When I first started Nerdigital, I'll admit that building a finance team wasn't at the top of my mind. Like many founders, I was focused on growth, clients, and product. Finance felt like something to "get by" on until the company was big enough to justify more structure. That mindset shifted quickly when I realized the financial backbone of a company often determines how far it can scale. My approach to building our finance team has always been about more than just technical skill. Of course, I need people who know the numbers, but what I've found makes the biggest difference is finding people who can translate numbers into a story the rest of the team can understand and act on. Early on, I made a hire who was incredibly strong in accounting but struggled to connect financial data with strategic decisions. It taught me that what I really needed were people who could bridge finance with operations, not just close the books. One strategy that's yielded exceptional results is hiring for adaptability and then investing heavily in cross-functional exposure. For instance, when we brought on a financial analyst, I encouraged them to sit in on marketing and sales meetings—not because they needed to run campaigns, but because they needed to understand how client acquisition costs, churn, and margins played out in practice. That approach helped them surface insights we might have missed otherwise. They weren't just tracking expenses; they were helping us shape smarter business decisions. I've also seen the value of mentorship within the team. Instead of keeping finance siloed, we've made it part of our culture to have junior team members shadow senior leaders, not just on spreadsheets but in strategic conversations. That's how you build a team that isn't just reactive but proactive in guiding the company forward. The biggest lesson for me has been that finance isn't about gatekeeping money—it's about enabling growth. By hiring for curiosity, encouraging cross-functional learning, and developing people to think beyond the ledger, I've been able to build a finance team that doesn't just support Nerdigital, but actively pushes it to grow in smarter, more sustainable ways.
We're small, and we have to be smart about how we handle money. The one strategy that has yielded the best results is a simple rule: every dollar that goes in and out of this company gets looked at by at least two people, with me being the final stop on anything that matters. My approach isn't about fancy software; it's about trust and accountability. My bookkeeper processes everything, but every major invoice, every payroll run, and every big material purchase comes across my desk for my final approval. I look at it, I double-check the numbers, and I make sure it looks right. I know what a box of nails should cost and what a bundle of shingles should run. I'm the one on the ground who knows if the numbers match the reality of the work. This simple rule has paid off in a big way. We've caught countless small errors, whether it's an incorrect charge from a supplier or an issue with an invoice. Those small mistakes add up, and catching them has saved us a ton of money over the years. It also keeps me personally connected to the financial health of the business. I know exactly where our money is going and how profitable each job is, every single week. My advice to any business owner is this: stop thinking about your finances as a department you can hand off completely. The best "talent development strategy" is to develop your own knowledge. You have to be the one who understands your numbers. Your company's money is its lifeblood, and you can't afford to let it flow without you paying attention.
One strategy that has worked very well for me in the past and delivered exceptional results has been hiring professionals for trajectory not necessarily tenure, and pairing professionals with structured mentorship and ownership tracks. Instead of overvaluing professionals that have years of experience, I tend to look for individuals with strong foundational skills that exhibit cross-functional thinking, intellectual curiosity, and have the ability to think and thrive in uncertain situations. Once the professionals are hired, I strongly encourage them to become acclimated with the strategic part of the business quickly, i.e. investor discussions, due diligence discussions, while providing them with clearly defined objectives and assigning them ownership of tasks. I found that owning tasks and understanding the critical aspects of the business are critical to building successful leaders.
For me, building a finance team starts with making sure they really understand the unique needs of healthcare operations. I once paired a new finance hire with one of our clinical leads, and it completely changed how they approached budgeting because they saw the real-world impact of their numbers. My take: give finance exposure to cross-functional perspectivesit speeds up trust and alignment, while also sharpening their ability to anticipate what the organization truly needs.
One strategy that worked for me has been hiring finance professionals who already understand the language of franchising, especially unit economics and recurring revenue models. During Dirty Dough's rapid expansion, bringing in someone who could immediately analyze royalty streams and store-level profitability saved us months of back-and-forth. Generally speaking, you're in good shape with finance hires if they can think like operators, not just number crunchers.
