About
From Intern to CFO in 8 Years.
Then It Got Interesting.
I'm Saul Mateos. CFO-operator with 20+ years building operational engines from zero to billions. Currently operating Finance, Marketing, Technology, and HR at GAIN, a $100M SaaS company. Previously scaled operations at Fortune 100s and VC-backed startups.
The track record: Delivered $1B+ in operational efficiencies. Raised hundreds of millions. Achieved multiple X revenue growth. At Expedia, I was using AI for forecasting when nobody else was talking about it.
Really: Just someone who figured out finance is 20% math, 80% psychology, and 100% about making operations work.
The Numbers
The Credibility Stuff
Because you need to know I've actually done the job before telling you how to do it.
2008-2016 | General Motors
Started as intern. Left as CFO of $1B business. Turned around operations in Chile, Peru, Bolivia. Learned: Big companies teach process. Crises teach speed.
2017-2019 | Expedia/Egencia
Sr. Finance Director. Automated everything manual. Improved forecast accuracy from 85% to 99%. Learned: Perfect data doesn't exist. Ship anyway.
2019-2021 | The Coca-Cola Company
CFO Marketing. Led biggest reorg in decades. Delivered $400M in efficiencies. Learned: Even Coke uses Excel for important stuff.
2021-Present | GAIN & Pure Watercraft
CFO roles at VC-backed startups. Raised $20M when everyone said impossible. Cut costs 30%, doubled revenue. Currently: Writing Python while Excel calculates.
Why CFO Lab Exists
LinkedIn Finance Advice Problem
LinkedIn finance advice is 90% people who haven't operated in a decade. I write what I learned operating 4 departments yesterday. The operational reality beats outdated theory.
Permission Over Process
Your team needs permission to ship at 90%, not another approval framework. Someone needs to admit that integrated operations and good-enough automation beats perfect silos. I'm that someone.
Sunday Night Reality
Every Sunday night, some CFO is googling "how to run marketing ops" at 11 PM. They just inherited their third department. This is for them. It's documenting the multi-department reality 10,000 other CFO-operators live.
About Saul
Spanish kid from Barcelona. Twenty years in America. 6 US states, 3 Latin countries. Living proof that accents are overrated when your work speaks for you. Still think in Celsius and wonder why America needs three temperature systems.
Dominican wife who keeps me grounded. Daughter born in NYC. Son born in São Paulo. Dog from Atlanta who runs the house. Bilingual family dinners with Spanish tortilla, American burgers, and Dominican mangú. The only spreadsheet-free zone in my life.
AI before ChatGPT made it cool. Demand generation in marketing (yes, CFOs can geek out on CAC). Computer nerd since age 10, now living the dream. Believe automation should multiply productivity, not just create efficiency. Building > Planning.
Sunday morning pancakes. Sunday night newsletters. Still haven't figured out American football. Think Super Bowl is about the ads. Ship at 90% or ship never. Work-life balance is choosing which screen to stare at. Wouldn't change a thing.
Connect With Me
Let's Talk Operations
Every two weeks, I share frameworks from operating across departments. Real metrics, real failures, real solutions you can implement Monday.
Join CFOs running multiple departments, founders building operational excellence, and future operators who get it.
Or reach out directly: Contact Me
I respond to operational questions between juggling my 47 Excel tabs.