I recently had the pleasure of chatting with Victoria Yampolsky, a serial entrepreneur and expert CFO for startups. She shared so many golden nuggets about the importance of strategic financial planning and how a CFO can be invaluable in laying the groundwork for growth. I loved her stories about the winding road that led her to launch the Startup Station, which has helped over 150 founders raise $50 million in funding. Her passion for supporting female entrepreneurs by addressing systemic funding gaps also came across clearly. Victoria broke down the key differences between a CFO, controller, accountant, and bookkeeper. I realized many businesses are operating without the vital guidance a CFO provides in modeling out a strategic vision into an actionable roadmap. She also explained common scaling mistakes like failing to allocate costs properly across business units. Bad data leads to bad decisions that can tank a company! Her advice? Work with a financial expert so you can focus on accelerating growth rather than back-office operations. I’d love to hear your biggest takeaways from Victoria’s wisdom! What stuck out to you most? Let me know in the comments. And if you want to connect with her, links are in the description below.
Key Notes
- Master financial planning to propel your business forward with strategic insights.
- Uncover the pivotal role of a CFO in crafting a growth strategy for your business.
- Navigate the challenges of scaling your small business with proven tactics.
- Harness the power of financial modeling to drive success for your startup.
- Seize the opportunity to address the gender funding gap and empower your entrepreneurial journey.
Links
https://www.linkedin.com/in/victoriayampolsky/
https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-startup-station/
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCQcTgPRm88yJ4-cPMraHWJA
@thestartupstation
Offer
$50 OFF Financial Model Review
https://thestartupstation.com/p/actionable-financial-model-review
Meet Victoria
Victoria Yampolsky is President and Founder of The Startup Station, a CFO advisory and finance education platform for startups and small businesses. She is a serial entrepreneur, mentor for early-stage startups, strategic CFO, and an expert in financial modeling and valuation. The Startup Station worked with more than 150 founders across 15+ industries and helped them raise $50M+ in venture capital. The Startup Station’s know-how is in translating the leadership team’s vision into an executable financial roadmap that clearly connects strategic decisions to financial outcomes. Such a financial roadmap can serve as both an effective communication tool with investors during fundraising and a critical and robust business intelligence tool as the company begins executing its strategy. The Startup Station also has a strong education arm as we believe that all founders must possess minimal financial literacy to be effective stewards of their businesses. More than 1,000 founders have taken The Startup Station’s courses to learn the basics of accounting, valuation, financial modeling, and startup financing. Victoria also teaches at the Bank of America Institute of Women’s Entrepreneurship at Cornell University. Victoria is CEO and Co-Founder of PowerUp, a new non-profit groundbreaking global program for seed-level female-led ventures. This program aims to bridge the gender funding gap worldwide and produce the next generation of female entrepreneurs who feel limitless. The program uniquely combines (1) 2-year training in strategic and financial planning to help companies scale, (2) weekly executive group coaching sessions to expand their mindset, (3) a global network of PowerUp ambassadors, already representing 25 countries on 5 continents, to improve access to capital, and (4) rigorous monitoring of results to change the perception of risk. Victoria also represents New York State as part of the Leadership Council of the National Small Business Association (NSBA). In this role, she advocates for fair access to capital for women in the United States.
