"Grab that cash with both hands and make a stash
New car, caviar, four star daydream
Think I'll buy me a football team"
In this episode I'm joined by Silverstring CFO, Graeme Titchener, who is on a mission to promote the "quiet men" of the IT channel. As more revenue switches to subscription services, the role of the "kings of cash" is changing from back-office guardians to key players in the creation of competitive advantage.
Having steered Silverstring's transformation from VAR to MSP, Graeme reflects on learnings from a career which began selling "chips and boards" in high volume, through to VAR, then MSP and more recently, SaaS provider. He reflects on a transition from growth through boiler-room sales tactics to growth driven by good customer service and proven outcomes.
Often candid in his speech, Graeme advocates Finance Directors take a much more proactive and visible role in the business-model change. Stepping out from the back-office to influence product development, pricing, marketing and even culture creation will be necessary for successful transformation.
Whilst cash is still king, strong risk and liquidity management is essential to realise the vision of often overambitious chief executives. He goes on to detail the tooling and systems required to cope with subscription-based models and the financial pressures associated with balancing short-term cash requirements, with longer term equity value.
Finance is an absolute bedrock to IT channel evolution so this episode of the Predatar Podcast is long overdue. Not just for CFO ears, we recommend any channel executive takes the time to listen to Graeme's insights.
Enjoy!