“Finance should be an enabler of growth, not a roadblock.”
That’s the focus of Darian Hong, CFO at Calero, a Rochester, New York-based company that provides technology business management solutions. He was appointed CFO in January 2024, bringing extensive experience from previous roles at companies such as Velocify, WebPT, Act! and Raintree Systems.
Hong shares how finance leaders can help their organizations build scale from day one.
You’ve led finance functions across a number of SaaS companies undergoing rapid growth. What are the most important lessons you’ve learned about building a finance function that can scale effectively and what do you think CFOs often underestimate during this phase?
One of the most important lessons I’ve learned is the need to align the finance function with the broader goals of the business from the outset. It might sound obvious but it’s surprisingly common to see finance teams operating in a way that runs counter to the company’s strategy. Finance should be an enabler of growth, not a roadblock.
Another key point is to avoid being overly cautious or short-term in your thinking early on. It’s essential to invest in scalable infrastructure, streamlined processes, technology that reduces manual work, real-time data access, a strong risk and compliance framework and, importantly, a team that’s equipped for where the business is going, not just where it is now.
Some CFOs underestimate how critical it is to build for scale from day one. Doing so avoids growing pains later. It positions the finance team to deliver timely insights, adapt quickly and support the business through future phases of expansion.
With finance leaders increasingly expected to play a strategic role in digital transformation, how do you personally balance operational responsibilities with strategic oversight and what advice would you give to CFOs struggling to make that shift?
CFOs are in a unique position—we see across the entire business and understand how everything fits together. That visibility gives us a real advantage when it comes to shaping strategy. But to make the most of that, you must be able to step back from the day-to-day.
The key is building a team you can rely on. Delegate operational responsibilities and manage to outcomes rather than micromanaging tasks. Trusting your team and enabling them to lead frees you up to focus on higher-level priorities while still supporting their growth through guidance and coaching.
Shifting into a more strategic role doesn’t mean stepping away from accountability. You’re still responsible for the numbers but the focus expands. It becomes more about using financial insight to inform decisions across the business and helping leaders understand what the data means and what actions to take.
At Calero, you’ve been involved in driving operational efficiency across functions like client renewals and managed services. What cross-functional collaboration strategies have worked best and where do CFOs typically hit roadblocks when trying to drive change beyond finance?
The best collaboration happens when teams are aligned on shared goals, speak the same language in terms of metrics and operate from the same source of truth. Clear roles and frequent, open communication also go a long way. When those elements are missing, that’s where things break down—silos form, misunderstandings creep in and change becomes harder to deliver.
Resistance to change is common even within teams that agree on the end goal. As CFOs, we can play a key role in overcoming that by being transparent about financial objectives, communicating consistently across departments and tying performance to common metrics. That kind of alignment is what makes transformation stick.
From your perspective, what’s the most misunderstood financial metric in SaaS today and how should CFOs rethink the way they measure long-term value?
Customer lifetime value (LTV) is probably one of the most misused metrics in SaaS. Too often, it’s calculated in a way that doesn’t account for real-world churn patterns or the natural ceiling on upselling. Just because a customer’s spending has grown in the past doesn’t mean it will continue indefinitely—budgets get tighter and needs plateau.
To understand long-term value properly, CFOs need to take a more nuanced approach. That includes analysing LTV by customer cohort, stress-testing assumptions around upsell sustainability, and paying close attention to net revenue retention.
It’s also important to stop looking at customer acquisition cost in isolation. The LTV/CAC ratio gives a clearer view of whether growth is efficient and scalable. And if you layer in predictive analytics, you can start to get ahead of churn risk rather than just reacting to it.
