Taking the Wheel: Fintech CFO Damon Hauenstein’s remit boost

Since joining fast-growing fintech Weel, Damon Hauenstein has been “surprised on the upside” by the outsized contribution a CFO can make in a scale-up beyond the traditional finance functions. Indeed, the pivotal leadership role Hauenstein has played in accelerating the growth of the scale-up saw him promoted into an expanded role this month, adding the Chief Operating Officer title and responsibility for daily operational execution to his existing CFO mantle.

CFO Magazine A/NZ’s Emma Foster discusses with Damon about this increasing trend for CFOs to expand their remit into the COO role to support and fuel growth!

“Once you’ve set up the financial and accounting infrastructure, you’re definitely then rolling up the sleeves with the founders and looking at what are the next biggest strategic priorities,” says Hauenstein who joined the Australian-based spend management platform as CFO in 2022 after more than a decade in investment banking with Citi.    

“It’s exceeded my expectations in terms of how much you can contribute – whether it’s driving revenue growth, establishing strategic partnerships, building operational infrastructure – and generally acting as a problem solver and supporting the amazing talent across our business.”

Fast and focused

Founded in 2016, Weel – previously known as Divipay – is a digital native solution that helps businesses streamline spending, Hauenstein explains.

“Weel enables businesses to make card payments, bill payments or employee reimbursements through a single platform, while enabling the business to put controls over the funds so employees are empowered to spend within set guardrails,” he says. The platform provides real-time visibility on spend behaviour, as well as packaging up the receipts and expense data and synchronising these records into the business’s accounting system, such as Xero, MYOB or QuickBooks.

“It’s a compelling solution, which tends to appeal to businesses that have reached a size where their financial control requirements have increased and they’re looking for a more digital, automated spend management solution rather than using a more traditional, manual approach.”

Hauenstein was drawn to the business after finding “great chemistry” with co-founders Daniel Kniaz and Russell Martin. He recognised the strong potential of their vision for growth, poised to be realised with the backing of the $20 million they’d just scored through a Series A raise at the end of 2021. 

It was a solid hunch: More than $500 million worth of transactions are set to be processed through Weel’s platform this year, up from $100m two years ago, he says. The size and scale of businesses using the platform is also growing with over 3,000 customers today, including the likes of global graphic design platform Canva, ASX-listed jeweller Michael Hill, and national accounting firm Pitcher Partners. The business continues to invest in growth with the team now in excess of 50 people.

Hauenstein says growth is set to continue on the back of ongoing product innovation and strategic partnership which have laid the ground for imminent international expansion.

“It’s starting to become a sizable business,” he says, adding that the start-up is well capitalised and on a pathway to profitability. “As a result, we’re focused on executing and realising our potential.”

Technology transforming finance functions

Weel is among a growing number of technology solutions that are fundamentally changing modern finance functions, by simplifying processes, improving accuracy and speeding up month end closes.

“Most CFOs I meet are ambitious, innovative and strategic – they’re not there just to tick boxes and meet compliance – and as such they’re keen to explore, experiment and embrace new technology solutions,” Hauenstein says. “There’s a real desire to optimise as much of the administrative aspects as possible, with the view to then spend more time then on the strategic aspects. An integrated financial technology stack can play an outsized role in achieving this objective”

For CFOs considering the best route towards efficiency, Hauenstein’s advice is to assess and prioritise the biggest pain points by asking their finance team, “What is holding you back?” To find the right solution, he suggests bouncing ideas off other CFOs. 

“That’s where you’ll get the best learnings,” he says, noting, coincidentally, that ‘word-of-mouth’ has been the number one driver of Weel’s success.

“It may lead to a simple solution that requires no further investment, like a change to your policies, procedures or processes. Other times it may lead to investment in technology products, and this is a space that is constantly evolving with exciting new solutions coming to market every year.”

Wheeling to the future

Hauenstein says the priority for Weel is “focused execution” at realising its ambitions and he is confident an “exciting roadmap” of new features will help unlock the next phase of growth.

“We’ve recently formed a strategic collaboration with global payment platform provider Nium and Visa which is transformative for us,” he says.

“It’s meant greater functionality for our customers – including low FX rates Visa Business Debit cards, and, in the coming months, physical cards and the ability to make international bank to bank transfers. 

“Our partnerships with Nium and Visa will enable us to take our offering to international markets. We will bring Weel to New Zealand in the coming months to meet demand from our customers and are actively planning our next markets.”

Hauenstein says he believes Weel’s time has come. “We are the leading spend management platform in Australia today, and we believe our solution has global applicability and that we can be a global category leader in time.”

Hauenstein’s TOP FOUR tips for finance leaders aspiring to a scale-up CFO role >

Get on the radar early > While early-stage scale-ups may not need a finance leader from day one, eventually there will come a time as the business looks to scale, so putting yourself on the radar of a range of founders and VC investors will be beneficial for when the opportunities arise. Founders are generally very open, approachable and looking to tap into top talent, so you’ll generally get a receptive ear if you pick up the phone.

Chemistry with founders is critical > While the relationship between a CFO and CEO in any business is critical, when the CEO is the founder and major shareholder as is often the case in a scale-up, it adds another dimension to the partnership. It’s really important to do your diligence to make sure your values align with the founder, that you have strong chemistry and that you believe in the vision you’ll be helping to realise.

Tap into skills beyond pure finance > Having skills outside of the core finance function will be invaluable, given the many hats a scale-up CFO wears. Be willing to lean into new opportunities, get outside your comfort zone, put your hand up for assignments, be enthusiastic about getting immersed in new problems – all of these will stand you in good stead, first to open the door to a scale-up, then to add value in the role.

It’s hands on, and rewarding > In the early stages of a scale-up environment you can expect a very lean finance team – or no team at all. So, it’s very hands on and you’re definitely rolling your sleeves up, but that’s what makes it so interesting and rewarding. As a business is scaling, the needs of the business and your own skillset are constantly evolving – providing significant career development opportunities.