The CFO Track

About The CFO Track

Most finance people never get mentors who have lived and learnt through capital raises, IPOs, administrations or ACCC scrutiny. The CFO Track changes that. I am Tom Hunter, and every week I sit down with top Australian CFOs to unpack what happened and what they learned. Clear steps, real lessons and as always, free on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, YouTube and LinkedIn Live.

Publisher

Tom Hunter

Category

business · education · news

Language

en

Explicit

No

First episode

19 Nov 2025

Latest episode

13 Oct 2026

Latest episodes

42 episodes in the feed.

1. 

   13 Oct 2026

   Starting part-time to 20x revenue in two years – Lakun Agrawal (Hello Clever)

   You made 100,000 dollars profit last year, so where is it? That's how Lakun Agrawal started his finance journey. He is now the CFO of Hello Clever, an Australian fintech building real time payments across the world. He joined when the business had about 40 people, as a fractional CFO 2 or 3 days a week, because the founder knew she needed his skillset before she could afford it full time. Within about 4 months he was full time. 2 and a half years on, the team has grown to over 110, revenue is up 20x and there are offices in Australia, Vietnam, Singapore, Japan and New York. But he got there the long way. Lakun spent more than 20 years in big multinationals, through telco booms and busts and a company bankruptcy on his first day in Hong Kong. Then working in a number of CFO roles with WPP, before making the jump to startup land. Early on, when he was completing the accounts for his dad's business. His dad saw a $100,000 profit and asked, “So where is it?” That confusion between profit and cash is still what he translates for founders today. But it taught him the importance of communicating complexity in a simple way. If you’re a finance leader wondering whether fractional can turn into something bigger, this episode is a great place to start! Highlights: • Hear how he helped Hello Clever grow revenue 20 times in two years, from 40 people to 110 across five countries • Understand why he joined as a fractional CFO 2 days a week, and how that scaled to full-time in about 4 months • Get the cash versus profit lesson his dad taught him with a single question, so where is it • Learn why translating the numbers into plain English is the finance skill that matters most to founders • Hear the Hong Kong story of walking into a new job the morning his company filed for bankruptcy • Explore the real difference between an FD and a CFO, and why it comes down to your time • Find out how he helps founders weigh debt against equity, and why it is ultimately their call • See why even large companies get caught out ignoring cash flow Tom Hunter, Story Recruitment - first-CFO and first-finance-hire search for Australian tech, fintech and deeptech startups. Host of the CFO Track Podcast. Storyrecruitment.com.au

2. 

   6 Oct 2026

   Building from 100 million to 10 billion in payments - Ed Trick (pay.com.au)

   He joined pay.com.au at 100 million dollars in payments and built the finance function as it scaled to 10 billion. Ed Trick is the CFO of pay.com.au, one of the fastest growing fintechs in Australia. He came in around the 100 million mark, when the business was about 2 years old with 20 to 30 people and no finance function. So he got on the tools and into the model, running every number himself. That founding knowledge is hard to replicate. The business is a different beast now. Over 250 staff, circa 100 million dollars raised, a US expansion underway and 10 billion dollars in payments last financial year. His route in was anything but planned. He started off in investment banking and private equity, but a move to Melbourne a couple months before COVID changed his career trajectory. He was contracting with a NDIS provider, which turned into a CFO role at an aged care business. Earlier this year, Pay had a prospectus ready and were looking to list on the ASX. They made the call to pull it when the market turned and raised private capital instead. How he walked through that decision and managed the pivot with his team accordingly is worth a listen in itself. If you love working in fast-paced environments, this episode is for you! Highlights: Hear how he built pay.com.au’s finance function from scratch, joining at 100 million dollars in payments and scaling to 10 billion Understand why doing every number himself early gave him knowledge he says is hard to replicate Get the story of the ASX float that was ready to go, and why he pulled it and raised private capital instead Learn how he kept the team steady after the IPO came off the table Find out why he thinks Excel courses will be a thing of the past, and what replaces them See how a private equity placement at 22 shaped the way he reads a business Explore his early run of rejections, and why he now calls it lucky Hear how backing himself into new industries, from disability to aged care, set him up for pay Tom Hunter, Story Recruitment - first-CFO and first-finance-hire search for Australian tech, fintech and deeptech startups. Host of the CFO Track Podcast. Storyrecruitment.com.au

3. 

   29 Sept 2026

   Zero Local Experience to Scaling a Fintech 15x - Arjun Adhia (Eftsure)

   When he first arrived in Australia, he got rejected for not having local experience. 3 months later, the same person called him back because every “safe” hire had failed. Arjun Adhia is now CFO at Eftsure, a fintech SaaS business fighting B2B payment fraud. He’s been there 4.5 years, joining when the business had around 600 customers. Since then, the business has grown roughly 15x. Arjun didn’t start in Australia. He grew up in Oman and East Africa, trained as a CA in India, then moved to Perth. But when he arrived, no one would hire him. He volunteered for unpaid work, picked up a small audit gig and kept showing up. A callback came from a hiring manager who’d already passed on him. Three local candidates hadn’t worked out, so Arjun got the call. “Are you still looking?” and he started the next day. From there he moved to Sydney, spent 5 years at Source Group working his way from FC to director of finance and helped exit the business to a US-listed buyer. He then joined Eftsure as Group FC with the possibility of stepping into the CFO role. He put in the work and earned his place as CFO. When the PE sponsors tried to exit earlier this year, the SaaS-pocalypse hit and the process didn’t get them where they needed. Rather than wait, Eftsure pivoted and doubled down on acquisitions in the US and Europe, while expanding into Singapore and Hong Kong. The failed exit turned into the next growth chapter. It’s a reminder that the best finance careers aren’t always the ones with the cleanest start. Sometimes the person who got the callback, is the best one after all! Highlights: Moving to Australia from India with zero local experience and the months-long search for a first accounting role Getting rejected and then called back three months later when every local hire had failed Transitioning from Big 4 audit to industry and building a career pathway from controller to CFO Spending five years at Source Group and helping exit the business to a US-listed strategic buyer Joining Eftsure as group FC and earning the CFO seat through a 15x growth period Running a PE exit process during the SaaS-pocalypse and pivoting to an acquisition strategy when the sale didn’t land Expanding Eftsure globally through acquisitions in the US and Europe, with launches into Singapore and Hong Kong Using AI operationally within the finance function for reconciliations, data synthesis, and predictive analysis Tom Hunter, Story Recruitment - first-CFO and first-finance-hire search for Australian tech, fintech and deeptech startups. Host of the CFO Track Podcast. Storyrecruitment.com.au

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