a16z Podcast: Cash, Growth, and CEO ❤️ CFO

2017-08-25 · 20 min · episode 320 · 14 entities

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Entities found in this episode

concepts 11

mentioned Science concept

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mentioned Technology concept

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Feed category: Technology
mentioned Business concept

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mentioned Entrepreneurship concept

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Feed category: Entrepreneurship
mentioned Cash, Growth, and CEO ❤️ CFO concept

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a16z Podcast: Cash, Growth, and CEO ❤️ CFO
discusses Science concept

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evidence rules-v4
Feed category: Science
discusses Technology concept

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evidence rules-v4
Feed category: Technology
discusses Business concept

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Feed category: Business
discusses Entrepreneurship concept

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Feed category: Entrepreneurship
mentioned CEO concept

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CEO
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CFO

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mentioned Andreessen Horowitz person

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hosted by Andreessen Horowitz person

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Feed author/publisher: Andreessen Horowitz

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hosted by a16z company

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Feed author/publisher: a16z

Episode description as stored

with Ben Horowitz, Scott Kupor, and Caroline Moon “The only unforgivable sin in business is to run out of cash” [so said Harold Geneen], yet startup CEOs “always act on leading indicators of good news, and lagging indicators of bad news” [according to Andy Grove]; after all, it requires a certain stubborn, headstrong optimism to start a company. So how to reconcile these views? At the very least, pay more attention to leading indicators of running out of cash, “because there’s just no going back”! But doing all this — while also trying to balance growth, advance planning vs. constantly changing strategy, revenue vs. margin, coordination/communication/culture, and so on — is a lot harder than it seems on a finance spreadsheet. It requires understanding that the “math is not the terrain, the spreadsheet is not the business”… yet also knowing when to trade rose-colored glasses for darker rainy-day ones. And that's where a CEO partnering productively with a CFO comes in. In this episode of the a16z Podcast -- moderated by (and based on an internal event for CEOs+CFOs hosted by) Caroline Moon, who leads the financial operations for startups practice on a16z's corp dev team -- Ben Horowitz and Scott Kupor share their personal insights as well as advice for founders: How DO you do it all? Stay Updated: Find a16z on YouTube: YouTube Find a16z on X Find a16z on LinkedIn Listen to the a16z Show on Spotify Listen to the a16z Show on Apple Podcasts Follow our host: https://twitter.com/eriktorenberg Please note that the content here is for informational purposes only; should NOT be taken as legal, business, tax, or investment advice or be used to evaluate any investment or security; and is not directed at any investors or potential investors in any a16z fund. a16z and its affiliates may maintain investments in the companies discussed. For more details please see a16z.com/disclosures. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.