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Scaling up
SucceSSfully
Hootsuite CFO James Rumble, ACMA, CGMA, outlines the building blocks of rapid expansion. BY SamantHa WHite
ow does the CFO of a start-up ensure that the company grows sustainably but still keeps up with and capitalises on burgeoning demand? This was the challenge facing James Rumble, ACMA, CGMA, when he joined social relationship platform Hootsuite in January 2012. The Hootsuite dashboard allows users to manage their posts and interactions on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn, among others. The company was preparing to launch a premium subscription service targeted to organisations that were realising the importance of these channels as a means of engagement with customers and stakeholders. At the time, the Hootsuite office in Vancouver, British Columbia, was home to 60 employees. Just three years on, the company employs 900 people in offices across the world and has 10 million users, including more than 725 of the Fortune 1000 companies. Rumble, who relocated to Canada from the UK eight years ago, is proud of having built the finance team from three to 30 to support that growth, as tasks have expanded from paying the bills, month-end, and tax to include an FP&A team, M&A, funding, and a team that reports to investors. Rumble also is responsible for legal matters and facilities and has been heavily involved with the strategy and go-to-market teams.
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