ZipGrow’s aggressive growth plan required a strategic CFO. Grayhawk delivered.
When ZipGrow approached Grayhawk, the 13-person firm had realized they had a potential home run on their hands. ZipGrow had a high-yield vertical farming system. Itcould be scaled from single-household to commercial size. They had acceptance in the marketplace, and ZipGrow were moving into international markets.
What they needed was someone to join their executive team. Someone who could help them get the financing to expand quickly and, eventually, lead them through an IPO.
Grayhawk spent time with CEO Eric Lang to understand the corporate culture. To understand the team the CFO would be managing and the personality and expectations of the CEO and board of directors.
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GRAYHAWK HELPS ZIP GROW GO VERTICAL
An aggressive growth plan required a strategic CFO.
Grayhawk delivered.
Getting to Know ZipGrow
Vertical farming may not be a buzzword for the masses — yet. ZipGrow, an international company based in Ontario, Canada is changing that, and quickly. The company’s mission is to increase local production of vegetables, thus reducing the need for long-distance transport of foods and its associated waste. It also aims to empower individuals to farm their own produce at home, even if that home has very little space.
ZipGrow makes vertical hydroponic farming systems that allow individual users and commercial farmers to grow food crops on vertical frames without soil. Because the frames are vertical and can be spaced closely together, farmers can reap an equivalent yield in a much smaller footprint. Furthermore, the germination-to-harvest process is much faster as well. They can even grow their crops indoors, allowing cold-tender plants like lettuces to be produced year-round in frigid climates.
5 TOP LEVEL QUALIFICATIONS
Process
The first step in any relationship is listening, and Grayhawk spent time with CEO Eric Lang to understand the corporate culture, the team the CFO would be managing and the personality and expectations of the CEO and board of directors.
“If we don’t complete our due diligence on those items, we’re potentially setting up a candidate for failure,” Clare said.
That understanding informed Grayhawk’s recommendations to ZipGrow. At base, Clare said, there are five top-level qualifications for a CFO:
1. Strategic — A strategic-minded individual with an instinctive understanding and active mastery of all aspects of your distinctive corporate strategy.
2. Proactive — A candidate willing to extend and embed themselves in the greater market, driven by a willingness to work with advisors and other partners on time-consuming transactions, such as acquisitions or fundraising.
3. Team Focused — A candidate at ease completing tasks independently or collaboratively.
4. Trusted Advisor — Inform the CEO on current information and regulatory requirements and effective recommendations to improve outcomes.
5. Leadership — A strong leader with sound judgement who can provide direction to the finance function and also represent the whole company as the primary responsible party over the company’s finances.
Grayhawk Helped ZipGrow Find Ross Morgan
The person Grayhawk found for ZipGrow was Ross Morgan, who had three decades of experience, including public financing and selling companies.
“Ross is a career deal junkie,” Clare pointed out. “He likes a company that has a strategic path to success that includes growth through acquisitions and, ultimately, a liquidity event.”
Some CEOs want someone to come in and tell them what to do, while others just want to give orders. Eric Lang was where Clare likes to see CEOs, in the middle: sure of his vision but also eager to have a productive give-and-take with someone who could help him achieve the company’s goals. Morgan turned out to be a great fit both for the relationship with Lang and with the ZipGrow culture which — in addition to expanding and making money — hopes to reshape the way agriculture is practiced, providing an alternative to foods grown on huge corporate farms and then shipped hundreds or thousands of miles to consumers.
Lang, with the help of Morgan, is pursuing those goals head-on. Just as the ZipGrow system brings the tastiest of strawberries from seed to luscious fruition in record time, Lang and Morgan are bringing the company to point of perfect ripeness at a record pace.
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