CFO and CEO Relationships and Partnerships: The Secret Sauce

By Kenton Chow

A conversation with Promise Phelon and Kenton Chow

Promise Phelon, Founder of The Growth Warrior and former CEO at TapInfluence hired FLG partner Kenton Chow as interim CFO during a period of radical and dynamic change at the company as Tap pivoted from a service-agency model to a SaaS model over 3 quarters. During their tenures, these two executives worked seamlessly together to drive a 300% increase in revenue while also raising a $14M a Series B-1 round. In July 2018, together with the Board of Directors, Promise led the company’s acquisition by IZEA (NASDAQ: IZEA).

Promise recently hosted a podcast discussion with Kenton about the importance of the close relationship and partnership between a CEO and a CFO.

Highlights of their discussion include:

• The importance of this relationship in managing change throughout the culture and operations as a company pivots and scales
• The fundraising process as Tap Influence immediately required bridge financing to meet cash flow obligations when Promise took over as CEO and the subsequent capital raise
• The common focus on the customer shared by Promise and Kenton
• The importance of trust, joint respect and the CFO’s role in helping make the CEO successful
• Divergent but complimentary styles between a high-energy, vision-focused CEO and a pragmatic, disciplined and transparently-honest CFO
• Working together to operationalize accountability throughout the organization including decisions around what to outsource, resource/invest in and how to compensate and incent employees.

Join the discussion between these two talented and experienced professionals and leaders by listening to the full podcast.