Wouter Born

Born Capital

Specialized CFOTech Investor | Backing the Future of Finance with AI & Automation

At Born Capital, we invest in the next generation of CFOTech companies, helping finance teams move beyond spreadsheets to AI-driven automation, real-time insights, and strategic decision-making.

🔹 17 Portfolio Companies – We back founders solving critical pain points in FP&A, financial close, CFO analytics, and AI-powered automation. From AI-driven AP automation to autonomous forecasting, our investments are reshaping how finance teams operate.

🔹 More Than Just Capital – As a former entrepreneur with a successful exit, I know firsthand the challenges of scaling a CFOTech company. At Born Capital, we offer strategic guidance, deep industry expertise, and connections to top finance leaders to help our startups grow and win.

We believe the CFO office is being redefined, and the best companies in this space will be the ones that leverage AI, data, and automation to drive smarter, faster financial decisions.

Looking to build the next big CFOTech company? Let’s connect.

General Partner

finstory.ai

AI-native platform that turns financial data into board-ready stories.

We help CFOs move from reporting to storytelling—automating variance analysis, narrative generation, and board decks in minutes.
Built for speed and clarity, powered by LLMs and real-world finance logic.

400+ on the waitlist.

Founder

The CFO Office

Every Thursday and Sunday I break down AI’s impact on finance, FP&A, and automation. As a speaker at high-profile CFO events, I help finance teams cut through the hype and take practical steps to leverage AI today.

Author

Aimplan

Aimplan is extending Power BI with planning, forecasting, and enhanced reporting to help organizations exceed their goals

Board Member

Dost

Dost is specializing in AI-driven automation of financial processes, particularly accounts payable. Their platform automates tasks such as invoice processing, data extraction, and reconciliation, reducing administrative costs by up to 80% and eliminating human errors.

Board Observer

FCCGroup

FCC Group is an international QuickBooks solution provider, offering comprehensive accounting and inventory management systems tailored for businesses operating across Europe, Latin America, and the Middle East. Their services include automated VAT, GST, electronic invoicing, and Intrastat reporting, all integrated within QuickBooks to ensure compliance with diverse regional regulations.

Hurree - The Segmentation Company 

Making Market Segmentation Better With One Platform

Investor & Advisor

insightsoftware

After the successful merger of CXO Software with insightsoftware, I took the challenge to head insightsoftware's M&A department, reporting directly to the CEO and working closely with private equity partner TA Associates.

Setting up a team for M&A frontend activities, such as deal sourcing, pipeline management, preparing executive briefings, valuating opportunities, due diligence, and deal closing.
Building internal M&A muscles, coaching the integration team, strengthening the weak spots in the organization.

We successfully acquired Jet Global. My roles were executive sponsor and integration owner, becoming the new CEO of 140 employees of Jet Global, while also managing the integration team of 40 insightsoftware leaders.

Senior Vice President Strategy & M&A

CXO Software

As CEO Americas, I grew CXO USA footprint and doubled our Recurring Revenues by setting up local sales and marketing, developping partnerships and maxamizing our existing customer relationships.

ACHIEVEMENTS:
▪︎Built a cross functional team from scratch, covering disciplines like sales, marketing, services & support
▪︎Successfully managed the merger of CXO Software with insightsoftware

CEO Americas

As co-founding partner I have driven the product vision behind CXO and led the R&D efforts. In this role I was constantly looking for innovation and closely involved in sales & marketing and retention & development of key-accounts.

ACHIEVEMENTS:
- Creation of the #1 CFO reporting solution, used by C-level executives of >150 Fortune 1000 companies
- CXO Cloud rollout
- Release of CXO Catalog, the first online marketplace for C-level dashboards

Co-founder & CTO/CPO

Partake Consulting

Sold Enterprise Performance Management (EPM) solutions (e.g. Hyperion, Arcplan, SAP BPC) to the CFO office of large multinationals, such as Rabobank, Heineken, Akzo Nobel, and Ahold. Trusted advisor for C-level executives of many global enterprises. In my role as sales manager, in 2007 achieved a 125% target achievement

Sales Manager

EPM/CPM (e.g. Hyperion, Tagetik, SAP BPC) specialist. Roles included project manager, senior implementation consultant, pre-sales consultant and client manager.

EPM Consultant

GP at Born Capital | CFOTech Investor, Advisor & Entrepreneur. Follow me for posts about finance transformation, FP&A, startups and entrepreneurship.

I’ve spent the last 20+ years at the intersection of finance and technology, helping CFOs move beyond spreadsheets to AI-driven, strategic leadership. 

My career has taken me from consulting for Fortune 500 finance teams to building, scaling, and investing in CFOTech companies that transform the way finance operates.

I co-founded CXO Software, a CFO-focused performance reporting platform that served clients like Johnson Controls, Honeywell, Experian, and Facebook. After an 11-year journey, CXO Software was successfully acquired by insightsoftware, a global CFOTech leader backed by TA Associates.

At insightsoftware, I led M&A strategy, guiding acquisitions and helping the world’s top CFO software firms scale. Now, as General Partner at Born Capital, I invest in the next generation of CFOTech startups, backing founders who are reshaping FP&A, financial close, and CFO automation.

I write CFOOffice.io, a fast-growing newsletter read by thousands of CFOs and finance leaders, where I break down AI’s impact on finance, FP&A, and automation. 

As a speaker at high-profile CFO events, I help finance teams cut through the hype and take practical steps to leverage AI today.

Beyond finance, I’m a competitive open-water swimmer, endurance athlete, and adventure-seeker. 

Let’s connect to discuss AI, finance, and where the CFO role is headed next.

