Ever tried. Ever failed. No matter. Try again. Fail better.
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Welcome to the latest edition of the Finance and Accounting Technology Briefing, a biweekly newsletter jointly produced by StrategicCFO360 and The CFO Leadership Council. Our goal is to help finance pros make confident technology choices and give software providers a better understanding of their customers' needs.
A reminder: the inaugural Finance and Accounting Tech Expo at the Javits Convention Center in New York City on October 29-30 is fast approaching. See the unique code at the bottom of this newsletter for a limited-time, free registration.
If you have feedback, ideas or product, people and company news for the Briefing, please email the editor at vince@CFOlc.com. We look forward to seeing you in October!
The Emergence Of Ireland’s Women Angel Investors
The Irish writer Samuel Beckett once wrote, "Ever tried. Ever failed. No matter. Try again. Fail better." He wasn't talking about the mindset required to launch a successful business, but it suits. Thirty years from when the Celtic Tiger roared, the tech startup scene in Beckett's home country thrives, partly due to the large U.S. multinationals operating there.
To understand the ecosystem, and why angel investment is so important, we spoke with Mary McKenna, MBE, a former tech company CFO who nurtures innovative startups and helps other women invest in and launch companies in Ireland and the UK. Her accolades make for a long list: in 2014, England's Queen Elizabeth awarded her the Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE)—the same award given to the Beatles—for services to digital technology, innovation and learning.
McKenna, who will serve as the emcee of the Finance and Accounting Technology Expo's Pitch Stage in New York on October 29 and 30, spoke to us from County Donegal about Ireland's tech scene, why angel investing, particularly by women, is hot and whether startups should hire CFOs earlier in their lifecycles.
I didn't know that the most prominent VC in Europe is Enterprise Ireland, an arm of the Irish state. How do startups get launched in Ireland?
Enterprise Ireland has a program called High Potential Startups, and about 1,000 companies go through it at any time. The state is very proactive in growing startup businesses. All the big U.S. tech companies are very apparent in Ireland. Irish people go and work at Google or Apple or Intel, they learn the ropes and then leave and start adjacent businesses.
It's good, but there's also a bit of a feeling that it's easy for Irish startups to sell to U.S. multinationals. They start a business, and they sell it after a few years. Scaling outside your own country is hard, isn't it? I think it's probably due to a lack of senior international sales skills. Americans view sales differently from Europeans; it's part of your culture. People here would rather be CEOs—they don't want to be salespersons.
Almost a year ago, you co-founded AwakenAngels, Ireland's first women-led (not women-only) angel investor syndicate. It has signed up 75 new angels. Why angel investing, and why women?
Angel investing in Europe is usually the first stage. The magnitude of the investment levels in the States is bigger than in Europe. A pre-seed might be $250,000, a seed stage, $1 million. A U.S. seed stage is probably $3 million and up. There's been a lot of work in Ireland to get private investors to invest their own money because we were way behind the U.S. for a long time, but we're catching up.
People now see startup investing as an asset class—there's been so much profile and publicity around startups. However, only about two percent of venture capital goes to female or female-led teams. [AwakenAngels] teaches women investors about due diligence, company valuations and portfolio diversity. We also teach Irish founders about angel investment. When founders start raising money, many don't understand the terminology—what a deal room is, what term sheets are, what's negotiable and what isn't.
You were a CFO early in your career. How early should a startup hire a CFO?
CFOs are an often-overlooked part of a startup's journey. If you're lucky enough to hire a visionary CFO who's strategic, it's the difference between night and day... When an entrepreneur is pitching, one of the worst mistakes they can make is not know their numbers and not be on top of the relationships between different actions and how those actions will affect their numbers. They stumble over those questions. As an investor, that's the worst thing you ever see when founders pitch to you.
—Vince Ryan, editor, The CFO Leadership Council. vince@CFOLC.com
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We asked, Robert J. Dann, CFO, MTSI, a company of 2,100 technical and engineering professionals serving U.S. government agencies, to describe the software and systems the company runs.
