Podcasts about scalefactor

In this first episode of Season 2, Sasha Orloff is joined by Matt Tait, CEO of Decimal, to discuss the rise of AI in accounting, Decimal's recent acquisition of KPMG Spark, and their new strategic partnership with Puzzle. Matt also covers his journey building Decimal, the balance of human expertise in a tech-driven world, and the industry's future. --

Increase Profits While Working Less with Kyle Smith   This episode features a conversation with Kyle Smith, CPA, co-founder of Strata Cloud Accountants. With a unique journey from professional poker to strategic financial leadership, Kyle brings a wealth of insights into building scalable, profitable businesses.   In this episode, you will learn: Decision-Making Through Numbers: Kyle's journey from poker to finance shows the importance of probabilities and financial forecasting in driving business success. Lessons from Onboarding Small Businesses: Insights from Kyle's time at ScaleFactor, where he worked with a high volume of businesses and observed patterns of success and failure. The Evolution of Accounting Services: How Kyle and his partners created Strata Cloud Accountants to prioritize client service and small business empowerment. Profit First Applications: How Kyle integrates Profit First principles to improve financial clarity and profitability for clients.   Key Takeaways:  Align Goals with Financial Strategy: Understand how personal and company objectives can align to build a sustainable, fulfilling business. Probability-Based Decision Making: Use scenario analysis and financial forecasts to inform strategic decisions. Build Scalable Systems: Invest in systems and processes that grow with your business while keeping operations efficient. Empower Small Business Owners: Tailored accounting and CFO services can unlock new levels of profitability and ease operational burdens.   About Kyle Smith: Kyle Smith, CPA, co-founder of Strata Cloud Accountants, transitioned from professional poker to becoming a financial leader. His early career included roles in consumer packaged goods and hospitality, giving him diverse experience. Kyle honed his expertise during his time at ScaleFactor, onboarding dozens of small businesses weekly and learning industry-wide best practices. Since 2020, Kyle has focused on empowering small businesses with high-touch financial services tailored to their unique needs​.   Conclusion: In today's episode, Kyle Smith exemplifies how combining innovative strategies with financial principles like Profit First can lead to impactful results. Whether you're refining your business systems, aligning personal and professional goals, or learning how to scale effectively, there's a wealth of actionable insights to implement.   Links: https://stratacloudaccountants.com/pam LinkedIn: in/Kyle-Smith-CPA LinkedIn in/Strata-Cloud-Accountants Facebook:  /StrataCloudAccountants Instagram @StrataCloudAccountants   Watch the full episode on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@profitanswerman Sign up to be notified when the next cohort of the Profit First Experience Course is available! Profit First Toolkit: https://lp.profitcomesfirst.com/landing-page-page  Relay Bank (affiliate link): https://relayfi.com/?referralcode=profitcomesfirst Profit Answer Man Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/profitanswerman/ My podcast about living a richer more meaningful life: http://richersoul.com/ Music provided by Junan from Junan Podcast Any financial advice is for educational purposes only and you should consult with an expert for your specific needs. #profitfirst

This show is sponsored by Leopard Solutions Legal Intelligence Suite of products, Firmscape, and Leopard BI. Push ahead of the pack with the power of Leopard. For a free demo, visit this link: https://www.leopardsolutions.com/index.php/request-a-demo/ Are you ready to elevate your recruiting career? The Recruiting Mastermind is here to help you: www.theplacementclub.com ---------------------------------------- Kyle Smith, CPA, a finance graduate from UT McCombs School of Business, is deeply committed to helping small and medium-sized businesses thrive. He began his career in Austin, gaining experience as an accountant and Controller for various bar and restaurant groups. His passion for guiding SMBs led him to earn his CPA and specialize in cost management accounting as Director of Finance at Celis Brewery. Kyle's journey continued at Scalefactor, a software development company, where he advised clients across various industries. His ultimate aspiration was realized when he became a co-partner at Strata Cloud Accountants. Kyle specializes in working with business owners to align personal and company goals and help teach businesses the financial acumen needed to hold themselves accountable to those goals. All with the mission to help businesses and business owners be more profitable. Links: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kyle-smith-cpa-9582038a/ stratacloudaccountants.com/  kyle@stratacloudaccountants.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Kyle Smith, CPA, is a dedicated champion of small and medium-sized businesses. Beginning his career in Austin, he honed his skills as an accountant and Controller for various bar and restaurant groups. Kyle's journey continued at Scalefactor, where he advised clients across diverse industries. His ultimate ambition was fulfilled when he became a co-partner at Strata Cloud Accountants, where he provides top-tier advisory and CFO services. Strata Cloud Accountants was founded on shared principles, focusing on family and freedom to grant financial independence to clients and foster a healthy work-life-family balance for their team. What problem do we solve? This podcast tackles critical financial challenges faced by entrepreneurs, such as financial mismanagement and lack of financial literacy. Kyle simplifies complex financial concepts, offers tax optimization strategies, and emphasizes the importance of strategic planning. By addressing these issues, he empowers business owners to take control of their finances and adapt to an ever-changing economic landscape, ensuring long-term success. Small Business Answer Man Show Notes: Today, we dive into essential strategies for mastering your business finances as we approach 2025. Understanding your finances is crucial for long-term success, and we discuss the fundamentals to get you started. We identify common financial pitfalls and the signs of mismanagement that can threaten your business's stability. Boost your financial literacy as we simplify complex concepts and share valuable resources to enhance your knowledge. Discover effective tax optimization strategies that can help you minimize liabilities and maximize deductions. We guide you in creating a strategic financial roadmap for 2025, leveraging various tools and resources for effective planning. Key takeaways recap the main points discussed, providing actionable steps to improve your financial health. Finally, we encourage listeners to take charge of their finances and prepare for a successful year ahead. Kyle Smith Advice for Leaders: Start by assessing your current financial situation: review income, expenses, and cash flow to identify areas for improvement. Establish a realistic budget that aligns with your business goals, ensuring you account for both fixed and variable costs. Regularly track and analyze your financial performance to spot trends and make informed decisions. Invest in accounting software or hire a professional to maintain accurate financial records and streamline processes. Prioritize building an emergency fund to cover unexpected expenses and maintain financial stability. Take advantage of tax planning opportunities by staying informed about potential deductions and credits applicable to your business. Consider diversifying your revenue streams to reduce reliance on a single source of income and enhance financial resilience. Engage in continuous learning about financial management through books, courses, and industry seminars to improve your skills. Set measurable financial goals and regularly review them to stay accountable and make adjustments as needed. Collaborate with financial advisors or mentors to gain insights and guidance tailored to your specific business needs. Connect with Kyle Smith: Website LinkedIn Clarity Navigator Discovery Session – Sign Up HERE Learn more about Gary's Mastermind group at goascend.biz/the-mastermind-solution  

