In this episode of The Forward Thinking CFO, host Stephen Aldridge is joined by Daniya Stewart - a former banker turned startup founder and now fractional CFO and advisor to early-stage businesses.
Daniya shares her fascinating journey from a 17-year career in renewable energy project finance to launching and scaling Phomo - a Vietnamese meal kit startup born in lockdown. She takes us behind the scenes of her founder experience: the initial idea sparked by missing her favourite lunch, raising over £300,000 in funding, securing retail interest from the likes of Selfridges and Whole Foods, and ultimately winding down the business after a tough fundraising environment in 2023.
Now running Valor Advisory, Daniya works with early-stage companies to help them build financially resilient business models - applying hard-earned lessons from her time as a founder and startup operator.
In this episode, Daniya and Stephen explore:
- What project finance taught her about startups
- Why she bootstrapped Phomo before seeking investment
- How she navigated capital raises through angel investors and crowdfunding
- The hard truths about D2C economics and retail pivots
- Her reflections on failure, survivorship bias and the power of sharing the full founder story
- The value she brings now as a fractional CFO to other founders on a mission
Daniya’s honesty, humour and insight make this a must-listen for anyone navigating the realities of growing an early-stage business.
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In this episode of The Forward Thinking CFO, host Stephen Aldridge is joined by Daniya Stewart - a former banker turned startup founder and now fractional CFO and advisor to early-stage businesses.
Daniya shares her fascinating journey from a 17-year career in renewable energy project finance to launching and scaling Phomo - a Vietnamese meal kit startup born in lockdown. She takes us behind the scenes of her founder experience: the initial idea sparked by missing her favourite lunch, raising over £300,000 in funding, securing retail interest from the likes of Selfridges and Whole Foods, and ultimately winding down the business after a tough fundraising environment in 2023.
Now running Valor Advisory, Daniya works with early-stage companies to help them build financially resilient business models - applying hard-earned lessons from her time as a founder and startup operator.
In this episode, Daniya and Stephen explore:
- What project finance taught her about startups
- Why she bootstrapped Phomo before seeking investment
- How she navigated capital raises through angel investors and crowdfunding
- The hard truths about D2C economics and retail pivots
- Her reflections on failure, survivorship bias and the power of sharing the full founder story
- The value she brings now as a fractional CFO to other founders on a mission
Daniya’s honesty, humour and insight make this a must-listen for anyone navigating the realities of growing an early-stage business.
In this episode of The Forward Thinking CFO, we were joined by the inspirational Soufyan Hamid, founder and financial storytelling trainer at SouFBP.
With a background in auditing and consulting at top firms like PwC and Deloitte, Soufyan discovered the power of storytelling during his time as a finance business partner in the telecommunications industry.
Soufyan's journey taught him the importance of winning over internal stakeholders, and now he's on a mission to revolutionise finance presentations by transforming them into captivating business stories told by finance professionals.
During their discussion, Stephen and Soufyan delve into:
- Identifying and addressing the five common issues with finance presentations
- Structuring financial presentations to resonate with different audiences
- Harnessing the power of visuals, value delivery, and brevity
- Understanding why body language, engagement, and practice are crucial
Whether you’re an established CFO or an aspiring one, this fascinating conversation will give you plenty of real, actionable advice to bring your financial stories to life.
We’re keen to hear your thoughts on this episode, so please do get in touch below with any feedback you have.
If you want to find out more about Soufyan, check out his LinkedIn profile – https://www.linkedin.com/in/soufyanhamid/
If you want to learn more about SouFBP, have a look at his website – www.soufbp.com
The Forward Thinking CFO
In this episode of The Forward Thinking CFO, host Stephen Aldridge is joined by Daniya Stewart - a former banker turned startup founder and now fractional CFO and advisor to early-stage businesses.
Daniya shares her fascinating journey from a 17-year career in renewable energy project finance to launching and scaling Phomo - a Vietnamese meal kit startup born in lockdown. She takes us behind the scenes of her founder experience: the initial idea sparked by missing her favourite lunch, raising over £300,000 in funding, securing retail interest from the likes of Selfridges and Whole Foods, and ultimately winding down the business after a tough fundraising environment in 2023.
Now running Valor Advisory, Daniya works with early-stage companies to help them build financially resilient business models - applying hard-earned lessons from her time as a founder and startup operator.
In this episode, Daniya and Stephen explore:
- What project finance taught her about startups
- Why she bootstrapped Phomo before seeking investment
- How she navigated capital raises through angel investors and crowdfunding
- The hard truths about D2C economics and retail pivots
- Her reflections on failure, survivorship bias and the power of sharing the full founder story
- The value she brings now as a fractional CFO to other founders on a mission
Daniya’s honesty, humour and insight make this a must-listen for anyone navigating the realities of growing an early-stage business.
