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TechCrunch Live Podcast: Why you should buy your kids a cash register

Matt Burns @mjburnsy / 1 year

Christina Ross says her favorite toy was a cash register. And that makes sense now. She’s the co-founder and CEO of Cube, a financial planning and analysis company that’s trying to help businesses bridge that gap between custom spreadsheets and modern planning tools. She sat down with me and Mayfield partner Rajeev Batra to talk about her journey from CFO to CEO.

It was a great TechCrunch Live event, and the podcast and video are embedded below. Ross presented several slides from Cube’s Series B pitch deck that illustrate how the company is currently presenting its FP&A product. It’s an interesting insight available only on the video for obvious visual reasons.

This TechCrunch Live event was filmed live, and it’s free to attend the next event. On February 22, I’m hosting a conversation with Sagi Eliyahu, CEO and co-founder of Tonkean, and Joanne Chen of Foundation Capital on building and managing a startup’s board of directors. Register here.

Video

Podcast

Outline

Where did Cube come from, and where is it today?

  • Hear Christina’s journey from multiple CFO roles to becoming a CEO, and why she left those businesses to start her own.
  • On Cube’s top competitors including normal spreadsheets
  • Why everyone speaks spreadsheets

When did Mayfield invest, and what was your first meeting like?

  • Batra spent several months getting to know Ross before investing in Cube.
  • Mayfield’s investment process involves investing in the entrepreneur.
  • Aligning on Cube’s vision, mission and purpose.

How did Cube pitch its product in its 2022 fundraise?

  • On the shifting demands of a modern CFO, including why it requires more strategic thinking.
  • “Garbage in, garbage out.”
  • Why most companies still fall back on spreadsheets despite paying for external FP&A tools.

What did Mayfield find most intriguing about the product, and see its place in the vertical?

  • Why Mayfield invested in Christina Ross, the founder, rather than investing in Cube, the company.
  • Why Christina’s family hates to play Clue with her.

From CFO to CEO

  • CFOs already make unpopular decisions, becoming a CEO.
  • According to Batra, Ross has made an impressive journey from CFO to CEO.