SEASON: 4 EPISODE: 4Episode Overview:Get ready to unlock the secrets to financial empowerment and work-life harmony with my guest, Kyle Smith. As a financial expert committed to empowering small and medium-sized businesses, Kyle brings unparalleled transparency and guidance to the table. His advocacy for fostering a healthy work-life balance within teams while emphasizing the critical role of financial controls in both professional and personal spheres is nothing short of inspiring. Today, we delve into the art of achieving financial stability and harmonizing work and life, where invaluable insights and game-changing strategies await. Get ready to supercharge your financial acumen and nurture a harmonious work-life dynamic as we embark on this transformative journey with my guest, Kyle Smith. Guest Bio: Kyle Smith, CPA, a finance graduate from UT McCombs School of Business, is deeply committed to helping small and medium-sized businesses thrive. He began his career in Austin, gaining experience as an accountant and Controller for various bar and restaurant groups. His passion for guiding SMBs led him to earn his CPA and specialize in cost management accounting as Director of Finance at Celis Brewery.Kyle's journey continued at Scalefactor, a software development company, where he advised clients across various industries. His ultimate aspiration was realized when he became a co-partner at Strata Cloud Accountants. Kyle specializes in working with business owners to align personal and company goals and help teach businesses the financial acumen needed to hold themselves accountable to those goals. All with the mission to help businesses and business owners be more profitable.Strata Cloud Accountants was born from a collective vision among friends who shared work philosophies and principles. Their values center around family and freedom, aiming to provide clients with financial freedom and their team with a strong work-life-family balance.Resource Links:Website: https://stratacloudaccountants.com/Product Link: https://stratacloudaccountants.com/welcome-becoming-preferred-listeners/Insight Gold Timestamps:02:50 I had a secret aspiration to be a professional poker player05:01 We really had the mission of aligning people's goals with the goals of the business06:28 A big thing for people is doing too much too fast07:38 If I just spend 30 minutes a month on one area of the business10:02 Mike Tyson said, you have a plan until you get punched in the face11:20 It takes passion14:23 What are the common pitfalls businesses encounter?16:36 And that timing is super, super tough19:34 Which brings us to KPIs22:22 Dennis Rodman played for the Chicago Bulls25:08 Should we have more than one account?27:24 Are you correctly priced?29:13 A lot of people don't know the leverage that they have30:38 When's the time to go into debt? Connect Socially:LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kyle-smith-cpa-9582038a/Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/stratacloudaccountantsInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/stratacloudaccountants/Email:

