Accepting new clients /fractional finance & ops · seed to series B
A1 · ELM Strategy=HIRE( “fractional finance + ops, AI-native” )
I'm Erica McAfee. I was the first business hire at a YC-backed startup, where I led finance and ops from Seed to $10M+ ARR. Now I do both jobs fractionally, for founders who need a senior operator and aren't ready for two full-time hires.
20×
Revenue growth I oversaw, from a couple hundred K to $10M+ ARR.
From a couple hundred K to $10M ARR. I built the finance and ops layer that made that growth manageable at each stage.
+22%
Retention lift from the client success motion I designed and rolled out.
Retention is a lagging indicator of whether your CS motion actually works. 22 points up means it did.
±5%
Fixed costs held within plan, every quarter. The number you want to be boring.
A forecast that misses by 20% isn’t a forecast. Under 5%, quarter after quarter, means the model is tracking reality.
One senior operator. Two functions. Built to hand off when you're ready.
Most fractional CFOs stop at the books. Most fractional COOs stop at process. I cover both, plus the client-success layer that turns a good month into a great one.
A8 · 01
Build the finance function, from scratch.
+
In-house finance & accounting, reporting, taxes, legal, investor reporting, budgets, projections, variance. The whole stack, wired together and running on AI agents.
- Accounting system + monthly close
- Internal controls + policies
- Financial dashboards & KPIs
- Cash + runway management
- Budgeting + forecasting
- Board + investor reporting
- Cap table management
- Revenue projections & variance
- A/R and collections (hands-on)
B8 · 02
Run the operations while you focus on product.
+
Fractional Chief of Staff / COO work. Org design, SOPs, vendor, HR, and compliance systems. Set up once, runs without you.
- Operating rhythms, scorecards + annual planning
- SOPs, vendor + tooling stack
- Hiring plans + capacity models
- People ops, payroll, comp + reviews
- Contract, legal + compliance (w/ counsel)
- Client-success org + playbooks
- CRM + handoff systems
- Renewal + upsell motions
- Negative-churn architecture
- NPS + feedback loops
AI handles the repetition. I handle the judgment.
I use AI to cut the manual work across finance and ops. Nothing goes out without my review.
- monthly close prep
- transaction categorization
- dashboard refreshes
- budget vs. actuals drafts
- vendor and AR follow-ups
- board deck first drafts
A13 · Testimonial · =VLOOKUP(“YC-startup”, clients, ceo)
Erica was our first business hire and oversaw 20× growth, from a couple hundred K to $10M+ ARR.
A talented, easy-to-get-along-with generalist who knows how to run the bizops stuff while founders focus on growth and product. She created our Client Success division and deftly shaped the internal finance and business operations. Highly recommend.
/CEO, Swayable
First business hire at a YC-backed startup. Now I do that, fractionally.
As Director of Operations and Finance at a YC-backed startup, I led the company through 20× revenue growth, from a couple hundred K to over $10M ARR. I built and led a 7-person Client Success team managing $5M+ in projects, drove +22% retention and grew average revenue per account by 33%.
I come in when founders are too early for a full-time CFO and a full-time COO but still need both functions working. One person, both jobs, built on AI so it stays lean as you grow.
SF-based with my dog Archie. Bay Area trails in summer, mountains in winter.
Let's see what your numbers actually say.
Most founders I work with are doing finance and ops themselves, in spreadsheets, at midnight. If that sounds familiar, let's talk.