The Unexpected Leap from CFO to Founder with Roman Galikov

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The Leap by Founders Collective

Gavin Tye

8 episodes

1 week ago

The Leap is a podcast for founders, creatives, and career-shifters who are bold enough to start something of their own. Hosted by Gavin Tye, each episode dives into the real stories behind people who’ve taken the leap...from launching startups and scaling side hustles to pivoting careers with purpose. Through candid conversations with early-stage founders, innovators, and changemakers, we explore the messy middle of entrepreneurship: the fears, breakthroughs, lessons, and mindset shifts that come with building something meaningful from the ground up. Whether you’re thinking about starting a business or already deep in the trenches, The Leap will leave you feeling inspired, informed, and ready to take your next big step.

All content for The Leap by Founders Collective is the property of Gavin Tye and is served directly from their servers with no modification, redirects, or rehosting. The podcast is not affiliated with or endorsed by Podjoint in any way.

The Unexpected Leap from CFO to Founder with Roman Galikov

The Leap by Founders Collective

45 minutes

1 month ago

The Unexpected Leap from CFO to Founder with Roman Galikov

In this episode, Roman Galikov shares the real story behind his leap from CFO to founder, the unexpected turns along the way, and why creating Create Financial has unlocked a new chapter of energy and purpose.

Expect a candid, behind-the-scenes look at what it really takes to launch a B2B SaaS company from scratch - completely bootstrapped.

Got questions or topics you want us to cover? Email us at journey@sixsides.co

If you enjoyed this episode, please leave us a 5-star rating and a review on your favourite podcast app. It really helps us reach more people!

In this episode, we cover:

Roman’s journey from Russia to the UK to Australia
How he fell into accounting and why it stuck
The early signals that he wanted to build something of his own
His first near-leap and why he abandoned it
Moving to the US to launch RedEye’s expansion
Making the leap into Records and why it didn’t gain traction
Pivoting into Create Financial without meaning to
The reality of early-stage software expectations
The loneliness of building alone versus with a co-founder
Why founders need better accounting foundations than they realise
The unexpected workload of shaking hands and generating demand
How the Founders Collective exploded overnight
Roman’s views on risk, optimism and staying grounded
Why financial runway and timing matter more than passion
How he defines success today and what keeps him aligned
The importance of personal routines when everything else changes

Chapters:

00:00 Intro
00:52 Getting started and pre-show banter
01:24 Gavin sets up the show and Roman’s intro
02:33 Who is Roman and what does he do?
03:55 Create Financial and early traction
05:05 Founders Collective and the surprising growth
07:10 Reflections on the first FC events
07:43 Life before becoming a founder
09:23 Roman’s move to the US with RedEye
11:47 What being a CFO in tech is really like
13:38 A day in the life of a tech CFO
15:23 Early hints that something was shifting
17:18 Roman’s first ever near-leap
19:48 How he got pulled into a big accounting firm instead
21:28 The software idea that kept coming back
23:28 The leap into Records and leaving full-time employment
24:46 The relief and reality of quitting his job
26:50 Validation, optimism and runway
27:50 Why Create Financial was originally just a side hustle
29:13 The surprise challenges of early-stage software
31:21 Pivoting into Create Financial with momentum
33:34 The messy truth about cleaning up bad financial advice
34:31 The workload of generating demand as a founder
35:49 Surprises in the broader founder ecosystem
37:12 How Roman has changed personally
38:41 Habits, sobriety and staying grounded
39:18 Optimism vs pragmatism as a founder
40:31 Redefining success and chasing financial freedom
42:20 Staying connected to your mission
45:32 What Roman wishes he knew before taking the leap
46:58 Roman’s advice for founders on the edge of their leap
49:37 How the journey has changed how he sees himself
51:29 Where to find Roman and wrap-up
52:10 Outro

Roman Galikov is a co-founder of Create Financial...

they help founders and business owners take control of their money with smart, personalised financial advice.

They specialise in wealth strategy, risk protection, and long-term planning - without the jargon. Think of them as the team that helps you build a financial engine strong enough to support your ambitions, not just your expenses.

Gavin Tye is a sales strategist and the creator of Sales Market Fit (SMF) — a game-changing framework that helps B2B startups unlock predictable, scalable growth. With over 20 years in high-value SaaS sales, Gavin has cracked the code on why businesses stall in their sales cycle and how to fix it.

SMF aligns positioning, go-to-market strategy, and sales execution into a repeatable rhythm that wins more clients with less friction. Gavin is also the co-founder of SixSides, the event-community platform helping organisations turn one-off events into lasting momentum and stronger engagement.

Learn how to stop relying on hope and start winning with deliberate, proven strategies at salesmarketfit.co — and build connected communities with sixsides.co.

Links:

Founder Collective: https://founderscollective.com.au/founders-collective
FC's Newsletter: https://founderscollectivecommunity.substack.com/
Create Financial: https://createfinancial.com.au/
SixSides: https://www.sixsides.co/
DealBuddi: https://www.dealbuddi.com/

Connect with us:
Roman Galikov on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/romangalikov/
Gavin on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gavintye/