With me today is Kyle Smith, CPA, a dynamic finance expert on a mission to empower small and medium-sized businesses. From his early days navigating Austin's bustling financial scene to his pivotal role as Director of Finance at Celis Brewery, Kyle's journey is one of passion and dedication. Discover how Kyle's expertise evolved at Scalefactor, where he advised clients across diverse industries, and culminated in co-founding Strata Cloud Accountants. Join us for a dynamic conversation as Kyle shares his secrets for aligning personal and company goals, equipping businesses with the financial savvy needed to thrive in today's competitive landscape. Learn firsthand about the founding principles behind Strata Cloud Accountants, where values of family and freedom drive their mission to provide clients with financial liberation. Don't miss this opportunity to gain insights from a visionary leader committed to helping businesses and business owners achieve greater profitability. Tune in and be inspired by Kyle Smith's remarkable journey! Connect with Kyle Smith on his website: https://stratacloudaccountants.com/  On LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kyle-smith-cpa-9582038a/  = = = = = Thank you for supporting the show! Your 5-star rating and review makes a difference -- it's easy to leave one and it helps spread the word about the podcast! = = = = = My latest book, The Far Unlit Unknown -- is available everywhere books are sold including Audible! Get your copy and learn more about it here Are we connected yet on social?  @maryloukayser (Instagram) https://www.linkedin.com/in/mlkayser/ (LinkedIn)

In this episode, Kyle Smith delves into the intricate world of business finance, unveiling the transformative power of simplicity in tackling financial challenges. From a lime shortage reshaping a restaurant group's destiny to actionable advice for business owners on measuring and analyzing financial health, Kyle shares real-world scenarios highlighting the significance of net income, gross profit percentage, and net cash flow. Explore the practicality of Kyle's 5 Must-Measure KPIs—Revenue, Gross Profit %, Net Income, Net Income %, and Net Cashflow—applicable to businesses of all sizes. Don't miss out on the crucial insights and real-world examples that Kyle shares, demonstrating how measuring these KPIs can drive business pivots and lead to more significant profits.   More about Kyle:  Kyle Smith, CPA, a finance graduate from UT McCombs School of Business, is deeply committed to helping small and medium-sized businesses thrive. He began his career in Austin, gaining experience as an accountant and Controller for various bar and restaurant groups. His passion for guiding SMBs led him to earn his CPA and specialize in cost management accounting as Director of Finance at Celis Brewery. Kyle's journey continued at Scalefactor, a software development company, where he advised clients across various industries. His ultimate aspiration was realized when he became a co-partner at Strata Cloud Accountants. Kyle specializes in working with business owners to align personal and company goals and help teach businesses the financial acumen needed to hold themselves accountable to those goals. All with the mission to help businesses and business owners be more profitable.   Connect with Kyle:  https://stratacloudaccountants.com/choreography   ------------------------------------------------------------------ Want more Business Choreography?  Check out… Business Choreography Website  Join The Business Choreography Group  Text Us "CHOREO NOW" To Get Started: 385-442-7188   Need the tech to build your Business Choreography? Check out.... ChoreoSuite

Important questions to ask about your customers or audience, defining your H1, and why bloggers may want to sell products with Chad Cannon. ----- Welcome to episode 395 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork interviews Chad Cannon to chat about strategically growing your business through understanding your audience and selling products. Scaling Your Business (and Your Revenue) This episode is all about the importance in having a deep understanding of what your business does and how it helps your audience in order to scale and grow. Chad Cannon is from ScaleFactor, a company focused on building and scaling businesses through their 7 Factors of Scale. You'll learn about three of the seven factors in this episode: Find Your Buyer, Align Your Brand, and Create Products. Our hope is that you'll be able to think through new ways to monetize as you're listening to this interview! In this episode, you'll learn: How he got his start helping businesses grow and scale What the “Law of Thirds” means Why founders may want to replace themselves What he took away from helping other businesses and applied to his own business Important questions to ask about your customers or audience How to define your H1 How to find a buyer or an audience Why product is important for food bloggers Why sponsors will appreciate your understanding of your brand and audience What the product creation process looks like How you can learn more from and work with Chad Resources: Platform University Full Focus Full Focus Planner Business Accelerator ScaleFactor Kolbe Assessments Food Blogger Pro's Coaching Calls ScaleFactor Podcast 1000 True Fans Duluth 7 Factors of Scale ----- This episode is sponsored by Clariti. Learn how you can organize your blog content for maximum growth by going to clariti.com/food. If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, email us at podcast@foodbloggerpro.com. Learn more about joining the Food Blogger Pro community at foodbloggerpro.com/membership.

Episode 66 of The Hitstreak, a podcast where we talk about anything and everything!  This week we're joined by Chad Cannon, the Co-Founder of ScaleFactor! Tune in as we talk about the 7 things that will scale your business, and more!  Let us know in the comments what YOU want to hear about next!  About our Guest:  Chad Cannon has over fifteen years of experience helping thought leaders scale their businesses. As the VP of Marketing at Thomas Nelson Publishers, he led over thirty New York Times bestselling campaigns. From there, he launched a marketing agency focused on helping authors and brands focus on building a business around their content.  Most recently, he helped Michael Hyatt & Co. scale from sub-7-figures into a mid-8-figure business in six years. He was instrumental in the explosive growth of the business that involved building out multiple 8-figure product lines in the business that included online courses, an e-commerce product, and business coaching in his roles as CMO and CSO.  Through growing BusinessAccelerator to over 8-figures in annual revenue, Chad helped thousands of million-dollar-plus businesses across hundreds of industries grow and scale. Over the past five years doing this, he learned there is a specific roadmap to scale and has become obsessed with helping others scale.  Chad lives in Nashville, TN with his wife Julie, daughter Crew, and mini Australian Shepherd Rizzo.  Follow and contact: Instagram: @ccannon21 @scalefactorco  scale-factor.co  7factorsofscale.com   'The Hitstreak' Sponsored by RAC Financial Intro Produced by Jim McCarthy Show Music Produced by Charles Henry & Ace Young Special Thanks to the Hitlab Creative Team

