Hi, I'm Adrian! I'm a portfolio CFO | Coach | Advisor partnering with exceptional teams.
I've built my own business, been a venture capitalist, raised from the World's best investors, led a turnaround and exited.
I’ve been part of a lot going right, and a lot going wrong. I’ve been lucky, and unlucky. I’ve run out of cash and restructured (several times and survived) and experienced unbelievable product market fit. I’ve seen fall outs, and break ups. I’ve surfed the waves, and been overwhelmed.
With my battle-scars and bucket loads of experiences I’m now focused on helping the next generation of innovators succeed.
I'm focused on accelerating startups through their journey from Seed to Series B by ensuring potential is fulfilled and impact maximised.
A flavour of my journey
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Equity & debt fundraising: $100m of international equity investment covering all stages (Angel, Seed etc) and taking all forms (equity/ ASAs / CLNs / crowd). Debt, including for a ‘first-of-its-kind’ proposition.
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Some full-on accelerations:
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Revenue: 0 to $5m in 6 months.
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People: 5 to 80 in 12 months.
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Geography: 2 cities to every major city throughout the World in 2 years.
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Team building, leadership, coaching: built teams and businesses from scratch with top eNPS. Pleasingly with many individuals going onto outstanding successes as leaders and business owners.
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Corporate bits:
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Successfully restructured twice, and demerged once.
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A successful exit.
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Sectors: Climate, market place, AI, SaaS, deep science, direct-to-consumer, events, physical goods, content.
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With a long list of deep experiences across strategy, commercial and operations
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Building strong brands to unlock talent, sales, and fundraising.
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Proposition, pricing and go-to-market design and implementation.
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etc
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how I help
It's not one size fits all. Every business is different in terms of stage, sector, team, pace, capitalisation etc. I quickly understand the business need and get involved at the right level and frequency. If we’re a fit then you have full commitment, energy and flexibility.
I can help in 3 ways.
1. The CFO (part time)
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I’m not about to hang up my operator boots especially as the best way to keep abreast of the ongoing finance digital transformation is to be at the coal face. So I selectively work with exceptional founders who need a more formal part time CFO.
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I will switch between hands-on leader, coach and mentor with the ultimate aim of helping you, your team and your business excel.
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Part time isn’t a rigid commitment; it means a regular frequency with the clear expectation that this will flex and evolve with the business’ needs.
2. The CFO | CEO Coach
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There’s a multitude of reasons I'm involved. For example.
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You’re growing fast, there’s a superstar CFO in the making and they need guidance, perspective and support to stay on track and build out the finance function whilst ensuring they maintain board impact; or
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You’re a seed founder (and CEO) who’s recently raised, comfortable in a financial model but need to refresh the model, revisit the strategy, and start thinking about the next fundraise.
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An upfront deep dive followed by regular sessions and a bit more around certain events tends to work wonders.
3. The Board Advisor
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As a serial CFO I’ve been exposed to everything which brings a plethora of experiences ripe for sharing (see the “About me” section). Typical topics tackled include.
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Fundraising right. When to go to market, the story to tell, how to go to market and with what materials, how much to raise, creating competitive tension, negotiating the terms through to completion and cash in the bank.
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Scaling people / sales / geography the smart way. There’s inherent pressure but timing and being deliberate is key to avoid wasted investment or missing the moment entirely.
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who I've helped
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