CFO Search
InspectAI (Flashpoint Portfolio)
The Mandate
Build and lead finance function at seed-stage physical AI company with ~55 employees across 4 continents. Prepare for Series A/B fundraising. Stand up financial infrastructure from scratch including multi-entity/multi-currency, burn rate management, and board reporting.
Competencies That Matter
Hands-on builder who has scaled finance at growth-stage tech companies, ERP implementation experience (NetSuite), fundraising experience (Series A/B+), M&A due diligence background
Experience Profile
VP-level and above preferred, Director considered as a stretch. 15+ years in finance with at least one zero-to-one build at a VC-backed company. Should have progressed from Controller or FP&A through VP Finance or CFO.
Cultural Indicators
Seed-stage company with high ambiguity tolerance required. ~55 employees across 4 continents means comfort with international complexity and async collaboration. Player-coach who can do the work themselves while building the function. Hardware/physical-world tech experience is a strong plus given InspectAI's AI-powered building inspection product.
Target Geography
Flexible, Boston preferred
Target Compensation Band
$200K–$250K base + 0.75%–1.25% equity (4yr vest, 1yr cliff)
Target Start Date
ASAP
Anja – Dir. of Finance
STRETCHWhy this profile
Deliberately included as a junior stretch. Director-level with direct sector adjacency in climate tech and building retrofits. Tests whether domain alignment compensates for the seniority gap.
✓Green Flags
- •Climate tech at Recurve (building energy retrofits, decarbonization programs) is directly adjacent to construction and infrastructure technology
- •PE-backed finance transformation background brings institutional rigor and process discipline
- •Understands government incentive programs and compliance frameworks relevant to physical-world tech companies
⚠Yellow Flags
- •Director-level, not VP or CFO. Significant seniority gap for a CFO title
- •Series A company experience only, hasn't navigated later-stage fundraising rounds or complex board dynamics
- •Smaller team management scope, may need to grow into the strategic advisory role a CFO fills with investors
- •Would need to demonstrate ability to lead investor conversations, not just support them
Bill – VP of Finance
MIDWhy this profile
Tests whether deep SaaS finance fluency translates to a physical-world company, and whether Series B/C fundraising depth offsets a narrower industry aperture.
✓Green Flags
- •Led Series B and C fundraising processes at a B2B/B2C EdTech platform
- •SaaS subscription metrics and investor reporting discipline
- •B2B/B2C hybrid experience maps to an enterprise plus field deployment model like InspectAI's
⚠Yellow Flags
- •EdTech/SaaS background with no hardware or physical-world tech experience
- •May not understand hardware COGS, manufacturing margins, or physical product unit economics
- •Industry translation risk from pure SaaS to hardware-enabled software
- •Title is VP of Finance, not CFO. Would need to step up to CFO scope including board-level strategic advisory
Peter – CFO
SENIORWhy this profile
The archetype closest to the full scope of the role. 20+ years building finance at VC-backed startups from zero to scale, with the exact solo-builder profile this stage demands.
✓Green Flags
- •Built finance from scratch at 5+ VC-backed companies across SaaS, health tech, and hardware
- •Solo-scaled a health tech company's finance operation through a 600% revenue surge without adding headcount
- •NetSuite implementation across multiple companies, which is the exact ERP need at this stage
- •M&A due diligence experience through two successful acquisitions (one by AOL, one by Teradata)
- •Deep familiarity with physical-world and construction-adjacent technology sectors
⚠Yellow Flags
- •Most experience at very early stage companies (pre-revenue to $14M ARR), hasn't led finance at $50M+
- •Career entirely Bay Area based, may have limited appetite for international complexity across 4 continents