Hello everyone and welcome to another incredible episode of the Talk2Rami "Founder's Series" Podcast, where I interview movers and shakers, as to why they do what it is exactly they do! In today's episode, I had the pleasure of sitting down with Author and Managing Director of Techstars Austin, Amos Schwartzfarb! Amos Schwartzfarb has been growing businesses for twenty-five years and investing in startups for the past ten. Since 1997, he's helped build companies that sold to Yahoo!, R.H. Donnelly, The Home Depot, plus over sixty more as Managing Director of Techstars Austin. He's also the bestselling author of Sell More Faster, which is the ultimate guide for building and scaling any startup sales organization, and Levers, The Framework for Building Repeatability into Your Business. Now after over 70 seed stage investments including Scalefactor, Chowbotics, Storyfit, VanRobotics, Skipper, Helpberbees, Convey, Docstation and Allstacks, Amos has become one of the more active early stage investors, via Techstars Austin in all of Texas.

Rose Zhong Punkunus has had an eclectic career over the years: software developer in finance, pursuing a PhD in economics, founding a girls' entrepreneurial non-profit, and data scientist for some major Silicon Valley companies. The one thing that has guided her decision-making: paying attention to that feeling that “something” could work better. But how does Rose reconcile that “feeling” with her data-driven training? We discuss that and more in this episode of Educative Sessions. Watch the YouTube HERE: https://youtu.be/4EjXC6qm5pc ABOUT OUR GUEST   Rose Punkunus is the Founder and CEO of Sudozi, a software platform to help finance teams collaborate with business partners on procurement and budgets. Previously Rose was CFO at ScaleFactor, VP Finance at Fundbox, and Regional CFO for the US & Canada business at Uber. Rose has an undergraduate degree in Economics from MIT and MBA from UCLA Anderson. Don't forget to subscribe to Educative Sessions on YouTube! ►► https://www.youtube.com/c/EducativeSessions   ABOUT EDUCATIVE   Educative (educative.io) provides interactive and adaptive courses for software developers. Whether it's beginning to learn to code, grokking the next interview, or brushing up on frontend coding, data science, or cybersecurity, Educative is changing how developers continue their education. Stay relevant through our pre-configured learning environments that adapt to match a developer's skill level. Educative provides the best author platform for instructors to create interactive and adaptive content in only a few clicks.   More Videos from Educative Sessions: https://www.youtube.com/c/EducativeSessions/   Episode 85: "Balancing That 'Feeling' with Data-Driven Career Decisions" with Rose Punkunus of Sudozi | Educative Sessions   Likes Share

Episode #12 Reverse Engineering your Firm (feat. Kenji Kuramoto, CEO) recorded 5/17/2021 Kenji+ Kuramoto, CPA https://acuity.co/ Hello and welcome. We are all the Sons of CPAs. Join us as we question the current state of the accounting and tax industry with the next generation of professionals leading this space, we are all the change agents in an industry fraught with money and inertia. Let's begin The Sons of CPAs with your hosts, Jason Ackerman and Scott Scarano. 1 big time CEO here, holy triple digits! 2 Arthur Anderson 4 Big public accounting experience 8 You have to want to play that game to get to Partner 10 backing into things as an entrepreneur 13 people hire you because they like you? 14 are you smart or are you nice? ***shout out to Josh Lance*** 17 CRYPTO 18 it's fun to find some Niches ***shout out to Will Lopez*** 25 CFO World vs Tax World 27 billing Time and Hours ***shout out to Liz Mason*** 35 Working in the pricing matrix 36 how do you tell a client they're not a good fit? 39 what's one mistake you made at Acuity? 40 Growing fast and losing money 41 Customer Success and Customer Retention ***shout out to Delighted*** https://delighted.com/ ***shout out to SalesForce*** salesforce.com 45 going after the ScaleFactor team, post bust 47 shout out to the 18 official Acuity TechStack Partners --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/sonsofcpas/message

Welcome to our first episode of our Women in FinTech series, where we celebrate women in STEM and the FinTech Community, meeting female leaders in the industry across the Americas. Today, we speak to Anna Anisin and Rose Punkunus. Anna is a Russian-American Entrepreneur, named a Tech Industry Insider by CNN three years in a row and is currently running Formulated.by, a boutique B2B marketing firm and is the founder of leading data science community and event series, Data Science Salon.Rose, who was previously CFO of ScaleFactor, VP Finance at Fundbox and held various Product and Finance leadership roles at Uber, is now the Founder & CEO of Sudozi. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

There's a lot to cover in this episode. We'll talk about McConnell’s stimulus waiting game becoming a race against clock, and just what Democrats and Republicans want in the next coronavirus relief package, and what Arizona's tenuous coronavirus plateau could teach us. We'll also focus on the demise of ScaleFactor, from the employees' perspective, talk about all the rescues ruining capitalism, and Modern Monetary Theory, and explore the reasons why the AICPA created a forgiveness tool for the masses. All this and more! Grab a LOT of snacks!

