Head of Business Finance

Finance that
moves
the needle.

I'm Riccardo Pollacchini. I help companies scale with clarity, sharp financial thinking, and the belief that great work should actually be enjoyable.

5+
Years in finance leadership
Belief that work can be fun
1
Weekly update, every week
0
Tolerance for boring decks
About me

Serious about finance.
Not about myself.

Finance is often treated as a support function. I believe it's a growth engine — when done right.

I'm a Head of Business Finance with 5+ years of experience working at the intersection of data, strategy, and people. My work lives at the scale-up stage — where the numbers need to be sharp, the decisions need to be fast, and the teams need to stay motivated.

I don't believe finance has to be dry. The best financial leaders I've met combine rigour with curiosity, and they communicate in ways that actually make people act — not just nod along.

This site is where I share what I learn: weekly observations from the trenches, long-form thinking on topics I care about, and the occasional unpopular opinion about how business finance really works.


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Finance as a growth function
Not just reporting the past — shaping what comes next. FP&A, partnering, and strategic clarity.
🤝
People-first approach
Numbers tell stories about people's decisions. Good finance starts by understanding that.
Speed at scale
Scale-ups can't afford slow. I build processes and models that give teams answers fast.
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Work should be fun
Seriously. If the team dreads the monthly close, something is wrong and it's probably fixable.
Weekly updates

What I'm thinking
this week.

Short, punchy, and always grounded in something real. Every week, one observation from the world of business finance — straight to the point.

Issue #01 · Latest Mar 14, 2025
Why most finance teams are still reporting the past
The monthly close is a ritual. But if that's where your energy goes, you're a historian, not a finance partner. Here's how I think about shifting the balance.
Issue #02 Coming soon
The one metric every scale-up CFO ignores
Everyone talks about burn rate and ARR. Almost nobody talks about the ratio that actually tells you if the growth is sustainable. Let's fix that.
Issue #03 Coming soon
When finance stops being fun (and what to do about it)
Burnout in finance is real. But I think it's often caused by fixable structural problems, not just workload. A practical take on keeping the energy up.
Articles

Long-form thinking.

When a topic deserves more than a tweet or a weekly brief — I go deep. These pieces take time to write and hopefully time to read.

01
Building a Finance Function That Actually Scales
Read →
02
The Hidden Cost of a Slow Budget Process
Read →
03
How to Communicate Financials to Non-Finance People
Read →
Ask me anything

Got a question
about finance?

This AI assistant is trained on my thinking, articles, and approach. Ask it anything about business finance, FP&A, scale-ups, or how I work.

Ask Riccardo · AI assistant
Hi! I'm Riccardo's AI assistant. Ask me about business finance, how he thinks about FP&A, scale-ups, or anything else. What's on your mind?

* AI responses are generated and may not perfectly represent Riccardo's views. For important decisions, reach out directly.

Contact

Let's talk.

Whether you want to discuss a finance challenge, collaborate on something, or just say hi — I'm always happy to connect.

I'm particularly interested in conversations around finance transformation, scale-up challenges, and building high-performing teams. No cold pitches please — but genuine conversations are always welcome.

Based in Copenhagen, Denmark 🇩🇰