By Ané-Sonet Bresler, Head of Decusatio Investor Communications Solutions
“I just don’t have the time!”
These were the exact words one of our clients used while we were chatting toward the end of last year as he was busy preparing the reports for an upcoming board meeting. As the CEO of a company that concluded two successful rounds of funding and grew about 150% in 2022, he dreaded compiling a presentation for a meeting with investors that was going to cost him one full workday.
“I know I have to do this but I could get so much more done to move the needle on our operations if I didn’t have to sit and do this right now,” he said.
Sadly, he is not the only CEO facing this predicament, and where it is not a CEO staring down the barrel in a small and medium-sized organisation, it is often the CFO that bites the bullet.
“Early stage — series A or series B — is really where folks should start investing in investor relations,” said Deb Schwartz, current advisor and former CFO at Cameo, in a recent Airbase webinar.
This doesn’t necessarily mean hiring a dedicated resource for it, because it probably isn’t a full-time job, but it really is a stage where you can start being deliberate about the capabilities you are building out.”