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Demystifying the Role of the CFO in Growth Stage Companies: Rick Smith
Episode 188

Demystifying the Role of the CFO in Growth Stage Companies: Rick Smith

FP&A Today

December 22, 20251h 0m

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Show Notes

Five-time CFO Rick Smith has led finance at companies including inVentiv Health Communications, Exos, Parchment, Solera Health before founding Bonfire advisory. He is also the author o fDemystifying the Role of the CFO in Venture and Growth Stage Companies, a no-nonsense approach to the topic. Reviews for the book include: “This book is a must-read if you want to understand how to scale a company as a CFO” and “Should be required reading for CEOs and PE people along with CFOs.”

In this episode Smith provides his take on being a CFO and his long background in FP&A, providing insights on:

  • The path from FP&A to CFO (without a CPA)
  • Why I like being CFO at SMBs (sub $50m)
  • Being a dreamer, artist and buildingFP&A 
  • Audits vs QOEs 
  • The unspoken challenges working with PE firms
  • FP&A and M&A – what you need to know 

Link to the book: Demystifying the Role of the CFO in Venture and Growth Stage Companies