The finance team: behind the steering wheel of exhilarating start-up growth

As a finance person in a start-up tech company, you don’t just monitor the growth. You drive it.

I started my career in investment banking, which, by all accounts is an incredibly fast-moving industry. I buckled in for the challenge, but for someone like me who thrives on change, after a few years I found even this became boring and repetitive.

Not wanting to give up on finance altogether, I knew I needed something more exhilarating. Two years ago I took that plunge and made a switch to tech start-up EDITED, where I head up the finance team. There’s been no looking back.

Since joining EDITED, some of my best finance decisions have been made on boats. Literally — we take a company retreat every year!

Exchanging corporate structure for rewarding work

That’s not to say I don’t have everyday tasks — find me a fighter pilot or ER medic who doesn’t have daily admin in their work. But in a fast-growing, ever-evolving company like ours, nothing remains static for long.

Unlike larger organizations where employees specialise in a specific area of finance, I really do get to do everything and anything!

Amongst the myriad invoices, expense claims and payroll questions, there lies a whole world of exciting projects that I am involved in daily — whether that’s debt and equity financing, cash-flow management, budget forecasting, pricing strategies, compensation plans or board presentations.

A different kind of board meeting, with some of my Finance & Ops colleagues.

With three global offices, there isn’t a week that goes by when I’m not presented with a new challenge, a win (or a loss!).

Because of that, the learning curve in this kind of business is unmatched. And I know that I don’t just speak for my finance team, but also for my smart, forward-thinking colleagues across the entire company.

How many CFO’s can (proudly!) say that they understand how data crawlers work or can determine how successful a targeted ad campaign has been?

My coworkers are some of the best brains in retail technology. Supporting their growth is as rewarding as teaching your kids to ride a bike.

At the heart of growth

At EDITED, the finance team is truly central to the overall success of the company. We have the privileged position of seeing the full picture, allowing us to contribute to operational and strategic decision-making.

And we get to do all that while supporting a business that’s revolutionizing the retail industry. We’re here to not only ensure the future survival of the company but also be in the driving seat of its growth.

We are also masters of our own destiny. Where we have process, it’s for a reason and those processes are always open for innovation. But often enough, we’re doing something for the first time.

We have the fluidity and the capacity to create our own rules and adjust as the company scales-up. This means constant development, innovation and improvement in the way we do everything. If you are a self-driven person, there is no limit to the tasks or projects you can take on.

We set our own goals and measure ourselves by our own quality standards, meaning we don’t just do the work because it’s our job, but because we want to produce the best possible results, both for our team and the company as a whole.

As in any business, occasionally, we have to make tough decisions, but the reality is that a strong finance function is doubly instrumental in a start-up. Coming to work every day knowing that I am making an impact makes it a pretty fun place to be!

If you’re ready to make a change in your finance career, we’re looking to grow our team. Check out our latest openings in London right here.