Growth’s Best-Kept Secret: When Finance Meets HR

Behind every thriving fintech company stands an often-invisible partnership that deserves far more recognition than it receives. The industry's spotlight invariably falls on CEOs, CTOs, and product visionaries—roles that occupy the most visible positions in the C-suite. Yet these celebrated figures aren't the whole story. Two critical roles—the CFO and CHRO—operate with strategic purpose away from public acclaim. Make no mistake: these positions form the backbone of sustainable growth, transforming headline-grabbing startups into enduring market players. 

The Modern CFO: Risk Calculator or Opportunity Architect?

Chief Financial Officers have long carried the unflattering label of innovation assassins—the perpetual naysayers crushing dreams with budget constraints and risk aversion. There's a kernel of truth here; CFOs do control the purse strings. But reducing modern fintech CFOs to mere gatekeepers fundamentally misrepresents their strategic value and undermines their crucial contribution.

Having a CFO that can strike a fine balance between caution and bold decision-making is crucial to any organisation that wants to drive genuine growth and achieve long-term success. It’s a real skill to be able to carefully align financial strategies with business objectives, ensuring that resources are effectively allocated to support new ideas and aid market expansion. The right kind of CFO brings endless value and plays a critical role in innovation through their ability as a leader to prudently evaluate financial risks while also being nimble enough to jump on opportunities.

The CFO's multifaceted role goes way beyond crunching numbers; they're strategic visionaries with an acute understanding of financial stewardship. CFOs don't just guard the coffers; they identify and champion investments that propel companies forward.​

How CHROs Build High-Performance Organisations

A strong, authentic culture forms the lifeblood of any fintech company, but the CHRO's role extends far beyond cultural stewardship. The most effective Chief Human Resources Officers function are the masterminds of a comprehensive talent strategy—acquisition, development, and critically, retention.

In the fintech world where the competition for top-tier talent is fierce, few roles are as important as the CHRO who takes responsibility for not only attracting but also nurturing and keeping hold of the very best minds. The ability to be agile and scale rapidly is key to fintech success in today’s world, and a CHRO who is skilled in attracting top digital talent, fostering a culture of continuous learning and implementing people-centric policies that support both growth and compliance is worth their weight in gold. 

Good talent is the backbone of all successful fintechs, and a good HR Chief knows that culture is about actions, not catchy slogans and PowerPoint slides presented in an eye-catching pitch deck. The CHRO will implement strategies that hard-bake the company's values into the day-to-day, ensuring that culture becomes a lived experience for all. They’ll encourage professional development, work-life balance initiatives and commit to diversity, equality and inclusion to help to drive real growth.

In my experience, great fintech CHROs are unsung heroes of business, working tirelessly behind the scenes to ensure their organisations remain dynamic, competitive and an employer of choice in a fast-evolving space.

How to navigate the tricky road from startup to scaleup

After two decades in fintech, I've witnessed a consistent reality: the vast majority of venture-backed startups fail despite promising beginnings. The evolution from early-stage innovation to sustainable enterprise demands more than product excellence—it requires strategic infrastructure few companies properly establish. 

As your company evolves through different funding stages, so do its challenges: in the early days, agility and innovation account for so much. During the startup stages, a great CFO will ensure that financial strategies are put in place that can fuel rapid experimentation and product development, while a strong CHRO can build a resilient, adaptable team culture that thrives in uncertainty.

Yet once an organisation hits Series B and C funding, the goalposts change and the focus has to shift to sustainable growth. A strong CFO can ensure the right resources are allocated in the right way, while a forward-focused CHRO will develop leadership pipelines, refine company culture and ensure the organisation’s people are ready to embrace the next stage of expansion.

At every step, hiring strategically, onboarding talent with potential and sometimes making tough calls on letting go of misaligned team members is key. Business is business, and not every decision that has to be made will be an easy and popular one: the team that got you from A to B may not be the same team that will get you from B to C, and that’s just a reality. Those fintechs that successfully grow from headline-grabbing startups to scaleups that make a meaningful impact and profit are the ones who have their eyes focused on the bigger picture.

Successful fintechs recognise that their CFO and CHRO represent not administrative functions but central strategic pillars. These leaders—operating in concert—create the balanced foundation of financial discipline and talent advantage that transforms fleeting success into market dominance. This isn't optional; it's existential. The future belongs to fintech companies that understand this fundamental truth: strategic financial leadership paired with exceptional talent management creates unbeatable market advantage.