The CFO in Crisis Mode: Modern Times Call for New Tools | Andreessen Horowitz

As finance has started to take on more responsibility and influence within organizations, the technology enabling CFOs and finance teams has lagged. Most finance workflows, such as annual planning, quarterly actuals reporting and reconciliations, tend to be managed within disconnected spreadsheets with no automation or collaboration capabilities.

Today’s finance leaders need to be equipped with a strong understanding of technology to enable them to scale their team and the rest of the organization. A revolution is coming — one where innovative solutions will redefine not only the way finance teams will manage company financials, but their very roles within the organization.

Augment or replace large portions of finance teams with software, improving profits for its businesses.

While selling into the finance department has historically been a daunting task due to large incumbents in the category, we believe the next-generation of finance software has arrived. There’s a huge opportunity ahead for vendors who identify critical components of the finance workflow that have been grossly underserved by technology.

The increased financialization of start-ups have led to CFO focusing on fundraising and M&A, so the responsibilities of a CBO are split between the CEO and CFO

I can upload to Claude an income statement for a small business and prompt “here's an excel of my startup's finances, make it a dashboard.” A few seconds later I get this:

But, because it is fast and responsive, I can go further, applying techniques I teach in my entrepreneurship classes that help founders test their financial assumptions. “Add sens... See more