Scalefactor crashes and burns after raising $100m. It turns out they didn't have a brilliant AI system for optimizing your back office needs. They had just hired a lot of human accountants to imitate being an AI.

In this episode we talk with Amos Schwartzfarb, managing director of Techstars Austin, and author of Sell More Faster about starting a business and "building belief by data." We dive into the importance of basing decisions on data, Amos's W3 methodology for increasing the likelihood of repeatability in terms of business success, chat about how rock climbing is a good analogy for starting a business, and how impostor syndrome sometimes creeps in! Bio Amos was born in the Bronx, NY and grew up in Fort Lee NJ. At a young age, Amos started seeking adventure and pushing limits. While attending college at the UMASS, Amos fell in love with rock climbing which brought him to Northern California in 1993 and eventually a job packing boxes for Shoreline Mountain Project. While there Amos helped turn an old school mail-order company into one of the first e-commerce companies which launched his career into the startup world. Shoreline later sold to Mountain Gear.In 2015, he moved over to the investor side as Managing Director of Techstars in Austin. Now after over 70 seed stage investments including Scalefactor, Chowbotics, Storyfit, VanRobotics, Skipper, Helpberbees, Convey, Docstation and Allstacks, Amos has become one of the more active early stage investors, via Techstars Austin in all of Texas.Amos is also the author of Sell More Faster - The Ultimate Sales Playbook for Startups. Amos wrote this book using his experience and network to create a guide to help every founder and startup sales leader in their quest to build a big and meaningful business. 

We're covering lots of ground in this episode, with news about how ScaleFactor, the "accounting firm with software engineers" that raised $100 million from A-list venture capital firms, is abruptly shutting down, and how Wirecard's future in doubt after revealing missing $2.1B; Wirecard's CEO, Markus Braun, is arrested, and why EY failed to ask Wirecard for bank statements for three years. We'll also examine NASDAQ's suspension of trading of Luckin Coffee after its massive fraud. In other news, GE swaps KPMG for Deloitte, the SBA has exempted lawmakers, and federal officials from ethics rules for the Paycheck Protection Program, PPP recipients can now apply early for forgiveness, and the Treasury sent more than one million coronavirus stimulus payments to dead people. We've got app news, including how Intuit changed its tech development focus, while laying of 715, and much more!

Ben Richmond, the Country Manager for the United States for the fast-growing Xero software company, joined us for this episode of Where Accountants Go, the Accounting Careers Podcast. In addition to our conversation about Xero and their continuing growth in popularity here in the US, you will also find Ben's own career progression interesting as he recounts that journey for us during the first half of the show. Ben took a chance early in his career to join a firm in a “Cadet” position, which is similar to an internship or entry—level role.  It was a little risky because it was something he chose to do prior to attending college.  However, the risk paid off in that he was able to gain some incredible experience, and still end up continuing his education to eventually become a Chartered Accountant (CA). The discussion we have about Xero and their ongoing growth is valuable just in itself, but I think you will also find Ben's early career intriguing as it covers small businesses, public accounting, and even a national corporation during their transition from being a government operated entity to being privatized. We also get into how he met his initial contact at Xero and ended up transitioning to be a part of their sales team, eventually becoming their Country Manager for the US not long ago. In addition to Xero.com obviously, some of the other links you will want to visit include: The Xero Forward Fund: https://www.xero.com/us/forwardfund/ Partner program signup: https://www.xero.com/us/partner-programs/partners/signup/ If you enjoy this episode, make sure you check out these as well:  Kurt Rathmann of ScaleFactor, and Jay Kimelman To listen in on this interview with Ben Richmond, please use the player below:

With Valentine's Day 2020 on the books, we're sharing the love with a wealth of news, including how the Trump Administration wants to kill the PCAOB — and we agree; how the ransomware industry is growing at startup pace; the latest trends in remote work; and why the UK is the next cloud accounting battleground. We'll also examine seven reasons to date a finance pro, Rhode Island's 1040 form emojis, updates from Xero, FreshBooks, Kashoo, Joust, and Receipt Bank. Wrapping things up, we've got updates on MyPayroll HR, news about an unfortunate phishing scam that hit the Puerto Rican government, and why people don't feel like leaving their hearts (or their companies) in San Francisco any more.

