In The Soup: Minding the Money – When Your Startup Needs a CFO

Happy In The Soup 🍲 Wednesday!

Hosts Jenn Summe and Melissa Crosby are back into the soup (and soup season, now that it’s finally getting cold out there!)—and this week, they’re tackling a question every founder hits sooner or later: At what stage does your startup really need a CFO?

Before diving in, our hosts tackle the history of October 22nd—from George Michael’s million-dollar purchase of John Lennon’s “Imagine” piano to the world’s first parachute jump (yes, it involved a hot air balloon). They even manage to work in a few puppy stories while celebrating “Make a Dog’s Day.” 🐶

Then it’s time for the main course. Jenn and Melissa bring in insights from two guests in the Triangle startup ecosystem—Jared Sokolsky, CFO of Well, and Peter Meath, COO of RecoveryPlus.Health—to unpack the signals that it’s time to bring financial leadership in-house. From fundraising milestones and investor expectations to company complexity and rapid growth, they explore what those inflection points look like for early-stage startups. Whether you’re running lean with QuickBooks or preparing for your next round, this episode breaks down how to think about scaling your finance function—and how to know when it’s time to go from DIY to CFO.

This episode (and the rest of the season) is proudly sponsored by Curious Ant.

Listen to the episode below. And be sure to subscribe to The GrepBeat Podcast, so you’ll never miss out on what’s going on in your community!