From Excel Chaos to Strategic Finance: Simone Rüschenberg on Building a Resilient Finance Function

In this episode, Simone Rüschenberg - finance leader behind Gorillas, SoundCloud, and TIER - shares how she helped scale some of Europe’s fastest-growing startups by building finance teams that actually enable growth.

From ditching Excel at the right moment to avoiding ERP nightmares, Simone breaks down what every founder and CFO needs to know to stay sane while scaling.

You’ll learn:

• How to scale your finance function across Series A, B, and C

• Why the first three finance hires are absolutely pivotal

• How to avoid painful financial cleanups (and investor panic)

• What it means to lead with strategy - not just spreadsheets

Simone’s story is a playbook for modern finance leaders navigating speed, scale, and change.

Get bonus insights from Simone that didn’t make it into the episode at followthegradient.io.