News as of this morning: SpaceX is acquiring Cursor. Here’s founder Michael Truell and a16z’s Martin Casado at last year’s Runtime summit, talking about many of the themes that matter in the coming AI decade:
Of all the seats in a company, the most senior finance person is one of the loneliest. You sit amongst the board and the CEO, you see every number before anyone else, and yet you rarely have a true peer inside your own walls. When something hard lands: a challenging relationship dynamic, a complex financing decision, the business taking an unpredictable turn, a hire you’re unsure about, there often isn’t anyone you can talk to.
We want to do something to fix this.
It wasn’t even our idea, at first. We hosted a number of brainstorming sessions and dinners and the ask came back loud and clear: our finance leaders wanted a real community, one built for both tactical learning and genuine relationships, something closer to YPO (long established network for CEOs — less networking dinner, more trusted inner circle: the same small group of peers over time, who know your real situation and become the people you call first). We listened, and we’ve spent the months since designing the a16z CFO Community very deliberately.
Here’s what it is. Stage-matched cohorts of roughly eight finance leaders, meeting in person every other month for a year — six sessions in all. Each session pairs a candid, moderated small-group conversation with a tactical block on the topics CFOs actually wrestle with: annual planning, forecasting and benchmarks, building finance teams for scale, AI tooling and efficiency, and GTM and engineering productivity. There’s also a lot of room and space to get to know each other on a more personal and candid basis, and build relationships that will last years, where you can share trusting feedback. The first cohort kicks off this month.
A few principles shaped every decision:
Curation is everything. The group only works if you’re in the room with people at your stage facing similar problems, so in our estimate, roughly 80% are true peers, with a few slightly ahead so you can see where you’re headed. Small and selective beats big and broad every time.
Trust over scale. Communities die when they become impersonal and transactional. We’re keeping cohorts small enough that your absence is noticed, and we’re protecting the room — no investors, no observers. Just operators talking straight.
Accountability is a feature, not a bug. You opted in, we selected you, and we ask you to show up — one miss across the six sessions is ok. That friction is the point. Commitment is what turns a calendar invite into a relationship you lean on for years.
The content is the carrot; the relationship is the outcome. The moderators and their experience get you in the door. What you walk away with is a short list of people you can actually call upon whenever you need, and they can call you.
Why join? Because the job doesn’t get less lonely as you scale — it gets more so. This is a place to pressure-test the decisions you can’t put in a board deck, to learn from people a step ahead, and to give back to those a step behind. Over time, it becomes a brain trust: a group of finance leaders who know your context and pick up your message.
We’re starting small and intentional. If you’ve ever wished for a room where you could ask the real question without worrying how it looks — we are building this for you.
Cheers and hope you join us!
This material is solely for educational purposes and is not investment advice or an offer of investment advisory services. This material should not be used as the basis for an investment decision. a16z is an investor in SpaceX and Cursor through its managed funds, and thus has a financial interest in the company’s performance and future prospects. In particular, a16z benefits if the company grows in value; and a16z funds will receive any customary dividend payments in connection with their status as a shareholder of the company. However, a16z is not being compensated by SpaceX or Cursor for this material.
This newsletter is provided for informational purposes only, and should not be relied upon as legal, business, investment, or tax advice. Furthermore, this content is not investment advice, nor is it intended for use by any investors or prospective investors in any a16z funds. This newsletter may link to other websites or contain other information obtained from third-party sources - a16z has not independently verified nor makes any representations about the current or enduring accuracy of such information. If this content includes third-party advertisements, a16z has not reviewed such advertisements and does not endorse any advertising content or related companies contained therein. Any investments or portfolio companies mentioned, referred to, or described are not representative of all investments in vehicles managed by a16z; visit https://a16z.com/investment-list/ for a full list of investments. Other important information can be found at a16z.com/disclosures. You’re receiving this newsletter since you opted in earlier; if you would like to opt out of future newsletters you may unsubscribe immediately.