Heather Hall on Rethinking Startup Finance: How Early CFO Leadership Shapes Growth and Resilience

- Heather Hall

Heather Hall, CPA and founder of Sapphire CFO Solutions, has observed that in many early-stage startups, financial strategy often takes a back seat while teams concentrate on refining their product and gaining traction. She notes that this sequence can offer a valuable opening to introduce financial leadership in a way that supports growth.

Hall suggests that when approached with care, executive finance may help shift the conversation from short-term improvisation toward longer-term planning. This perspective informs her approach to positioning the CFO role as a strategic contributor early in a company’s journey. “Finance can offer a way to look ahead,” she shares. “It’s about preparing thoughtfully and making decisions with greater clarity.”

Her observations are shaped by direct experience with how startups evolve. In her work, she’s seen that when financial infrastructure is delayed, certain gaps, such as limited modeling or incomplete investor materials, can make future transitions more complex. Hall encourages founders to consider designing with intention: establishing governance, building scenario models, and aligning execution with broader goals. This way, the company’s narrative is supported by a foundation that reflects both ambition and preparation.

This broader view of finance challenges a common misconception that financial leadership is only necessary once compliance demands or investor conversations arise. “I see this as a missed opportunity,” Hall says. She believes that when finance is prioritized early on, it may reduce friction and align internal narratives with external expectations.

Within this landscape, Sapphire CFO Solutions positions itself as a collaborative advisor, helping founders translate ambition into financial clarity. The firm’s approach treats finance as a connective tissue that informs product decisions, pricing conversations, and go-to-market adjustments.

“At Sapphire CFO Solutions, we emphasize planning methods that help startups think ahead confidently,” Hall says. “We utilize tools like driver-based planning and rolling forecasts, which can help teams map out different future scenarios.” She believes that when numbers are treated as a shared language, teams can collaboratively navigate trade-offs rather than making decisions in isolation. This mindset extends to how Hall reimagines the CFO’s role.

In her view, the modern CFO is deeply integrated across functions, combining financial expertise with cross-functional understanding. This role engages directly with sales to understand customer dynamics and partners with product teams to evaluate feature viability, while working with operations to uncover constraints that influence growth.

“I think of the CEO as the coach and the CFO as a quarterback,” Hall remarks. “The quarterback stays close to the action, reading the field, communicating strategy, and making real-time adjustments. It’s a style of leadership built on responsiveness and helping the team move forward with clarity.”

Hall builds on this vision of CFO leadership by emphasizing its role in fostering resilience through thoughtful planning and cultural habits. She views resilience as the ability to absorb uncertainty and maintain forward momentum, supported by scenario modeling and shared practices across teams.

Consequently, strong financial leaders play a key role in making complex situations easier to understand and act on. By practicing empathy and listening closely to others, they help build trust across the organization. These people skills, Hall notes, can lead to more open conversations and better coordination between teams.

Besides professional experience, it’s worth noting that Hall’s philosophy is also shaped by her experience as a Division I collegiate athlete. The demands of her position as a softball catcher taught her how to lead under pressure and adapt quickly, skills that now shape her approach to strategy and decision-making in the business world.

Her recent work mentoring softball players exploring careers in finance and consulting reflects her belief that leadership is a transferable skill. “Whether you’re managing a game or a growth plan,” she says, “the fundamentals are the same: preparation, communication, and the ability to pivot.” These continue to inform how she builds teams and navigates complexity.

Ultimately, Heather Hall believes that the most effective startup leaders will blend financial foresight with emotional intelligence. Sapphire CFO Solutions champions a style of CFO leadership that is proactive, integrated, and attuned to the realities of scaling. It’s a model designed for long-term resilience, aiming to help companies move forward with clarity and confidence.