Real owners
In an early episode of The Growth-Minded CFO, we interviewed one of my favorite CFOs, Rita Kale, about how she grew in her career.
One moment that stuck with me was her reflection on the time she ran her own startup.
It was a short chapter in her career, but it changed everything.
Why?
Because it gave real meaning to something she’d been saying for years.
As a finance leader, she’d always claimed to “act like an owner.” But it wasn’t until she was an owner that she realized:
She never really knew what that meant.
Ownership is different.
It’s not about scoring points, checking off tasks, or looking good in front of others.
The metrics are more brutal than that.
You never get to fully drop issues on someone else.
“Balance” takes a backseat to necessity.
You keep going until
The problem is solved,
The essential thing is done,
The employees are paid.
Even when you hit your goals, you're not done—because you set them.
And if you set the wrong ones? Hitting them doesn’t move you forward.
You’re just back at square one.
There’s a general perception that working at a larger company is more prestigious,
But the truth is (for better or for worse) it's just not as impressive to me as ownership.
The rock you’re pushing uphill when you’re building your own business
Is just heavier.
And it demands more skill, more grit, more clarity.
People sometimes ask if I get nervous speaking on GMCFO to public company CFOs, VCs, famous finance leaders
If their stature or pedigree is intimidating.
My answer: Thankfully, no.
They're not the humbling ones.
I’m impressed by their experience
I respect the scale they operate at
The power and audience they hold
But I spend most of my days with founders.
These people build companies from nothing
Take out personal loans to make payroll
Bet on themselves when no one else will
And wake up every day knowing that everything depends on their judgment, their energy, their resilience.
Founders operate with a level of courage that most people never even have to imagine.
If I’ve built up any immunity to being starstruck, it’s not because of the podcast;
It’s because I’ve been lucky enough to work alongside the most relentless, creative, and quietly brilliant people on the planet.
And when you're in that company every day?
It gives you a different perspective
On everything else.
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