Lisa VanPatten had been a CFO for nearly a decade when she decided against uprooting her family when her employer moved its headquarters across the country. Rather than look for a similar role, VanPatten decided to broaden her experience by leaving finance and joining a vendor’s sales consulting team.
Acquiring the skills for a new profession was challenging, yet exciting and energizing, when VanPatten sold NetSuite enterprise resource planning systems for Oracle first, then for two resellers.
Seven years later, when she knew she was ready to return to finance, VanPatten joined a software company as vice president of finance. A year later, she moved to Transcend Software Inc., a startup selling a generative design SaaS platform for critical infrastructure, as its first CFO. She brought the company nearly 30 years of accounting, finance, and management experience, including three stints as CFO, in a range of company sizes and types.
Lisa VanPatten
CFO, Transcend
- First CFO position: 2006
- Notable previous employers:
- Oracle
- Swissray International
- Vonage
- RCN
This interview has been edited for brevity and clarity.
SANDRA BECKWITH: What made you the right person to be Trancend’s first CFO?
LISA VANPATTEN: Transcend’s founder and CEO, Ari Raivetz, knew that Vonage, where I had been an early employee, was a high-growth company with disruptive technology. He saw similarities with Transcend’s situation. Because he’s positioning our technology for growth, Ari was looking for someone who understands both the impact of that type of technology and how to scale a business.
My international experience leading teams in Switzerland, the U.K., Germany, and Canada is also important because my entire finance team and most of our developers are in Hungary.
Ari also liked that I have experience with a range of company types and sizes. I’ve worked for very large companies as well as small, high-growth businesses. They’ve been publicly traded, privately held, and VC-backed. That versatility will help.
You shifted from finance to sales consulting for seven years. Why did you make that change?
VANPATTEN: When Kitara Media announced it was moving its headquarters from New Jersey to California the year my daughter was a high school senior, I didn’t want to make the move. I’d need to change jobs to stay here, but rather than pursue another CFO position, I decided to broaden my experience by learning what it feels like to sell and run an operation.
I had recently implemented NetSuite at Kitara, so I reached out to a few people at NetSuite to explore possibilities. Because NetSuite had just developed a product for the industry I was leaving, they hired me immediately.
I was very excited at first, but as soon as I made that leap, I panicked, wondering, “What did I do?” As CFO, you think you understand the sales team because you're constantly supporting them. It was a rude awakening to find out that’s not the case. When the X is on your back to make your numbers, it’s a whole other ball game.
"As CFO, you think you understand the sales team because you're constantly supporting them. It was a rude awakening to find out that’s not the case."
Lisa VanPatten
CFO of Transcend
What brought you back to finance?
VANPATTEN: I had been selling NetSuite systems for seven years when an implementation for a billion-dollar business reconnected me with my finance and accounting roots as we helped the company transform its financial systems, too. I was reminded of how much I enjoy that environment.
I was also anxious to get back into the CFO role to see how I could use this new knowledge to help elevate a business.
How does your background – especially your sales consulting experience – affect how you do your job at Transcend?
VANPATTEN: I work closely with sales because we are focused on building momentum and a customer base. Back in the day, if they had said, “We need to expand the commission plan” or “We need to give this kind of incentive,” I probably wouldn’t have been as receptive as I am now.
In addition, my sales experience taught me how hard it is to break ground, especially for a company like Transcend with a unique, transformative product. Both the sales and marketing teams need to be able to experiment to see what’s effective, and that can cost money. I might not have grasped that as easily if my background was wholly finance.
You mentioned that your finance department is in Hungary. Why is that?
VANPATTEN: Transcend had its origins in Hungary, so our finance team and most of our developers started there. When Ari chose New Jersey for Transcend’s headquarters, he kept what is now a four-person finance team there because he knew they were incredibly talented. I inherited a strong accounting team.
What advice would you give to others in finance hoping to become CFOs?
VANPATTEN: CFOs need to be honest and have integrity so people know they can trust them.
An investor recently asked me what risks I saw in a three-year forecast. Had I said, “Oh, there's no risk here,” they would have seen right through that.
With consistent moments like that throughout a career, people start to trust you. That’s very important.