Maren Kate, founder of Zirtual, discusses the financial missteps that contributed to the company's shutdown, citing flawed financial modeling by an investor-recommended outsourced CFO firm.
“We were using an outsource CFO firm. That one of our investors recommended to us, and I think that was one of the biggest mistakes we made at Searchual. They were really, really bad”
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More from Maren Kate
What-if
Maren Kate: Zirtual should have retained contractors to preserve 50% margins
“If I had to do it again, I would have changed our business model so we could keep people as contractors. It would have allowed us to actually pay them more as contractors. And it would have made us be able to keep that kind of 50% margin we originally had.”
Maren KateMar 3, 2020▶ 12:31Episode 486 | The Shocking Collapse of Zirtual and Maren Kate’s Next Act (plus How to Hire Well)
What-if
Maren Kate Regrets Shutting Down Zirtual Instead of Pitching a Down Round
“So you look back and if I had it to do over, I would tell the guy who gave me that suggestion that that was the stupidest thing I've ever heard. I would have spent that week. I probably still would have had to lay most people off, but I would have spent that w…”
Maren KateMar 3, 2020▶ 17:12Episode 486 | The Shocking Collapse of Zirtual and Maren Kate’s Next Act (plus How to Hire Well)
Insight
Brand-Name Employers Like Apple and Airbnb Do Not Predict Candidate Success
“It doesn't matter if I look at their resume and they used to work for Apple or Postmates or, you know, one of these darlings where I'm like, Ooh, they worked at Airbnb. They must be good. That is not an indicator of success.”
Maren KateMar 3, 2020▶ 32:31Episode 486 | The Shocking Collapse of Zirtual and Maren Kate’s Next Act (plus How to Hire Well)
Opinion
Kate: Zirtual Was a Services Business, Not Venture Backable
“We were not a venture backable business. We got venture backing, which happens often, but we were a services business. We had no technology component, even over the three and a half years after raising money, we built very little technology.”
Maren KateMar 3, 2020▶ 5:18Episode 486 | The Shocking Collapse of Zirtual and Maren Kate’s Next Act (plus How to Hire Well)
Insight
Maren Kate: Founders must check references across managers, peers, and direct reports
“The way we do references is we think of people you worked for, people you worked with, and people who worked for you, because you can often somebody, you can trick one of those subsets, like maybe your boss thinks you're great, but the people who work with you…”
Maren KateMar 3, 2020▶ 34:01Episode 486 | The Shocking Collapse of Zirtual and Maren Kate’s Next Act (plus How to Hire Well)
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