Solid Bond.

Finance and Commercial Director

My role is to provide finance support to a portfolio of businesses. the level of support and the type of support needed varies significantly from business to business. 

Typical Responsibilities:

- Business Planning/ Budgeting
- BI Implementation/ Management Accounts
- Attended and presented financials at board meetings
- Power BI report writing
- Tax Planning/ Liaising with Tax Professionals
- Lead on Software Implementation 
- Liaising with External Accountants
- Investment Appraisals/ Due Diligence
- Preparing investment paperwork with lawyers
- Staff management of transactional finance team

Finance Manager

Safran

Main purpose of the role is to help control the direct purchases for over a £110m spend and to business partner with the purchasing department. 

- Set the budget for direct purchases for all products, budgeting for a spend of over £110m
- Monitor and work with budget holders to control the expenditure on 4 purchasing cost centres and carriage in costs
- Present the monthly KPI pack to the Purchasing director and to senior management occasionally
- Calculate and monitor the purchasing overhead absorption rate (purchasing fee) and explain any over/under recovery
- Provide detailed and complex variance analysis on gross margins for the wider cost of production team. 
- Complete balance sheet reconciliations. 
- Provide detailed analysis of the GRNI account in working through credit notes owed by suppliers. 
- Calculate and post amendments to stock to value at actual cost at the year end.  
- Led and successfully delivered the annual standard costing by coordinating the work of 3 other accountants.

Management Accountant (Supply Chain Controller)

- Finance lead responsible for reviewing the industrial/ operational performance of one of the business operations. 
- Prepare budgets and quarterly forecasts with budget holders.  
- Set the annual labour budget for 300+ employees. 
- Close out month end in a tight 2.5 day deadline. 
- Prepare journals for accruals, prepayments and ad hoc movements of cost. 
- Identify potential risk and opportunities and flag these to senior management.
- Cost control of site general/ travel expenses, over £15m per year. 
- Developed detailed reports on general/ travel expenses and to coordinate the delivery of a £2m expense reduction challenge set by group. 
- Use of SAP and Hyperion accounting systems (loading budgeted hourly rates, purchasing fees and expenses and forecast data into both). 
- Utilised strong Excel skills to automate many tasks savings over 2 hours at month end and simplify tasks during the month. 
- Involved in headcount reporting and standardising headcount reports between HR and finance to present consistent figures to senior management. 
- Business partner with the sheet metal/ components operation of the business.
- Audit support both internal and external. 
- Standard setting and material validations.
- Deliver the annual costing run to re-set standards for the new year. 
- Conduct frequent cost centre reviews with over 10 budget holders. 
- Work effectively with French counter parts.

Management Accountant (Industrial Controller)

Fujitsu

Worked as the finance lead for over 20 cost centres/ budget holders managing a cost base of over £20m per year.

Responsibilities included:
- Accurate creation of monthly management accounts
- Preparation of monthly journals
- Process and post accruals and prepayments on a monthly basis
- Managing the month end process
- Performing ad hoc analysis to provide information to the Finance Business Partner
- Created detailed business review packs for operational managers in their business reviews
- Provided detailed utilisation reports and variance analysis
- Prepare annual budgets and quarterly forecasts
- Perform a variance analysis between quarterly forecasts with commentary to the Finance Business Partner
    - Examples include:
        - Impact of new day rates on the forecast
        - Impact of changing rules of how group property costs are applied

- Conduct quarterly forecast reviews with operational managers and remove errors from the forecast
- Use of accounting packages such as Oracle and Hyperion Financial Management
- Developed excellent Excel skills

Finance Graduate - Cost Accounting

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

Lead Teacher at the Missionary Training Centre. Oversees the training for the English department consisting of 8 members of staff, while still maintaining all the responsibilities of an MTC Teacher. 

- Responsible for setting and managing the departments work schedule
- Participate in an interview panel for new teachers in the English department. 
- Delivers tailored training on the curriculum to staff on a bi-weekly basis
- Analyse effectiveness of teaching and offer training to improve quality of teaching.