When I started building our finance team at Magic Hour, I leaned on my background in data science from Meta and paired data-driven thinkers with more traditional accountants. In practice, this mix let us forecast revenue for our subscription model with real accuracy, which helped us grow confidently after YC. If you'd told me five years ago that a finance team could benefit as much from Python scripts as from Excel, I'd have laughednow it's gospel.
My finance team is small, but their job is huge. Their job isn't just about money; it's about dealing with families who are in a crisis. When a family is trying to get their loved one into treatment, the last thing they need is a cold conversation about insurance. I knew I had to find a way to build a finance team that understood the emotional weight of their job. The most effective thing we've done is to look for people with a background in social work or healthcare, even if they don't have a traditional finance background. I can teach someone how to file an insurance claim, but I can't teach them how to have empathy for a parent who is scared and hurting. So we hire for heart first, and then we train for the skills. The results have been incredible. My finance team is able to help families navigate the complex insurance process with a level of compassion that has completely changed the client experience. It has reduced so much stress for our clients and their families, which has made our business more effective as a whole. My advice is simple: look for the heart first. The most valuable skill for my finance team is empathy, and that's not something you can teach in a classroom. It's a leader's job to hire for heart first, and then train for the skills.
One of our clients participates in a post-secondary co-op program, where they are assigned finance students who are mandated to have tangible experience prior to graduation. They apply their knowledge to internal operations and often require minimal additional training in order to transition to a paid role. This is especially true since we use specialized SaaS products, which facilitate productivity but come with a learning curve. Hiring students streamlines our hiring and onboarding process.
I've always looked at building a finance team the same way we help our clients build their project teams: we start with the foundation, then add the right specialists as needs grow. In my mind, that foundation is someone who understands both the numbers and the unique rhythms of their industry. In construction or manufacturing, things like cash flow, job costing, and compliance are very different than in other sectors, so I prioritize candidates who can connect financial insight directly to operational reality. I focus heavily on cross-training when developing finance team members. I don't want a siloed department where one person only knows accounts payable and someone else only knows payroll. Instead, I make sure everyone has visibility into the full cycle so they can step in where needed. This creates resilience and reduces risk. One hiring strategy that's worked quite well is what I call "talent anchoring." Instead of starting with generic job descriptions, I identify one standout hire who brings both technical skill and leadership potential. Then, I build the rest of the team around them. That anchor employee sets the tone and helps to mentor others. This approach has consistently given us stronger cohesion and higher output than trying to fill roles in isolation.
Building a finance team in e-commerce? Man, this took me way too long to figure out. Early on, I kept hiring traditional accountants who'd panic at our inventory fluctuations and couldn't grasp why our cash flow looked so weird with all the payment processor delays. Game changer was hiring finance people from other e-commerce companies - even if they were more junior. They just... got it. Understood why we'd bulk order before Chinese New Year, why our margins shifted seasonally, all that stuff. Best hiring strategy though? I started having candidates analyze one of our actual P&Ls during interviews. Not to test their math, but to see how they think. One candidate spotted an issue with our shipping costs that we'd missed for months. Hired her on the spot. She's now our CFO. The key is finding people who understand that e-commerce finance is its own beast.