Kurt Rathmann is the Founder & CEO @ ScaleFactor, the startup providing an automated bookkeeping solution at its core, bringing all of your company’s important financial information into one place. To date, Kurt has raised over $105m with ScaleFactor from the likes of Byron Deeter @ Bessemer, Coatue, Canaan Partners, Stripes Group and Firebrand to name a few. As Michael @ Coatue told me before the show, there is no way Kurt was not going to be the founder of a bookkeeping company given his background. Prior to ScaleFacotr, Kurt was the CFO of KNS Communications and a Senior Audit Professional @ KPMG. In Today’s Episode You Will Learn: 1.) How did Kurt make his way into the world of startups and come to found the gamechanger for bookkeeping in the form of ScaleFactor? Does Kurt believe that Founders do need to be mission-driven or can founding a company be a more analytical exercise? 2.) How did it come to be that Kurt raised 3 separate funding rounds and over $105m in just 13 months? How does Kurt feel about the saying, "when there is money on the table, take it"? Having had his B and C pre-empted, how does Kurt feel about the rise of pre-emptive rounds today? How did Kurt approach the mental challenge of transitioning from resource-starved to relative resource abundance? Was that tough to do? 3.) What is Kurt's biggest advice to founders when it comes to investor selection? What does Kurt believe are the 5 things that VCs can do to add value? Why does Kurt believe it is the responsibility of the founder to extract that value from the VC? What can founders do to really get the most out of their investors? What has Kurt found to be the biggest value from his cap table? Where do founders think VCs add value but they do not? 4.) What are some very unique and deliberate things that Kurt does to create an amazing culture at ScaleFactor? How does he advise on creating great energy in the office itself? How does Kurt think about retaining that core ethos with the expansion to multiple offices? What have been some of the biggest challenges in scaling communications internally? 5.) Does Kurt believe that being outside of a core tech hub severely limits his ability to hire the best talent? What do founders outside of these hubs need to very strategically do? How does being outside of a core hub also impact how Kurt thinks founders need to approach fundraising? What specifically can they do to increase their odds? Items Mentioned In Today’s Show: Kurt’s Fave Book: The Empowered Challenger Playbook: How Brands Can Change the Game, Steal Market Share, and Topple Giants As always you can follow Harry, The Twenty Minute VC and Kurt on Twitter here! Likewise, you can follow Harry on Instagram here for mojito madness and all things 20VC.  

We've seen a photo of Michael Mann! Also, Square released Square Books, which Blake and David suspect could one day soon power a Square Accounting product — which could easily be the biggest threat to Intuit since Xero. We've got updates from Xero, Slack, Bill.com, Gusto, Veem, and Zapier. ScaleFactor unveiled its own credit card for SMBs, and Chime, the online-only bank went down, leaving 5 million customers stranded and unable to pay.

Amos Schwartzfarb is the managing director of Techstars Austin. He took over the job from Jason Seats in 2015 and has graduated three classes of startups under his direction. Before joining Techstars, Schwartzfarb served as head of customer development at Joust. Previously, he was vice president of customer development at BlackLocus, which was acquired by The Home Depot in 2012. And he was co-founder and served as Chief Operating Officer of mySpoonful, which was acquired in 2011. He also served as an executive with Business.com, which was acquired by RH Donnelly in 2007. And he spent five years at HotJobs.com. In this podcast, Schwartzfarb talks about his new book, Sell More, Faster, which is being released in early September. It's based on his experience in as sales at various startups and from his experience working with startups in the Techstars program. He also talks about what he looks for in selecting startups for the Techstars Austin program. Applications are due August 26th for the next cohort. And Schwartzfarb talks about some of the startups from past cohorts including ScaleFactor, which has raised more than $100 million in the last 14 months and is growing really fast in Austin. 

Ben Wann, CMA, MBA, CPA joins our weekly news update to read his "Dear AICPA" letter on the air and discuss the latest accounting happenings, including: notable industry exits by Jennifer Warawa from Sage, Matt Rissell from TSheets, and even our own Blake Oliver from FloQast; HUGE venture capital raises by FreshBooks and ScaleFactor; further updates (and possibly closure) on the iNSYNQ ransomware saga; and finally, continuing discussion of the value and future of the CPA license, and much more!