Lead Teacher

Teacher at the Missionary Training Centre. Deliver a 2 week training programme to groups of 6-10 students in preparation for a 2 year, or 18 month, voluntary mission. 

- Deliver tailored training on core teaching skills to groups of 6-10 students
- Create specific personal development plans with students.
- Communicate clearly with team members on students progression 
- Employed time management skills in adhering to a fixed schedule 
- Utilised Microsoft Office in creating classroom learning materials

MTC teacher

University of Surrey Careers Service

Temporary campaign to produce university employability statistics by gathering information from recent graduates. This campaign contributed the University being ranked 6th best in the UK. 

- Developed a professional telephone manner through the calling of graduates
- Employed attention to detail while recording vital information
- Maintained an accurate database of potential leads
- Coordinated daily workload with colleagues to maximise results
- Analysed results which identified certain leads to target resulting in increased results.

Data Collector

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints

Worked in a voluntary role as an assistant to a leader of a local religious organisation.

- Prepared agenda's for weekly meetings and recorded action points
- Employed Microsoft Office skills in preparing visual materials for audiences
- Maintained an accurate database of membership information
- Managed the local leaders schedule
- Coordinated interviews with individuals and management
- Developed strong communication skills in coordinating with members of the organisation

Administrative Assistant

Was a full-time voluntary missionary/ official representative of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints in Scotland, Northern and the Republic of Ireland. Responsible for finding and teaching individuals wanting to learn about the organisation.

- Consistently worked 10-11 hour days to achieve targets
- Managed a team of 30 volunteers and set and reviewed their targets on a weekly basis
- Created PDP's with members of the team and periodically followed up with their progress 
- Developed a training programme which resulted in the doubling of new leads within the team
- Produced statistical reports for management using Excel
- Advanced interpersonal skills by training individuals on a 1 on 1 basis

International Volunteer

Vodafone

Placed in the busiest store in the region as a sales assistant in a high street telecommunications company.

- Employed communication skills in responding to customer queries, complaints and then, resolving customer concerns.
- Demonstrated leadership skills managing the shop floor and assigning work to team members 
- Developed an ability to manage time working with customers with limited time
- Converted new leads into customers
- Implemented staff training to increase effectiveness as a sales assistant

Sales Assistant

Looking for and working with high growth starts ups. We invest in and give active support to great founders to help grow and scale their businesses. 

Dan is the Finance and Commercial Director at Solid Bond Capital, where he provides finance leadership to the Solid Bond portfolio, works with founders through investment rounds and processes, leads on the finance support given to the portfolio companies and evaluates businesses pitching for investment taking them through from first pitch, investment, and post investment support. He is a chartered management accountant and graduated with a 1st class honours degree from the university of Salford. Following graduation Dan qualified in industry working with several businesses in accounting/ finance business partnering roles focused on financial and operational reporting/ performance improvement prior to joining Solid Bond Capital in 2019.

Dan Dudley

One of the checks investors are doing when you are pitching to raise #preseed is how do the founders fit into team. 

I've seen massive overlap in founders or a co-founder that clearly has no massive value add but owns a chunk of equity. It just starts to work against you.

And the sad thing is hardly anyone will ever feedback that that is the issue. Definitely worth looking at that heavily before going out to raise. 

#preseed #startups #venturecapital #founders

Pre-seed Investor at Solid Bond | Actively Investing | Finance and Commercial Director |

Ferenc Fekete

Helping non-tech Founders transform Ideas into SaaS products @ VeryCreatives | Product Agency, SaaS & MVP Development | Startups

Most non-technical founders struggle turning their SaaS idea into a scalable product.

They waste months (or even years):
→ Trying to hire the right developers
→ Burning cash on poor planning and execution
→ Second-guessing every technical decision along the way

Meanwhile, competitors move faster, investors demand traction, and the pressure to deliver keeps building more and more.

