Michael Miao

VP Finance & BizOps at @glean. VC at @IVP in my past life. I write about startups, venture capital and technology here:

[Michael Miao @themichaelmiao]

Recently, @ajayvashee and I hosted our Annual State of the Market dinner with several @IVP portfolio company CFOs and friends of the firm. Here are the key insights from our discussion, paired with snapshots of the slides. 📊🧵 (1/15)

[Founder Mode @Founder_Mode_]

When is it too early to hire a finance leader & when is it too late?

Hosts and KP’s very own @LM_Braswell and @josh_coyne put the question to two experienced finance operators in the first episode of Builders, our new series.

Adam Swiecicki, Chief Financial Officer at @Rippling, prioritizes strategic finance, favoring “the banking, private equity background” and “somebody who’s seen another startup before.”

@themichaelmiao, VP of Finance and Business Operations at @glean, agrees and outlines what matters most.

First, there must be “an understanding of the economics of the business.”

Second, the person must be “very comfortable in spreadsheets” and “comfortable with just like a mess.”

Both point to the same early profile. A generalist. Comfortable with ambiguity.

[Michael Miao @themichaelmiao]

@kwharrison13 @LM_Braswell @glean @Rippling Sales Capacity Hot Ones Challenge

[Michael Miao @themichaelmiao]

@MMCandyCheng @PaulYacoubian @kleinerperkins @josh_coyne @LM_Braswell You guys caught me in my element! Of course I get filmed pouring a beer in the preview reel 🤣

[Brad Gerstner @altcap]

Altimeter is a happy investor in both @OpenAI and @glean. I also have an angel check in @perplexity_ai. We also own $meta, $goog, $msft, $amzn who are competing. We also own $tsla & @SpaceX & huge believers in @elonmusk. Grt founders & companies win or lose on the field. 🫡

[Michael Miao @themichaelmiao]

Some fun news to share. Excited to finally announce this!

https://t.co/7q8eRw5sGW

[Michael Miao @themichaelmiao]

👇🏼this. One of the biggest use cases for @glean customers :).

[BuccoCapital Bloke @buccocapital]

Average support ticket costs $15-$50 to service depending on channel (chat, email, phone etc) and staffing model

And almost all questions already have documented answers

The AI opportunity here is massive and immediately applicable

[Michael Miao @themichaelmiao]

Systems of record are a powerful thing. I'm willing to bet that no startups with 50+ employees actually churned off Carta despite the Twitter backlash.

[Michael Miao @themichaelmiao]

@matt_slotnick @shensi @GilFeig @merge_api Can’t unsee

[Michael Miao @themichaelmiao]

Thanks for reading! If you liked the content, please share it. I'll post a link to the PDF of the presentation in my Substack below later today. If you have any questions, please reach out! (15/15)

https://t.co/JtXCgGqy0t

[Michael Miao @themichaelmiao]

Recently, @ajayvashee and I hosted our Annual State of the Market dinner with several @IVP portfolio company CFOs and friends of the firm. Here are the key insights from our discussion, paired with snapshots of the slides. 📊🧵 (1/15)

[Michael Miao @themichaelmiao]

The first priority is runway, followed by maintaining durable growth in the core business. The best companies are always investing in a needle moving Act II. Profitability comes later. Do all that & you give your company a shot at becoming an enduring market leader. (14/15)