Asif Ahmed: The Finance Playbook For Founders

Today’s guest is Asif Ahmed, Partner & Head of Early Stage for Tech & High Growth companies at accountancy firm Cooper Parry. He previously founded Acclivity Advisors which was acquired by Cooper Parry and his role at both has been to work closely with early-stage founders and entrepreneurs across all accounting, tax and advisory disciplines - ensuring founding teams are able to help navigate and scale their startups. In this episode, we discuss Asif’s background and how the pivotal moments in his life shaped him including his father’s sixth diagnosis of cancer which was sadly terminal. Asif took over his father’s business to support his family and this really shaped who he became and what he went on to do in his career. We also discuss when a founder should set up the startup’s finance function, when is the right time to raise outside capital, why every startup should have a finance bible, and what one piece of advice he would offer a younger Asif. Quick apology for sound quality which is not perfect in this episode but hopefully it doesn’t take away from the important lessons Asif shares about founders and the importance of getting your finance function up and running from the start of your startup journey. I learned a lot from Asif and I think you will too so please enjoy my conversation with Asif Ahmed!   Asif Ahmed LinkedIn / Cooper Parry Asif's book:The Finance Playbook for Entrepreneurs: Build a solid finance department for your high-growth business, without the trial and error Danielle Twitter / Instagram / Substack Newsletter / YouTube