When David Eckstein inherited a struggling business unit earlier in his career, there was little question he faced an uphill battle. The unit wasn’t one he had built, nor had he developed the frameworks or discounting policies in place.
Who was responsible for the unit’s troubles? And shouldn’t this problem child belong to someone else? These were questions Eckstein never asked. Instead, he reasoned: “Just because you inherited the business doesn’t mean it’s not yours,” he says. “And you shouldn’t be thinking in terms of, you know, this isn’t mine.”
The first challenge was identifying the root of the problem. Was it high commissions? Support costs? After careful analysis, Eckstein uncovered the crux of the issue: the business was operating with a negative gross margin. Several factors were to blame, including a lack of control over discounting. “One person had full control over whether they gave an 80% or 20% discount,” he explains. “We needed to implement levels and thresholds to bring structure to the process.”
Eckstein also discovered the company hadn’t properly evaluated its costs to serve customers. Key personnel were misaligned with the cost of goods sold (COGS), and the company wasn’t capitalizing research and development (R&D). “We had to reassign resources to the right areas and ensure our investments aligned with revenue goals,” he recalls.
This experience reinforced Eckstein’s belief that leadership means taking full responsibility, even when circumstances are inherited. “You need to embrace change and the outcome,” he reflects. “That’s the only way to create ownership and drive meaningful results.”
Through these efforts, Eckstein began to repair the business unit’s trajectory, validating that accountability and decisive action are essential to strategic leadership.
“To become a CFO, focus on building a strong foundation in finance, accounting, and strategic management. Seek mentorship from leaders and CFOs around you to gain insights into their decision-making processes. Embrace challenges and take on diverse roles to expand your skill set. Networking is crucial—connect with professionals in finance across the entire spectrum, including banking, VCs, and other operating companies. Finally, stay curious and keep learning about industry trends and technologies to stay ahead in your career.” – David Eckstein, CFO, Vanta
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CFOTL: Tell us about Vanta—what does this company do, and what are its offerings today?
David Eckstein: Absolutely. At the heart of what we do, we’re all having a lot of fun. Every Vantin (Vanta employee) wakes up each day with the opportunity to create a category, win market share, and delight our customers. We operate at the intersection of compliance and security in a space we pioneered, called trust management. Trust management spans everything companies need to monitor, improve, and demonstrate trust.
Read MoreWe created the automated compliance category in 2018, which enables companies to achieve compliance in weeks, not months, using frameworks like SOC 2, ISO 27001, HIPAA, and GDPR. Today, our platform supports roughly 30 different certifications. I’ve experienced firsthand how significant this is—at companies like Menlo Security, OpenDNS, and Box, compliance was a challenging, time-consuming process. For example, renewing a SOC 2 certification used to require a team of five people working for six to nine months. It was a painful process, but critical for accessing new customers and entering new verticals.
Vanta not only provides visibility and security for companies but also acts as a revenue accelerant. Our recent growth highlights the impact: within just five years of entering the market, we surpassed $100 million ARR, raised a $150 million Series C at a $2.45 billion valuation, and nearly doubled our customer base to over 8,000 companies—including leaders like Atlassian, Intercom, and Omni Hotels. Our international expansion has been remarkable, with a 90% year-over-year increase in customers outside the U.S., and now, one in four of our customers is headquartered abroad.
We’ve also grown our team to over 500 Vantins worldwide—and to be honest, we’re just getting started.
Vanta | www.vanta.com | San Francisco, CA