passion towards people and their role in organizations; why its important in scaling organizations an...

Oct 16, 201830 min

Episode 22: Raising $47M from Strategic vs Traditional VC & the Level of Finance Leader to Hire at Each Stage of a Company's Evolution with Danielle Cerisano, VP Finance at League

On this episode of The Backbone, I chat with Danielle about: Her progression within finance at tech companies such as: BluePrint Software Systems, Goldmoney and others, before joining League; League and what its all about; Raising from a $47M USD financing round from a strategic VC firm vs a traditional venture capital fund; Dealing with the challenges of the various stakeholders (employers, administrators, and plan members) the company's products and services serves; When should a company hire ...

Oct 03, 201826 min

Episode 21: Using Analytics and Predictive Models to Improve Budgeting + the Role of Attribution in Assessing Digital Marketing ROI with Emma Lyndon, CFO at Canopy Labs

On this episode of The Backbone, I chat with Emma about: Her journey into tech with stints at eBay, Kaboose, and Ariad Communications prior to her gig at Canopy Labs; What Canopy Labs is all about; Taking advantage of analytics and predictive models to improve the budgeting process; The role of attribution in assessing digital marketing ROI; The evolving role of the Finance leader within a technology company and it is much more than just making sure the books are in good order.

Sep 12, 201821 min

Episode 20: Considerations for CAC and Churn in a Self-Serve Pricing Model with Matt Dove, VP FInance at Celtx

On this episode of The Backbone, I chat with Matt about: His move into tech after stints in PwC Nova Scotia and Australia; What Celtx is all about; The biggest challenge for you moving from a professional services firm to a growing technology company like Celtx; How to think about customer acquisition and churn at a company with a self service pricing model; The importance of the finance function at a technology company

Aug 01, 201826 min

Episode 19: The Journey of Raising $100M ICO (Initial Coin Offering) as a Venture-Backed Unicorn with Brandon Brunet, Controller at Kik

On this episode of The Backbone, I chat with Brandon about: His move into tech from PwC to joining Kik when it was only 40 employees; What Kik is all about; The process of raising $100M through a Token Distribution Event or Initial Coin Offering (ICO) and launching your own cryptocurrency; What its like to scale the finance function as a company grows from 40 people to 160 The importance of the finance function at a technology company

Jun 27, 201825 min

Episode 18: Bootstrapped to $12M Series A & What it Means for the Finance Function with Jennifer Pollock, Director of Finance & Operations at RateHub

On this episode of The Backbone, I chat with Jennifer about: Her move into tech from EY and concurrently managing various brands at Ratehub; What Ratehub is all about; The learnings from raising a $12M Series A round; The biggest change as a finance leader of venture-funded company The importance of the finance function at a technology company

May 30, 201822 min

Episode 17: The Added Complexities of Hardware Tech Companies & How to Price a New Medical Device with Travis Phung, Director of Finance & Administration at Exact Imaging

On this episode of The Backbone, I chat with Travis about: His unique journey to Exact Imaging from KPMG and how he got started in finance within the technology industry; What Exact Imaging is all about; The challenges of leading finance for a hardware technology company vs software; The pricing considerations for a new MedTech hardware device; The importance of the finance function at a technology company

May 09, 201831 min

Episode 16: Monetizing a Free Product & Navigating Complexities of the Financial Services Space with Brian Wu, Finance Lead at Borrowell

On this episode of The Backbone, I chat with Brian about: His journey to Borrowell from CIBC and how he got started in finance within the software industry; What Borrowell is all about; Monetizing a free product; Managing the complexities of operating in the highly regulated FinTech space; and The importance of the finance function at a technology company

Apr 25, 201821 min

Episode 15: Serving the Restaurant Industry & Breaking Into Tech in a Finance Capacity with Rob Curcio, Director of Finance at TouchBistro

On this episode of The Backbone, I chat with Rob about: His journey to TouchBistro and how he got started in finance within the software industry; What TouchBistro is all about; Unique opportunities and challenges you face being the finance leader of a company serving the restaurant space; Breaking into the tech industry in a finance capacity; and the importance of the finance function at a technology company

Apr 11, 201828 min

Episode 14: Scaling the Finance Function, Fundraising, Making Acquisitions & Operationalizing Metrics with Ryan Magee, CFO at Cority

On this episode of The Backbone, I chat with Ryan about: His journey to Cority and how he got started in finance within the software industry; What Cority (formerly Medgate) is all about; Scaling the finance function as the company grows from 80 employees to 300+ employees; Raising a large round of capital and making 2 acquisitions; Operationalizing metrics within the organization and The importance of the finance function at a technology company.

Mar 28, 201832 min

Episode 13: Serving the SMB Market at a Publicly Traded Software Company vs a High-Growth Startup with Darren Wood, Director of Finance & Operations at Jobber

On this episode of The Backbone, I chat with Darren about: His journey from Intuit to Jobber and how he got started in finance within the software industry; What Jobber is all about; The differences between his experience of working in finance for a large publicly traded company to leading the finance function of high growth venture backed startup; The unique opportunities and challenges he faces being the finance leader of a company serving the SMB space; and The importance of the finance funct...

Jul 12, 201729 min

Leading Finance at NPOs to High Growth Tech & Bootstrapping vs Raising Venture Capital with Anthony Scolaro, VP Finance & Operations at Lucova

On this episode of The Backbone, I chat with Anthony about: His involvement with Lucova and how he became the VP Finance & Operations; What Lucova is all about and what it does; The similarities and differences between running finance at a NPO vs a high growth tech startup; The considerations for bootstrapping vs raising venture capital; and the importance of the finance function at an early stage technology company

Jun 07, 201721 min

Vendor Selection Considerations & Viewing the Finance Function from an Engineering Perspective with Gerti Dervishi, VP Finance at Flybits

On this episode of The Backbone, I chat with Gerti about: His path to Flybits after roles in CIBC, IBM and the government; What Flybits does; Staying flexible with vendors and not placing heavy reliance on any particular vendor; Viewing the finance function from engineering perspective; and The importance of the finance function at an early stage technology company.

Apr 26, 201723 min

The Process of Acquiring Companies as a Startup & Best Practices for Investor Relations with Ryan Levenberg, VP Finance  at  Q4 Systems Inc.

On this episode of The Backbone, I chat with Ryan about: His journey into tech and startups and from his university startup to PwC and now Q4 Inc.; What Q4 Inc is all about; What it’s like to make 3 acquisitions as a startup having raised $25M; Best practices for maintaining strong investor relations; and the importance of the finance function at an early stage technology company

Apr 19, 201724 min
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