We, at AcuityCFO, are incredibly privileged to work with some of Atlanta’s greatest entrepreneurs.  So seeing one of our long-term clients emerge on not only on the national, but the global stage, is incredibly exciting.  The rise of Sara Blakely and her company, Spanx, has been nothing less than meteoric.  Sara’s relentless focus on the Spanx brand and products have turned a $5,000 investment into a company valued at over a billion dollars.  This March 2012 Forbes article that features Sara on the cover does an outstanding job of profiling Sara,  the fantastic team she has put around her, and a glimpse into a day in the life at Spanx: Undercover Billionaire: Sara Blakely Joins The Rich List Thanks To Spanx.  We recognized how fortunate that the AcuityCFO team is that our friends at Spanx have allowed us to work alongside them for years and see first hand how this incredible success story has unfolded.  Congratulations, Sara!

Very exciting news for our friends and clients at Pindrop Security as not only did they just secure a nice capital raise, but they did so with one of Silicon Valley’s star venture firms: Andreessen Horowitz.  Let’s just say that the guys at Pindrop are in good company as Andreessen Horowitz has invested in a multitude of rockstar technology companies, like: Foursquare, Pinterest, Facebook, Instagram, Zynga, Skype, and Twitter.

Check out this write-up by Georgia Tech: Georgia Tech Spinoff Secures Silicon Valley Funding For Phone Security Technology

30 years ago, Spence Rosenfeld, created Arborguard “to preserve harmony, safety, and natural beauty while improving our quality of life amid the pressures of urbanization and the turbulent forces of nature.”  With offices in Atlanta and Charlotte, Arborguard is among the most highly decorated companies in its industry holding title to customer “best pick” awards for over a decade and numerous conservation and environmental awards such as the first LEED arborist in Georgia and the first fleet of hybrid company cars in the State of Georgia.

While Arborguard performs traditional services such as pruning, tree removal, and tree planting this work is performed by certified arborists who use 100% natural tree care solutions and zero-impact practices.  Arborguard also has pioneered more advanced services such as Lightning Protection Systems, Soil Therapy, Tree Preservation Programs, and Tree Survey Technology (ArborScout) that creates tree and landscape maps that can quantify the environmental benefits that a property’s trees provide.  In a world of chainsaws and wood chippers, The Arborguard team takes a much more advanced, sustainable, and professional approach to protecting property owners’ natural resources.

One of ArborGuards most recognizable projects was The Canopy Walk at The Atlanta Botanical Gardens.  A massive and complex construction project that provided a 600 foot walkway 40 feet in the air (the only such walkway in the U.S.) and required great technical ability to protect the trees during construction so that their beauty could be demonstrated when the project was complete.  Many of you have probably experienced The Canopy Walk, but you should take a look behind the scenes at the innovation needed to create such an incredible Atlanta landmark.

We’re grateful for the opportunity we’ve had to work with Arborguard throughout the years.  Their commitment to innovate within their space and to help improve our community’s quality of life through more effective tree care serves as inspiration for all entrepreneurs.

We’ve all heard of the high failure rates in the restaurant business.  At one point, it was rumored that 90% of all restaurants failed in the first few years but that may have been more of an urban legend.  Actual restaurant failures appear to be closer to 60% over 5 years, which more closely approximates the national average of small business failures in general.  Anyway, there isn’t a single Atlantan that isn’t familiar with Taco Mac.  They’re an awesome local entrepreneurial success story and their growth and longevity over the past 30 years have made them an institution in Atlanta and we, at AcuityCFO, have been fortunate to call them a client.  Not only do us two-legged locals enjoy great wings and beer, it seems that more than just the humans love visiting Taco Mac, too:

On a side note, we actually are featuring two AcuityCFO clients in this post.  The super-high quality video is provided by our friends at Wren Solutions, who handle all of the physical security needs for Taco Mac.