My "finance team" is my accountant. The way I "build and develop" him is by finding a good one and treating him like a partner, not just a service provider. My approach to finding him was a simple one. I didn't look for a big, corporate firm. I looked for a bloke who understood the reality of running a small business. I asked around and found a guy who had his own small business. The "hiring strategy" was about finding a partner, not a service provider. I knew that a bloke who had his own small business would understand my challenges and would be on my side. My "talent development" is a simple, human one. I trust my accountant to do his job, but I also make sure he understands my business. I share my goals with him, and I ask for his advice on everything from buying a new van to hiring a new bloke. This is my "talent development" strategy. I'm helping him to understand my business so that he can give me better advice. He's not just a number cruncher; he's a partner who is invested in my success. The impact has been on my business's growth and my peace of mind. By having a great accountant, I'm able to focus on what I do best: the electrical work. He's the one who tells me about new ways to save on taxes, and he's the one who helps me with the financial planning. The "results" are a more profitable business and a lot less stress. My advice is simple: don't try to be an expert at everything. For a small business, the best "finance team" is a professional you can trust. Find a good accountant and treat him like a partner. That's the most effective way to "build and develop your finance team."
When I think about building a finance team, I don't start with titles or rigid structures, I start with the kinds of problems we need to solve. At spectup, especially in the early days, we didn't have the luxury of a fully staffed department, so I looked for people who were curious, adaptable, and comfortable wearing multiple hats. One hiring strategy that worked exceptionally well was bringing in talent from outside the traditional finance track, people with startup experience or consulting backgrounds who could think commercially, not just crunch numbers. They often asked sharper questions like, "How does this forecast help us in an investor conversation?" rather than just focusing on reconciliation. For development, I've leaned on giving ownership early. I once handed a relatively junior hire responsibility for preparing financial models for a client's seed round. I stayed close as a guide, but let them own the process. Not only did they grow quickly, but the client saw real confidence and clarity in the work. My advice: hire for mindset and adaptability over pure technical perfection, then create opportunities where people can stretch into responsibility sooner than they'd expect. It builds loyalty, capability, and a finance team that feels like a strategic partner, not a back-office function.
I approach building and developing my finance team with the mindset that technical skills can be taught, but curiosity and adaptability are non-negotiable. In every hire, I look for people who aren't just comfortable with numbers but who also ask "why" behind the numbers. That trait has helped us spot trends and risks others might overlook. One strategy that's yielded exceptional results is pairing new hires with cross-functional mentors outside of finance. For example, I had an analyst shadow someone in operations for their first month, which gave them context on how financial decisions ripple through the business. Not only did this accelerate their learning, but it also built stronger collaboration across departments. The payoff has been clear: our team not only delivers accurate reports but also adds strategic insights that influence decision-making. That development approach has created a group of finance professionals who see themselves as business partners, not just number crunchers.
When building a finance team, I focus less on finding people who can check every technical box on day one and more on hiring for adaptability and curiosity. Finance is no longer just about reporting the numbers—it's about interpreting them, spotting opportunities, and advising on strategy. That requires people who are comfortable learning, collaborating, and thinking beyond their immediate role. One strategy that's yielded exceptional results is hiring candidates with strong analytical foundations—even if they come from slightly unconventional backgrounds—and then investing in structured development through mentorship and cross-functional exposure. For example, pairing a new hire with both a senior finance leader and someone in operations gives them a dual lens: they learn technical rigor and also see how financial insights drive real business decisions. This approach has paid off because it accelerates growth and builds loyalty. People feel challenged but supported, and the business gains team members who are not only skilled in financial discipline but also fluent in the language of the broader organization. In practice, I've seen this turn into finance professionals who don't just produce reports—they walk into leadership meetings with ideas on improving margins, streamlining processes, or mitigating risks. That shift changes the team's role from back-office to strategic partner. The lesson for me is that technical skills are teachable, but mindset and adaptability are harder to train. If you hire for potential and then give people the runway to grow, you end up with a finance team that's not only accurate but also influential in shaping the company's future.
My approach to building and developing a finance team is rooted in aligning talent with both technical expertise and strategic thinking. Beyond hiring for accounting or analytical skills, I prioritize individuals who demonstrate curiosity, problem-solving ability, and a collaborative mindset, because finance does not operate in a vacuum—it drives decisions across the entire organization. One strategy that has consistently yielded exceptional results is structured mentorship paired with rotational exposure across different business functions. By allowing team members to rotate through operations, treasury, and strategy roles while being mentored by senior leaders, they develop a broader understanding of the business and a stronger ability to provide actionable insights rather than just reports. The outcome is a finance team that is not only highly skilled in numbers but also strategically minded, proactive, and capable of influencing business decisions at every level.
At Titan Funding, I've found one strategy that stands outcross-functional rotations across treasury, AP automation, and risk management. Giving hires a chance to walk through each part of the finance process builds versatility and awareness of how everything connects. A junior hire who rotated through treasury ended up proposing a better FX hedging approach because she understood where the costs were hitting us most. I keep cross-functional exposure in my back pocket for when inevitable blind spots show up. In the end, it creates finance professionals who don't just execute but also anticipate, and that's incredibly valuable in real estate lending.
Finance is often seen as a numbers driven field but I believe it is people driven. The best teams are built by understanding how human behavior affects financial outcomes. This belief guides how I hire and develop talent. I focus on creating an environment where finance professionals can grow beyond their immediate responsibilities. By giving them opportunities to engage in broader business discussions they develop a deeper understanding of how the company operates. This approach helps them see the bigger picture and build confidence in their decision-making abilities. One particularly effective strategy is involving finance professionals in conversations about product, customer success and overall strategy. By being part of these discussions they learn business dynamics early and gain insights that accelerate their leadership growth. Over time, I have watched these individuals transform into trusted advisors who drive real impact at the highest level. This approach has consistently built strong, confident and influential finance teams.
Finance is often seen as a numbers driven field but I believe it is people driven. The best teams are built by understanding how human behavior affects financial outcomes. This belief guides how I hire and develop talent. I focus on creating an environment where finance professionals can grow beyond their immediate responsibilities. By giving them opportunities to engage in broader business discussions they develop a deeper understanding of how the company operates. This approach helps them see the bigger picture and build confidence in their decision-making abilities. One particularly effective strategy is involving finance professionals in conversations about product, customer success and overall strategy. By being part of these discussions they learn business dynamics early and gain insights that accelerate their leadership growth. Over time, I have watched these individuals transform into trusted advisors who drive real impact at the highest level. This approach has consistently built strong, confident and influential finance teams.
As a CEO, I've found that the best finance hires are the ones who can translate numbers into insights we can act on. It's wild how quickly cash-flow headaches calm down once someone builds reporting that speaks in plain language to the leadership team. One strategy that works repeatedly is pairing newer finance staff with senior operations leaders, so they learn how numbers affect decisions outside of spreadsheets.
Trade Finance & Letter of Credit Specialist at Inco-Terms – Trade Finance Insights
Answered 7 months ago
1. Hire Storytellers, Not Just Accountants Look for finance professionals who combine technical depth with business storytelling. They turn complex data into actionable narratives, building credibility with CEOs, boards, and frontline teams. 2. Rotate Talent Across the Business High-potential finance staff spend time in operations, supply chain, or sales. Returning to finance, they're business thinkers who connect the dots and challenge assumptions. 3. Build a Tech-First Mindset Embed automation, analytics, and AI literacy into the team. Pair finance analysts with data engineers to create "finance technologists" who spot opportunities before IT does. 4. Redefine Career Paths Around Influence Design growth around impact, not titles: Insight Leaders: drive decisions with analysis Risk Stewards: safeguard integrity Value Builders: design future-focused models 5. Strategic Immersion Projects Embed staff in C-suite-level initiatives—M&A, global expansion, ESG, digital transformation. Side-by-side exposure accelerates judgment, political awareness, and storytelling far faster than classroom training. 6. Anticipate Trends and Opportunities Use predictive analytics and strategic foresight to identify risks, seize opportunities, and provide proactive guidance—making finance a true business driver. The Outcome: A finance team that advises, innovates, and builds enterprise value—future-ready, tech-savvy, and strategically influential.