I've seen it happen far too many times.
Which is exactly why we started VeryCreatives.

We help early-stage founders go from idea to market-ready MVP in just 90 days...
...all without the stress of managing a development team of your own or writing a single line of code.

For the past 12 years, we’ve been building products for venture-backed startups, fast-growing scale-ups, and even globally recognized brands like Red Bull, Nestlé, and Philips.

Here’s how it works:

👉 1. Clarify your product strategy: 
First, we validate your idea, define your MVP scope, and ensure you’re building something the market actually wants.

👉 2. Create a world-class user experience:
Next, our design team crafts stunning, intuitive interfaces that set your product apart from the competition.

👉 3. Develop a high-quality, scalable MVP:
Finally, we build a robust and investor-ready product that quickly gets you to market (without cutting corners).

The startups we work with have:
✔️ Launched investor-ready MVPs in under 90 days
✔️ Secured funding from top-tier investors and VCs
✔️ Scaled from first users to thousands of paying customers

So if you’re a non-technical founder looking to turn your idea into a fully built MVP in the next 90 days... all without the stress or headache?

Shoot me a DM or book a quick consultation with me here to chat more about how you can get there: https://verycreatives.com/book-a-call

Co-Founder

At VeryCreatives, we are a team of expert developers who create powerful SaaS apps that solve problems and drive growth for founders with initial funding. We believe in empowering our clients with innovative software that helps them achieve their goals and stand out in their industry.

Our audience consists of driven and ambitious founders who have just received initial funding for their startup. They are looking for a software development partner who understands their vision, can help bring their ideas to life, and deliver results that will help them achieve their business goals.

Founders with initial funding have a pressing need to build their product quickly and efficiently to maximize their chances of success. At VeryCreatives, we understand this need and are dedicated to creating high-quality SaaS apps that not only meet their requirements but also exceed their expectations. We are committed to delivering value and results that help our clients succeed.

VeryCreatives stands out in the market for our ability to deliver high-quality, innovative solutions that meet the needs of our clients. Our unique approach to software development, coupled with our expertise and commitment to excellence, is what drives us to provide outstanding results to our clients.

Industries our clients operate in, using the SaaS products we've built: 
- Digital marketing, Event marketing & Influencer marketing SaaS
- Foodtech & Delivery 
- Fintech, Banking & Investments
- 2-sided marketplace platforms
- Agriculture & Livestock management
- Packaging compliance & Waste

Markets we cover: UAE, EU, UK, US.

Last week was tough for us.

One of our team members decided to move on after 9 years.

He joined when his kids were still young. Now they’re almost adults.

Over nearly a decade, he became a core part of the company. A leader. A pillar.

But when he told us he was ready for something new, we completely understood.

Because that's the kind of culture we’ve built here at VeryCreatives.

We talk a lot about creating a workplace where people WANT to stay.

But we also want it to be a place they can leave — on good terms, with support, and without regrets.

Sure, it's true that people move from job to job more often now.

But in our case, many team members have been with us for 5, 8, even 10+ years.

That doesn’t happen by accident.

We’ve always tried to build something stable in an unstable world. No politics. No corporate ladder drama. Just good people solving interesting problems together.

And when life happens, whether it's marriages, kids, or relocations, we adapt.

This year alone, we’ve celebrated milestone birthdays across the team — 30, 40, 50. We’re not just working side by side. We’re walking through life stages together.

That’s why people stay for as long as they do.

Because they know VeryCreatives is a place where you can grow AND feel safe. Where your work matters, but so does your life outside of it.

And when someone does eventually decide to move on?

They don’t just disappear. They stay part of the story. Some drop by for a beer. Others come back to work on new projects.

They leave a mark, and they always will.

The bottom line is this:

In a world that’s constantly shifting, it still matters (more than ever) to build something stable.

Not just a place where you can work. But a place where you can belong.

Helping startup founders & innovation labs validate and scale ideas into exit-ready products @ VeryCreatives | 🔥 Two decades in tech

Almost every time, the founders joining our MVP validation sprints come with a crystal-clear product idea… or so they think:

They have a list of features, a target market, and a deadline.