Kurt Rathmann, founder of ScaleFactor in Austin, Texas, re-joined us for an update show on this episode of Life In Accounting, the Where Accountants Go podcast! Still feels like a start-up I asked this early on in the episode, because I honestly wasn't sure if “start-up” was still an appropriate term.  However, while they are already in their 6th year of operation, Kurt agrees that the term still very much applies.  With their high-growth, focus on culture, and constant innovation, Kurt says that they definitely still have the start-up type of environment. 5x employee growth When we originally interviewed Kurt, they had just hired their 40th employee, and that was only about 15 months ago.  When we recorded this update though, they had a total of 230 team members including their interns!  Plus, they now are officing in 3 locations with a shuttle that runs every 30 minutes between them in order to remove the barriers that exist due to not being all centrally located.  And this is all while their new 52,000 square foot facility is being built.  They truly have experienced explosive growth since our last interview. Marge continues to grow up One of the other highlights of this interview was that we discussed Marge in greater depth.  Marge is ScaleFactor's Artificial Intelligence Controller.  She can handle basic tasks such as responding to requests for information like a tax ID number, but also can handle more involved calculations of items such as burn rate and income or expense questions.  And if that isn't enough to catch your attention, Kurt says their team views Marge as just starting kindergarten.  She continues to learn more and more every day and they feel that they have only begun to touch the surface. If you have any interest in technology in the accounting field, this update on the growth at ScaleFactor and the original episode with Kurt Rathmann will certainly be valuable for you. Other episodes that may interest you include:  Byron Patrick and Donny Shimamoto To listen in to our interview with Kurt Rathmann, please click on the player below:

Chris Hooper from Accodex joined us for this episode of Life In Accounting, the Where Accountants Go podcast.  In addition to being one of the most entrepreneurial guests we have had in a while, Chris lives in Adelaide, Australia, which makes him our first international guest for the show! Making money vs. keeping money Chris always had an interest in business, and happened on accounting as a career by necessity.  After starting his own business in the fitness industry, he quickly realized that keeping money wasn't as easy as making it, and therefore it would be a good idea to become more educated in that area.  It was at that point that a friend introduced him to accounting. Not your “typical” accountant Chris seems to have always been a “people person”.  From his early self-employment days, to his extra-curricular activities in college, and now to building the Accodex network, it's evident that he enjoys building relationships.  In addition, he definitely enjoys improving on how business is done.  While Chris definitely has the technical abilities that come with a background in accounting, he sees accounting more as the means to the end… an end of creating improvement in business. Just the beginning Something else that was evident in this interview was that even with all the ground that we covered, this is only the beginning.  Chris is 33 years old, and Accodex is only 4 years old.  While they have seen fast success, it's truly only starting to scratch the surface of what is possible.  In Chris' words, “…accountants have the ability to change the world…”, and it's obvious that Chris has that intention for himself and his companies as well. Other entrepreneurial episodes that may interest you include:  Kurt Rathmann of ScaleFactor, and Stephen King of GrowthForce To listen in, please click the player below:

Michael Sidgmore is a Partner at Broadhaven, a market leading fintech investment bank and venture firm, with clients including ICE and the CBOE and investments including MoneyLion and ScaleFactor. Prior to joining Broadhaven, Michael built the sales team at iCapital, now a multi-billion dollar platform giving investors access to leading alternative investment funds at low minimums. Michael is close to the ground when it comes to US fintech, with an interest in Latin American as well. In this conversation, Michael shares his views on SMB plays, opportunities in Latin America, platform trends, solutions for the gig economy and more. Thank you very much for joining us today. Please welcome, Michael Sidgmore.

Michael Gilroy grew up dreaming of becoming a professional athlete, then a hedge fund manager, and finally a venture capitalist. He achieved his goal of becoming a Partner at Canaan, a prominent VC in San Francisco. Michael shares how a couple of traumatic experiences shaped his priorities, what he looks for in the companies he funds, and how he works to stay centered.

