Looking for a cofounder to replace finance ERPs
I’m looking to find a technical co-founder to replace finance ERPs – starting with accounting for founders of VC-backed companies.
The problem - Companies have to report financial results every month (revenue, expenses, cash, etc.) - The requirement increases as funding stage progresses, for both timing and accuracy - To do this for the prior month, accountants start on the 1st after and have time pressure to deliver quickly - The average accountant uses 10 tools today to do this - Context switching under pressure sucks - Require a ton of resources to manage tools - Results are late (2+ weeks) - Results are inaccurate (~80%) - All this leads to poor decision making
The ideal solution (that won’t work today) - A better data aggregator won’t work 1. ERP (Quickbooks, Netsuite, etc.) already collects the data, but it sucks 2. No one will sign up for a new or better aggregator. Switching cost is high and accountants are late-adopters
The way in - A 10x better product for early-stage VC-backed founders. They currently use Quickbooks and outsourced bookkeepers - Bookkeepers lack business context, aren’t CPAs. All they do is categorize transactions for you (most personal CC/banking tools do this automatically) - Bookkeepers manage Quickbooks for you because… - Quickbooks is primarily built for bookkeepers that serve small businesses
Why now - Easier to build fintech tools today. One can launch virtual cards in 3-6 months - This is bad: accountants are constantly being introduced to new point solutions without considering the implicit cost it adds to reporting monthly results - This is good: providing a connected financial data platform will solve the problem, and it’s easier to build today - Data-driven decisions are increasingly important – making it timelier and more accurate is invaluable - Accountants and finance professionals are no longer the “budget police”, they’re starting to become strategic business partners that empower the business
Why me - I joined 3 VC-backed Startups as their first finance hire, taking over outsourced bookkeeping by doing it manually. Built out teams, scaled companies, raised funding. - I have a strong network of early-stage founders, VCs, accountants, CFOs - I’ve investigated every part of the accounting and finance stack, for both US and Canada for the past few years - I’ve spoke with 100+ potential cofounders, and no one wants to touch accounting… :’)
Progress (since I quit two weeks ago) - 30+ customer interviews - Landed a handful of paying early adopters - Received interest for pre-seed funding from a few people - No website, no product, but I can do what customers need efficiently
My next steps - Will keep building with or without a cofounder, posting here to give it a shot - Launch landing page with signup form - Build with airtable and bubble.io - Continue to setup calls with potential customers - Only accept the niche set that I will build 10x better for today - Apply for YC
About me - Friends describe me as: intense, passionate, driven, analytical, creative, make things happen - My Gallup top 5: restorative, strategic, analytical, activator, learner - I communicate directly, concisely, transparently, and compassionately
About you - Must: strong communication skills - Must: don’t hate accounting - Must: basic technical skills and ability to learn - Must: ready to commit full-time - Nice: knowledge in accounting and finance - Nice: full-stack and can get things done - Nice: recruiting and leadership experience
Next steps If you made it this far and are interested to learn more about each other, leave your info here: https://forms.gle/uD4gRcn6qFhFa7MA8
Thanks!