On episode 2 of Inflection Point, host Max Weisbrod was joined by Devin O'Brien, founder of Kordis, to discuss startup finance, growth, and partnerships.

Many startup founders are strong visionaries but lack finance expertise. This causes issues when fundraising, strategic planning, and scaling growth. Kordis fills the gap, ensuring startups have buttoned-up financials and models to support growth and raise funding.

Devin first helped startup friends with financial models and planning. Seeing the need, he soon went full time into startups. Kordis now grows mainly through founder referrals, focusing on high-value partnerships over cold outreach.

For SMBs, Kordis segments business units to surface unit economics. This highlights high-performing and underperforming areas to guide strategic decisions for growth. For startups, Kordis builds models to inform fundraising and cash management during scaling.

Early hires are often friends without specialized expertise. As the startup business grows, capabilities gap emerges. Devin facilitates tough conversations around new hires, as an outsider focused on the startup's goals.

Kordis also partners with CFOs needing support teams and resources to scale their practices and startup clients. Kordis provides software, admin support, cross-training, and community to empower growth.

With tighter funds, Devin is advising startups on spend optimization and burn rate reduction. On the SMB side, many look to exit, so Kordis helps prepare them for M&A and ownership transitions.