How is an early-stage VC a lot like Shane Battier or Andre Iguodala? When they are on the court, they make the players around them better. That's how Michael Sidgmore sees his role as a pre-seed and seed round FinTech investor: He's the sixth man, coming off the bench to serve as the glue that helps his team get to the next level. He may not be in the trenches on a daily basis, but when he does get in the game, good things happen. Michael is a Partner at Broadhaven Ventures, an independent investment bank serving the financial services industry. In his role at Broadhaven, Michael focuses on sourcing, investing and managing investments in early-stage FinTech startups. Prior to joining the firm, he served as a pre-product employee at iCapital Network and the first sales hire at Mosaic. Michael is also the founder of Let's Humanize Finance, an interview series with FinTech entrepreneurs and innovators who are changing the way we interact with money. Today, Michael joins us to share his unique path from semi-pro soccer player to Broadhaven Ventures, explaining how reading Leaving Microsoft to Change the World changed his life. He offers insight around how to measure impact in a nonprofit organization and how FinTech companies can make both a profit and an impact. Michael also gives us his take on the evolution of FinTech and the way cryptocurrency might fit into the larger picture of financial services in general. Listen in for Michael's top four opportunities in the FinTech space and learn how he sees the role of an early-stage VC as that of the sixth man. Topics Covered Michael's path from semi-pro soccer to Broadhaven Ventures Interned for Room to Read during accidental gap year in UK Transfer from Middlebury to London School of Economics Work at Goldman Sachs before shift to FinTech startups The key to running a successful conference Engaging content (e.g.: Shark Tank for trade ideas) Interesting people How to measure impact as a nonprofit organization KPIs specific to goals (i.e.: # of students with library access) View donors as investors expecting social return Michael's definition of success in business Do something you love, doesn't feel like work Help entrepreneurs realize dreams + make impact FinTech's ability to make a profit AND an impact Access to credit for unbanked individuals, small businesses Facilitate growth of middle class in emerging markets Michael's take on the evolution of FinTech From $3B of VC in 2012 to $16B in 2016 Challenge for disruptors to create standalone brand Bring enabling tech to traditional financial institutions Michael's insight around the opportunities in FinTech Emerging markets (Asia, Latin America) Big brands become FinTech companies Banking the SMB Collaborations (e.g.: Goldman + Apple) Michael's thoughts on how crypto fits into the FinTech picture Irony of centralized organizations in decentralized framework Interesting use cases in tokenization of assets How Michael sees his role as an early-stage VC Serve as sixth man (critical player off bench) Get companies ready to graduate to series A How Broadhaven is building out their team Institutionalizing processes Adding skill sets like culture, HR Connect with Michael Broadhaven Ventures https://www.broadhaven.com/ Broadhaven on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/company/broadhaven/ Michael on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaelsidgmore/ Michael on Twitter https://twitter.com/michaelsidgmore Let's Humanize Finance http://www.letshumanizefinance.com/ Resources Leaving Microsoft to Change the World by John Wood http://www.leavingmicrosoftbook.com/ Room to Read https://www.roomtoread.org/ LSE Alternative Investments Conference https://www.lseaic.com/ David Rubenstein at The Carlyle Group https://www.carlyle.com/about-carlyle/team/david-m-rubenstein Silver Lake https://www.silverlake.com/ Glenn Hutchins http://www.hamiltonproject.org/people/glenn_h._hutchins Man Group https://www.man.com/ Lord Stanley Fink https://www.crunchbase.com/person/stanley-fink#section-overview Mosaic https://www.joinmosaic.com/ iCapital https://www.icapitalnetwork.com/ QED Investors https://qedinvestors.com/ Gusto https://gusto.com/ Chime https://www.chimebank.com/ MoneyLion https://www.moneylion.com/ SoFi https://www.sofi.com/ Michael Gilroy https://www.canaan.com/team/michael-gilroy Canaan Partners https://www.canaan.com/ ScaleFactor https://scalefactor.com/ Greg Phillips https://www.broadhaven.com/greg-phillips Guissu Raafat Baier https://www.linkedin.com/in/guissu/ The Third Door by Alex Banayan https://thirddoorbook.com/ Keith Rabois on Boost VC EP090 https://theboostvcpodcast.simplecast.fm/rabois Connect with Boost VC Boost VC Website https://www.boost.vc/ Boost VC on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/boostvc/ Boost VC on Twitter https://twitter.com/BoostVC

In this episode: David shares his experience at the AICPA Annual Executive Roundtable for software vendors, Super Bowl LII will feature an ad about expense reports, tax season could get really ugly as only 57% of IRS workers return (unpaid), (another) new $99 tax service for the masses, ScaleFactor raises $30 million from Bessemer, BeachFleischman teams up with a small firm to create a new virtual firm called MOD Ventures, nurses take the top spot for most trustworthy professions (but accountants aren’t far behind), Google raises prices for G Suite, Will Farnell announces a 6-hour workday for his firm, Bank of America’s Zelle P2P payments service takes off, and efforts to evolve the CPA license to match evolving technology

In this episode of Life In Accounting: The Where Accountants Go podcast,  Kurt Rathmann, CPA and CEO / Founder of ScaleFactor shares with us how his business model, ideology, and management style has created an extremely successful, cutting-edge company that will double in size by next year. Big Firms? Auditing? How Do They Benefit Future Entrepreneurs? Kurt started his post-college (Go Longhorns!) career at KPMG. One of the biggest lessons that Kurt has carried away from working with a Big 4 firm was the value of learning how to interact and communicate with a wide variety of people and personalities. He also learned much from his time in auditing, because you get to see so many aspects of the business and thereby learn about overall operations. Growing a Business Businesses grow when you have a passion for what you are doing. Research your passion. Find the biggest challenge or problem surrounding your field and come up with solutions. Be the one who comes up with new ideas. And when presenting ideas to customers, remember that presentations are enhanced when you can use a story to illustrate how your solution will positively affect their situation. Building the Team… Interestingly, Kurt has found that remote employees don't work well for ScaleFactor because the arrangement interferes with the synergy of their organization. ScaleFactor thrives in a shared workspace where the creativity and innovation can flow freely. He will be the first to tell you though that it may work for others, it just doesn't work well for them. Some additional advice Kurt shares is to make sure you discuss successes with your team, but discuss failures even more. Being able to openly discuss issues helps you to quickly learn from those mistakes and enables everyone to grow from the experience. Who are ScaleFactor and Xero? For more information on ScaleFactor, please visit them online at: https://scalefactor.com/ For more information on the Xero software that was discussed in the audio as well, please visit https://www.xero.com/us/   To listen in on this interview with Kurt Rathmann, please use the player below: