Startup Spotlight #22: SiliconCFO

SiliconCFO connects startups with the right part-time CFO solution for their needs.

I got the chance to speak with Jacob Sheldon, founder and CEO of siliconCFO, about what he’s working on at his startup, and any advice he has for emerging entrepreneurs.

SiliconCFO was started to help startup founders with financial operations, management tasks, and responsibilities. Initially, they were a consultancy helping startups themselves. The company quickly realized that the best solution for each startup was different, and usually not them. That’s why they built up our talent pool of experts and transitioned from a consulting firm into a marketplace. Now, they connect startups with the right part-time CFO solution for their needs.

Startup Spotlight: SiliconCFO

SiliconCFO founder Jacob Sheldon.

Problem: It isn't easy to get the right financial management and operations assistance for your company. You can either seek out someone through your network or go with one of the current mainstream options which are all grossly overpriced and mainly for high-growth startups.

Market: Our target customers are early-stage startups and bootstrapped companies, but we have helped many other types of companies. The size of this market is massive, and although we wanted to focus on just US-based companies to establish our niche, we found just as much traction with non-US companies. 

Solution: SiliconCFO matches startups and small firms with the right part-time CFO for their needs.

Team: I started siliconCFO as a consulting practice, but it has evolved into the CFO matching marketplace it is today. The team now includes a full-charge bookkeeper, Mylene Reyes, along with a roster of interns.  

Recent Success:

Sheldon: We have not had any trouble finding experienced CFOs looking for part-time remote work. Even before the pandemic hit, we had hundreds of inbound CFO leads every month. In fact, we had so many applications to our talent pool that we couldn't keep up with vetting them and had to stop accepting applications for a couple of months. Now, I'm very excited to be implementing a new and improved vetting process that can accommodate many more CFO applications.   

Recent Struggle:

Sheldon: Although siliconCFO is for the majority of startups rather than just high-growth startups, we still have the same primary struggle as our competitors: finding clients at the right time. Each startup needs finance help at a different time, and we are constantly optimizing our marketing to find startups in that time before their finance burden overwhelms them. Part of our solution to this struggle is Search Engine Optimization for our best content, but this is a long-term strategy.

Founder Advice:

Sheldon: One of the biggest mistakes I see Founders make is raising too much money early on. This often leads to a higher burn rate and a larger focus on fundraising than servicing customers or users. Bootstrap your idea until you have validation, traction, and a clearer path forward. Making money by consulting and using the Lean Startup Stack can enable you to bootstrap and stay lean for longer. 

Three Cool Founders You Should Know About:

Sheldon: Here are three founders you should check out next!

• Kai Faust, Founder of InfoPop: Infopop augments your reality with meaningful data.

• Jordan Sale, Founder of 81cents: 81cents provides low-cost, success-based promotion, raise, and salary negotiation support, just for women.

• David Shi, Founder of Trimwire: Trimwire (trimwire.com) helps distributed teams manage subscriptions with a virtual card platform that identifies savings in real-time.

Who should I profile next? Leave your suggestion in the comments:

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