At MTSI, finance is based on our core business system, Deltek Costpoint. However, as a project-oriented defense and security contractor, we know planning is critical, and Costpoint does not support planning. We have recently adopted Workday Adaptive Planning. It is up and running and paying dividends already. Finance also supports payroll through ADP, and we interface directly with HR's business systems. None of our business processing is outsourced.
What's your joy, and what's your headache?
MTSI uses all cloud-based finance technology, including process workflow. This is recent and provides both joy and a headache. It is joyous to be more automated and to mature our processes to improve value add and data and knowledge management. It is a headache because any updates should be tested but, sometimes, they are not. Even patches are proving to be a problem as cloud software providers slide fundamental process changes into our software. This consumes time for finance and users.
If you could wave a magic wand, what would you make software companies do for you?
Develop and deploy AI features into our current process set and provide us the opportunity to learn how to use the features. AI is coming, AI is here but how are we to adopt it? If the software providers educated the users on the power of AI and how it applies to their specific processes and decision-making approaches, they could generate future business. Leaving it up to users unfamiliar with AI will make the adoption slower than it could be.
What's your best piece of tech advice for others in your job?
Technology serves you; you do not serve technology. Take the time to research, understand and imagine how the technology will serve your company—not just finance users but all users and decision-makers in the company. If technology does not simplify everyone's life, it will be difficult to adopt.
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Have news to share? Drop me a line at vince@CFOLC.com — Vince Ryan, editor
Salesforce agreed to acquire Tenyx, a developer of AI-powered voice agents “that create natural and engaging conversational experiences.” The deal, the terms of which were undisclosed, is expected to close in October.
Spend management platform Coupa introduced AI-driven advancements, including Coupa Navi, a GenAI-based personal agent that serves as a customer knowledge base and helps employees find document status and approvals faster.
Intuit introduced enhancements to its proprietary GenAI operating system, GenOS. The OS includes an AI workbench for end-to-end application development as well as governance and safety guardrails.
Workday partnered with Equifax to integrate the analytics company’s credentialing process with its payroll solution to speed up employment and income verifications for workers.
Anthropic introduced Claude Enterprise, a version of its AI chatbot that uses a company’s proprietary knowledge and features enterprise-grade admin controls and data security.
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Have news to share? Drop me a line at vince@CFOLC.com — Vince Ryan, editor
Insperity named James D. Allison its next CFO, succeeding longtime CFO Douglas Sharp. Allison, vice president of comprehensive benefit solutions and chief profitability officer, first joined Insperity in 1997.
SAP Chief Technology Officer Juergen Mueller is leaving the ERP company after “inappropriate” behavior at a company event, Mueller said in the announcement. Mueller has been with SAP since 2013.
Salesforce CFO Amy Weaver stepped down from her president and CFO role effective when the company finds a successor. Weaver was chief legal officer before becoming CFO in 2021.
Identity verification company Vouched appointed startup veteran Peter Horadan as its new CEO. Horadan founded accounting platform LockStep in 2019. He has also been CTO of Avalara.
DocuPhase named Leslie Leaf as its new chief operations officer. Leaf was previously chief customer officer at Revel Systems. The back-office solution provider also hired Trey Tramonte, formerly of Exterro, as its chief revenue officer.
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Stock performance is as of the market close on September 4, 2024
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Plan to join us at the Finance and Accounting Technology Expo, the country’s largest annual trade show for buyers and vendors of corporate finance and accounting software. This year’s event will occur at New York’s Javits Convention Center on October 29-30, 2024. This is an excellent opportunity to network with industry peers, learn from experts and discover new products and services. Register online at StrategicCFO360.com/FATE/register/ and get a limited-time, free registration using the code czh510.
Keynote just announced! Daymond John, founder of FUBU, Shark Tank judge and bestselling author, will bring his unmatched expertise to the stage.
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