Founding & Managing Partner

Specialized investor in CFOTech.
As an entrepreneur with a successful exit, I am passionate about helping founders to succeed. I have been in their shoes, and want to help them to thrive.

How to use GPT-5 in finance (evidence-based)

I built a SaaS dashboard from scratch. With just 2 CSVs, actuals and budget. GPT-5 combined them and calculated MRR, ARR, EBITDA, gross margin, CAC, LTV, growth rates, Rule of 40…

Then built KPI cards with 12-month sparklines, red/green budget variance, and full trend charts. It zipped the app, and I deployed to Netlify with one click.

You can complete complex FP&A tasks in minutes… 
work that once took hours or days.

If you want to use GPT-5 to impress your CEO and the Board. You'll find this useful: https://lnkd.in/dyaS4uH7

Note: Before giving sensitive files to ChatGPT. Make sure to get the team or enterprise version. If not, you can test with dummy files.

GP at Born Capital | cfooffice.io | CFOTech investor, advisor & founder of finstory.ai

4 things CFOs must never apologize for:
(evidence-based) 

1. Saying no to bad spending

In 2000, Enron's CFO, Andrew Fastow, created off-the-books entities to hide debt and inflate earnings. This led to $74 billion in shareholder losses and 20,000 lost jobs. A CFO must block wasteful spending and protect company value, even when unpopular.

Create a one-page rejection template that shows exact numbers, risks, and impact on cash flow. Share it with every spending request.

2. Asking hard questions

In 2002, WorldCom's CFO, Scott Sullivan, failed to challenge suspicious accounting practices. The company inflated earnings by billions through fraudulent entries, leading to the largest bankruptcy in U.S. history. Shareholders lost billions, and Sullivan went to prison. Never stay quiet when numbers look wrong.

Question every unusual entry. Create a monthly audit checklist that flags spending patterns, accounting changes, and revenue spikes.

3. Choosing cash flow over growth

WeWork burned billions chasing rapid expansion. Multiple CFOs left as the company prioritized scale over sustainability. By 2019, their IPO failed, and they lost $40 billion in value. Protect your cash reserves above all else.

Set a minimum 6-month cash runway rule. No exceptions, no matter how promising the growth looks.

4. Demanding full transparency

Theranos raised $700 million while hiding their true financials. They operated without a CFO for years. Result: Their $9 billion valuation disappeared, and the founder faced criminal charges. Push for complete financial visibility in every department.

Run weekly financial health checks with department heads. Make them show real numbers, not promises.

TAKEAWAY

The gap between good and great CFOs is not skill. 

It's courage.

The courage to say no.
The courage to ask why.
The courage to demand more.
The courage to test out new AI tools. 

Never apologize for being great.

I spoke to a former CFO who said:
Every decision a CFO makes should do 1 of 3 things:

1. Strengthen financial resilience.
Improve cash flow, optimize capital, and manage risk.

2. Drive profitable growth. 
Not just top-line revenue, but scalable, sustainable cash flow.

3. Increase operational efficiency.
Cut waste, automate, and build a finance function that scales.

That's it.

Every hire.
Every meeting.
Every strategy.

Some decisions pay off instantly. 

Others, like entering new markets or restructuring debt, take years.

But if it does not strengthen the company’s financial engine, don't do it.

A CFO’s job is simple:

Build lasting value, not just manage numbers.

Nothing more. Nothing less.

P.S. I’ll be in Los Angeles next week (Sept 7-9) for the All-In Summit. DM me if you're in town.

CFOs must stop chasing smarter AI and build the Agentic Finance Office. General AI models are failing. Here's what happening in finance and the change you must be ready for:

The all-in-one AI models are untrustworthy for finance.

GPT-5 is impressive. But it fails in finance. Why?

It hallucinates. Even a tiny error (0.01%) is a disaster in finance. General models often make things up or get facts wrong. They misclassify income and confuse transfers with purchases. Precision isn't optional here.

Compliance is a nightmare. Cloud-hosted general AI means more security risks and legal headaches. Data leaks and unauthorized access. These lead to huge fines and lawsuits.

The problem isn't AI's intelligence. It's the design.

You need specialized tools, not a Swiss Army knife for brain surgery.

Instead of one mega-AI that tries to do everything, finance must move toward agentic frameworks. AI teams where each agent has a role, and their work is coordinated and checked.

- One agent checks the raw data.
- A third writes the management narrative.
- Another agent drafts the variance analysis.
- A fourth ensures compliance with accounting standards.

Humans remain in the loop for final decisions.

The result?
Fewer mistakes, faster cycles, and scalable trust.

The future of finance isn't about one giant, smarter AI. 

The future of finance is about applying AI in controlled, structured ways. This is how you transform finance from a cost center to a strategic powerhouse.

AI models are hitting a wall and If you want to get ahead in finance with Agentic AI, you'll like this: https://lnkd.in/drr4Rc_V

AI will automate the median outcome. That’s the point. Let the machines own the average. The average model, the average narrative, the average plan. But your edge as CFO is everything above the median:

The constraints you enforce.
The assumptions you choose.
The context only your data reveals.
The story that aligns the org around what happens next.

But the real breakthroughs don’t happen in reports or Zoom calls.

They happen in real life, when 100 CFOs gather under one roof to share:

- What’s working
- What’s breaking
- What’s next

On September 26th in Dubai, you can be in those conversations.

With only 100 seats, this event is filling fast.

Don’t wait for the memo.

Be in the room: https://luma.com/5udk521n

You can meet peers who are building AI-powered finance teams, not just talking about them. And you’ll walk away with strategies you can put into practice the next morning.

Taplio

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