Kristy DelMuto

If you’re a founder trying to figure out how to operationalize AI in your business, the pattern recognition we’ve built over the past year through Mainsail AI Labs has taught us some lessons to pass on. A year ago, we were learning what AI could do, what our portfolio teams were capable of, and how to build for both scale and customer value. Twelve months later, many of our companies have operationalized real agents, and genuinely transformed how they operate.

This is part of Mainsail’s How-to-Hire Series: A Founder’s Guide to Building Out Your Leadership Team. Read why we put together this resource for growing software businesses and how to navigate it here. In the first post of this series, we covered the key signals that it’s time for a B2B software founder to hire their first finance lead, along with the qualifications and characteristics to look for, drawn from our experience hiring CFOs across many Mainsail portfolio companies.

A Founder’s Guide to Hiring a CFO: (Part I) When and What to Look For This is part of Mainsail’s How-to-Hire Series: A Founder’s Guide to Building Out Your Leadership Team. Read why we put together this resource for growing software businesses and how to navigate it here. In the early days of a company, most founder/CEOs opt to manage their company’s finances themselves. Over time, however, a CFO will become one of your most important hires and a trusted business partner.