Ivan Makarov

The CFO job has gone from accountant to banker to builder, and the whole finance function is being rebuilt around it:

1. Data stopped being the bottleneck. AI pulls and reconciles data across systems, so teams spend more time acting on numbers instead of chasing them.

2. The finance stack is becoming part of the finance team. AI-native tools stand up in days, pull their own data, and turn a monthly close into a daily one.

3. The rise of the finance engineer. Finance people proficient in Claude Code or Codex are building their own tools.

4. The finance team gets smaller and higher leverage. The old heuristic of finance at 5% of headcount is heading to 2% for the leanest teams.

5. Planning becomes continuous. Usage-based revenue (tokens, API calls) moves too fast for a monthly forecast, so planning shifts from annual budgets to a live view.

6. Controls become a critical feature of the product. Every number an agent touches keeps an audit trail back to its source, and finance still owns sign-off.

7. Finance gets a bigger mandate. Compute spend, people versus software, and build versus buy are now finance decisions.

"The CFO is becoming a builder and architect of the company's operating system... The job is still finance, but more of the job now is designing how finance gets done."

a16z's @seemaamble, @IvanoMakSF, and David Borecky on why you need a new CFO: a16z.news/p/you-need-a-n…

Change is happening fast!

Wohoooo! The SF and LA @Techweek_ by a16z schedule just launched and I'm excited to share events I'm co-hosting. Still tailor for finance network, but even more in line with what's been consuming my world in the last couple of years, and there's a cycling theme to it! Here's what I'm ready to share so far (and I'll be at other events we'll announce soon).

- Watts & Wisdom: An Evening with Filippo Pozzato - Monday, Oct 5, 4-6pm at Rillet HQ, with one of the memorable stars of pro peloton who's traveling all the way from Italy to be with us and my friend Alberto Chalon. Should be a great fireside chat on leadership, competition and multiple chapters in life. Link - lnkd.in/gDmf2xWu
- a16z & Friends: Morning Bike Ride - Tuesday, Oct 6, 8am in SF - similar crew, plus Sequence and Thomson Bike Tours, but we're on bikes this time - come ride with us! Link - lnkd.in/g7xXxP6N
- a16z + Krea - Hawk Hill Ride + Breakfast, Thursday, Oct 8 in SF.. Why not do another ride? This time with our portfolio company Krea and my friend Cliff Lau. Link - lnkd.in/gYQ8S9SD

Go ahead and register quick, as with all Tech weeks we do, spots are going fast and hope to see you all there. And of course, I always appreciate the likes/reshares for most reach, especially to your cycling buddy in your network.

Full schedule is here: tech-week.com/calendar

Really excited to announce yet another project we're shipping with our team here at Andreessen Horowitz - the new CFO community we launched yesterday (and other personas are also in the works).

Why another one? And what's our goal?

I've been in many before I stepped into a partner role here at the firm. They're all different, with different benefits but also incentives for those who run it. The best one remain private, exclusive, small, personal, in person, and where you build real relationships that become not just your network, but actually your support group and often, friends.

The CFO role is very lonely, and most times you're doing things you've never done before. It takes many hours to build that trust with your peers, but once you do, the journey gets easier because you're no longer alone. Someone else has navigated a diffucult peer relationship at this stage before and know how to push back on Sales (it's always sales, right?). Another person has a lot more experience navigating board dynamics or founder personalities. And sometimes you need the advice that's even more personal, to do with your family or your next career step.

So we're aiming to build that, similar to CEO / YPO community that have been key to surviving the journey as a founder. Let's do the same for the finance leadership.

Please apply using the link below, and also please tag your finance leader if you're a founder or a friend of one. And I always appreciate a reshare!

Link >> a16z.com/executive-comm…

Time to build!

When you combine multiple passions and friends all together in one activity, real blast happens!

Our @Techweek_ by @a16z is well under way in NYC, and I just cohosted event #4 with my friends from Thomson Bike Tours and @SequenceHQ_ which was a group bike ride for finance leaders in the Central Park. Always fun to ride a bike but especially with people you normally see in a more professional setting.

Thanks for all who came out to this and all other events this week. So fun to see many friends and attend great events.

Bigger recap of the week soon.

Pumped to monitor the situation!

So many parallels to life and startup journey (or “torture” as Ben Horowitz calls it) it’s amazing.

Three simple but most important words, “you are right”

Being a parent, every day.

So excited to work with @nrudder_ and the new kind of solution he’s building for one of the most painful problems all finance teams face. Taxes are sexy again!

Sonoma County

So excited to finally visit Boston and get some lobster with @shanemurfy !!

Last night I was extremely tired and yet couldn’t fall asleep from the energy of our event, I was so stoked. Mom, I finally made it to @NYSE!

Our second in person @a16z Finance Forum Demo Day event was a total blast, with 200+ CFOs and key partners joining us at the New York Stock Exchange, to watch live demos from the most innovative founders disrupting the finance categories and how the finance work gets done now with AI. Longer recap and learnings soon but just wanted to say a huge thanks to all you who joined us for the day, @seema_amble who saw the potential in the space way before anyone else did years ago, and was the great opening speaker, and the founders:

- @matt_haf with @Concourse_ai
- @nicckopp with @rillethq
- @bensign with @joinvantage
- @Riya_78 with @SequenceHQ_
- @blader with @runwayco
- @nrudder_ with @get_sphere

These events feel like family gatherings now. Thank you all for such a great company and here’s to many more.

Where should we take our talents next?!

Big congrats to @bignikhilreddy, KJ and the team at this important milestone!

In finance we keep saying how we need to have 2-3 annual plans depending on the audience. I have yet meet a single VC board member who doesn’t ask for just one plan, and one plan only.

That changes as you train the team for an IPO but not before that.

Annual planning season and many conversations on the topic with our CFOs. It all boils down to this: budget and plan isn’t about dollars and guardrails. It’s about which pace, tempo and rhythm you want your company to operate at.

And how do you want to win.

During my operating days, we sent out monthly updates to our investors (many without reporting rights, who believed in us early), without exceptions, and even more often during turbulence. You want them to know you’re doing all you can.

Impossible to think that if there’s silence

The original no-code/AI tool that felt like magic the first time we learned advanced formulas

Saturdays.