Starting part-time to 20x revenue in two years

About this episode

You made 100,000 dollars profit last year, so where is it? That's how Lakun Agrawal started his finance journey.He is now the CFO of Hello Clever, an Australian fintech building real time payments across the world.He joined when the business had about 40 people, as a fractional CFO 2 or 3 days a week, because the founder knew she needed his skillset before she could afford it full time.Within about 4 months he was full time. 2 and a half years on, the team has grown to over 110, revenue is up 20x and there are offices in Australia, Vietnam, Singapore, Japan and New York.But he got there the long way. Lakun spent more than 20 years in big multinationals, through telco booms and busts and a company bankruptcy on his first day in Hong Kong.Then working in a number of CFO roles with WPP, before making the jump to startup land.Early on, when he was completing the accounts for his dad's business. His dad saw a $100,000 profit and asked, “So where is it?”That confusion between profit and cash is still what he translates for founders today. But it taught him the importance of communicating complexity in a simple way.If you’re a finance leader wondering whether fractional can turn into something bigger, this episode is a great place to start!Highlights:• Hear how he helped Hello Clever grow revenue 20 times in two years, from 40 people to 110 across five countries• Understand why he joined as a fractional CFO 2 days a week, and how that scaled to full-time in about 4 months• Get the cash versus profit lesson his dad taught him with a single question, so where is it• Learn why translating the numbers into plain English is the finance skill that matters most to founders• Hear the Hong Kong story of walking into a new job the morning his company filed for bankruptcy• Explore the real difference between an FD and a CFO, and why it comes down to your time• Find out how he helps founders weigh debt against equity, and why it is ultimately their call• See why even large companies get caught out ignoring cash flowTom Hunter, Story Recruitment - first-CFO and first-finance-hire search for Australian tech, fintech and deeptech startups. Host of the CFO Track Podcast. Storyrecruitment.com.au