We were again honored to be a sponsor of Venture Atlanta this year. Without doubt, this has become a must attend event for those in the technology community here in the Southeast.  We were proud to support four of our clients who presented at the conference and it was great to see many of our friends and fellow business partners who support this incredibly important ecosystem.  If you have not attended Venture Atlanta, please make every effort to put this on your calendar next year.  Allyson Eman and her team do a wonderful job putting on this event.  To learn more about the companies that presented, check out David Cummings’ great recap of the event, Venture Atlanta’s YouTube Channel, and a look at Atlanta’s Technology Leadership over the years presented by the good folks at Morris, Manning & Martin:

http://davidcummings.org/2011/10/25/venture-atlanta-2011-startups-day-1/

http://davidcummings.org/2011/10/26/venture-atlanta-2011-startups-day-2/

http://www.youtube.com/user/VentureAtl

Congratulations to our long-time client, GMT, who was acquired by industry heavyweight Verint (also the acquirer of Atlanta technology stalwart Witness Systems back in 2007).  GMT provides workforce management software to some of the most recognizable financials institutions and contact centers in the world.   Great seeing a local Atlanta technology company grow and get acquired by a large public company!

There are just those days you ask yourself, “Why in the world did I ever become an entrepreneur?”  Everyone’s problems are worn as your own.  Best intentions don’t match end results.  Resources are FAR from plentiful.  Obstables look impassable versus overcomable.

Fortunately, motivation for entrepreneurialism abounds.  I have a spouse and other family members who are fellow business owners.  I work with a team committed to thinking as entreprenuers.  All of our clients are entrepreneurs.  Motivation ultimately should be internally driven, but having outside encouragers can be incredibly inspiring.  I love this video that David Hauser shared at StartupRiot this year and love playing it for the occasional motivational shot in the arm:

Where do you get your motivation?

I was recently preforming a phone screen of a candidate and asked them what interested them about our company and the job position that we had just posted.  The candidate responded “…can you remind me again what your company does?”  I was completely dumbfounded, to put it nicely.  Was this person actually that unprepared for an interview or am I just that horrible of a recruiter!?  Regardless of the answer, it’s times like these when I’m reminded of why hiring is one of my least favorite parts of being an entrepreneur.  The crazy thing is that one of my favorite parts of being an entrepreneur is building teams.  It’s a bit of a strange dichotomy, but I’m guessing other entrepreneurs experience this to. 

2 Reasons Why I Find Hiring Such a Challenge:

1. The sheer numbers of applicants are staggering these days.  A simple job posting will often yield hundreds of applicants and you, somehow, have to get through them.  You could hire a recruiter for this, but one way or another, you’re going to pay for it either in time or in cash.  I started using some basic tactics to get through the masses of applicants like using LinkedIn for our postings so that we can filter out candidates that are not connected by more than 2 degrees of separation (so note to you AcuityCFO job seekers reading this: you should use LinkedIn and find a way to connect to our company through a contact).  I know that we may lose good candidates this way, but I have a strong preference for someone coming through a referral.  Then you still have to go through phone screens and interviews.  Again, a very time consuming process.

2. We need a unique type of employee.  I know…so does every company that’s hiring.  But we need ENTREPRENEURIAL ACCOUNTANTS.  How many of those do you know?!  If you do, PLEASE contact us now!  Seriously though, finding a strong technical accounting resource who loves working in rapidly changing entrepreneurial environments is a daunting task.  Most accountants you know would prefer to work by themselves and follow a rigid protocol day in and day out.  An AcuityCFO team member needs to be able to build a strong yet flexible financial structure into a client’s organization that is often changing daily!  It’s a profile that has allowed our existing team members to be the rock stars that they are, but finding candidates with this profile is difficult!

2 Reasons Why Hiring Well Is Worth It:

1. New people bring new ideas, perspectives and energy.  I believe that impact is even magnified within a growing entrepreneurial organization like ours.  Every time a new person joins our team, I am amazed at how our business looks in front of a fresh set of eyes.  That is a perspective that is incredibly difficult to replicate as a founder or as a long-time employee.

2. New people allow us to serve more clients, which quite simply, is what we love to do.  All of us joined the AcuityCFO team because of a love for working with clients and helping them address their financial challenges.  The highlight of our team meetings is discussing new clients and successes that our clients achieve.  We grow more professionally and serve our clients more effectively when we can gain experience through a larger client portfolio. 

While the process is challenging and often frustrating, I obviously believe that the rewards of adding good team members are well worth it.  What I’d love to know, however, is how to make this process better.  So, what have you seen done during the hiring process that really helped determine whether you had a candidate that fit your culture and aligned with your existing team?