Carr: I think I’ve long been a believer even prior to the CFO role that talent is super important. And by that I mean making sure that you find the right people for your organization and somebody who was great. Another organization may not be the right one for this one. And I think that that is important. And from a financial perspective, I’m also a believer that you find the right talent, that you reward your top performers, whether that’s sales or finance or whatever the role may be. At the same time, if things aren’t working, I’m a believer that you need to be open, you need to be transparent, you need to give that feedback, give people the opportunity to adjust or course correct.
And then if it’s not working, then you make the decision to move on and try something new. I would say what has evolved mostly is I think more about kind of world-class metrics around compensation a little bit more dynamically.
Read MoreAnd an example of that, for a salesperson, I might say, “Hey, for enterprise SaaS, I want commissions as a percentage bookings to be X percent. I know that’s world-class, I know that’s where I want to be.” But I think since being in the seat, there’s a bit of a balance. And I think it’s really going into one, what does my business tell me about what I can get out of that? And by that, I mean, I might be okay paying a high CAC if I’ve got excellent retention, I’ve got expansion potential, and I can get that return over time. And more importantly, I might be okay doing that today. I may not be okay doing that in two years from now. And so really thinking about where is your business today? Of your investors, what do they care about? Do they want their return in two years, three years, five years? Are they after the hundred-year company? Really understanding what matters and what stage you’re in, to me influences just how aggressively I’m willing to compensate for certain activities, and that’s going to evolve. So I guess that’s new to me as I really view this seat as super important, super strategic, and when I say yes or no, it has the ability to influence the outcome of the company’s success pretty meaningfully.
CFO Guest: Jonathan Carr | Episode: 852: Thriving in the Deep End