They want us to say "yes, we love it" and build fast.

Instead, 9 times out of 10, we push back.

We challenge every assumption:
👉 "Why do you need this feature?"
👉 "Has any user actually asked for it?"
👉  "What’s the fastest way to test if people will pay?"

Yes, it causes tension. Nobody likes to have their vision picked apart.

But after 2 days of interviews and rapid prototyping, all the flaws in your core hypothesis start to show up.

Sometimes, this means we cut ~70% of the features people just don’t care about.

And that’s what we’re here for. We help you ditch the noise and focus on what actually will grow your SaaS in the early stages.

It’s not a clean-cut process. It gets messy (and annoying) sometimes.

But our goal is to get you to real validation, a leaner MVP, and a demo users get genuinely excited about.

If you want that and a team that won’t nod along, but challenge you: DM me.

How we go from idea →validated MVP in 6 weeks (step by step):

1. Week 0: Ruthless alignment

We start by killing the founder’s “pet features” and locking in the one problem that makes or breaks the business.

If you can’t explain your core value prop in one blunt sentence, you’re not ready to build.

2. Week 1: Real user interviews (no survey BS)

We get the founder out of their bubble.

Talk to 5-10 target users, live (not with a Google Form).

Ask about their last real pain, not “Would you use this?”

This is where most SaaS ideas die (and that’s a good thing).

3. Week 2: Risk mapping

We list every assumption that could destroy your business model.

Then we grab the riskiest one and design our MVP to smash it fast.

No “nice to haves.” Only “must have” proof.

4. Week 3–4: Design-driven build

We use wireframes to map just the critical user flow – nothing more.

Our dev team builds only what’s needed for a real-life test.

If it feels embarrassingly lean, you’re on the right track.

5. Week 5: First contact

We put your ugly MVP in front of real users.

We measure: 

👉 Will they pay?
👉 Will they switch?
👉 Will they commit?

Crickets or confusion? That’s data, not failure.

6. Week 6: Debrief

If users bite, we double down.

If not, we pivot or kill it.

Every week, clarity beats comfort.

Okay, but how is this sprint different from something you can do on your own?

You get:

👉 A full team (PM, design, dev, QA) running tight Agile sprints.

👉 Weekly reports, no black boxes.

👉 3 months of post-launch support – because the real learning really starts after launch.

More details in the first comment – check it out 👇

The mistake I still see after 15 years building SaaS:

Founders obsess over “v2” features because building feels safer than hearing “no.”

So they polish and perfect, hoping bells and whistles can distract from the core risk:

It happens every quarter.

Another founder sinks months into a slick analytics dashboard.

Custom charts, exports, Slack alerts… you name it.

But when launch day comes, nobody even uploads their first dataset.

The question I’m asking my clients is:

Will anyone care enough to use v0.5?

Every “nice to have” is just a shield against the real test.

And every hour spent hiding behind code is a bet that gets more expensive.

All you need is proof someone will bother to try your ugly, unfinished, brutally honest version.

Start hunting for rejection.

Tag a founder who needs to see this.

taplio

The Battle

Dan Dudley

Ferenc Fekete

Followers

Posts

Engagements

Likes

Performance ScoreDan Dudley's LinkedIn Performance

Performance ScoreFerenc Fekete's LinkedIn Performance

Ready to grow your LinkedIn presence?

taplio

The Battle

Dan Dudley

Ferenc Fekete

Followers

Posts

Engagements

Likes

Performance Score.css-goub6s{font-size:var(--chakra-fontSizes-md);font-weight:500;color:var(--chakra-colors-gray-600);display:block;margin-top:var(--chakra-space-1);}Dan Dudley's LinkedIn Performance

Performance ScoreFerenc Fekete's LinkedIn Performance

Ready to grow your LinkedIn presence?

Performance ScoreDan Dudley's LinkedIn Performance