​In this webinar, Charlie O'Donnell of nextNYC and Anthony Rosen of Propeller Industries will discuss how founders should think about building a finance function before they hire for it , the difference between a controller, a VP Finance, and a CFO, when a fractional partner beats a full-time hire, what the "swiss-army-knife" finance leader actually looks like when it works (and when it breaks), and the patterns of misdiagnosis that lead founders to over-title, over-pay, and under-scope their first finance hire.

​Most founders don't misfire on their first finance hire because they weren't paying attention. They misfire because they diagnosed the wrong problem.

​"We need a CFO" is almost never the right answer, and yet it's the first thing founders say when the spreadsheets stop making sense. What they usually need is different, cheaper, more specific, and harder to title. Getting that wrong is expensive in ways that compound.

​This webinar brings together two perspectives on the same recurring mistake. Anthony Rosen is CFO and head of the E-commerce Practice at Propeller Industries, where over six years he's served as CFO for more than 60 startups ranging from pre-launch to $250M+ and helped clients raise over $500M in equity and debt. Before Propeller, he was CFO at Adore Me through its sale to Victoria's Secret, and CFO/COO at Parade through its acquisition by AAI. He's seen this decision play out in real time across dozens of companies, what works, what breaks, and what founders consistently get wrong when they're trying to build a finance function from scratch. Charlie O'Donnell has watched it from the other side of the cap table, in portfolio companies, across the full arc of what happens when the hire is right and when it isn't.

​We'll get into the difference between a controller, a VP Finance, and a CFO (and why those distinctions matter more than the title); how to design the function before you hire for it; when a fractional or outsourced partner is the right answer and when it's just delay; what the swiss-army-knife hire looks like when it breaks; and the risks of over-titling too early.

​If you're a founder who's starting to feel the pull toward your first real finance hire, this is the conversation to have before you make it.

​​This is event is hosted by nextNYC. To learn more about nextNYC and/or sign up for their newsletter, visit http://next.nyc