Already have a name? Get a second opinion before you sign.
Infinia ·
You wouldn't buy a house without an inspection. You wouldn't merge a big pull request without a review. You'd get a second opinion before surgery, even from a surgeon your friend swears by.
But when it comes to the person who will own your numbers before a raise, or your architecture before an enterprise deal, most founders sign on one recommendation and one call.
Usually the recommendation comes from an investor:
"We got told during an investor meeting we needed a books guy."
And usually the candidate is someone the investor knows. That isn't wrong. Often they're very good. But "very good" and "right for you, right now" are different questions, and a referral only answers the first one.
So here's a simple habit: keep the referral, and get a second opinion before you sign.
Why a second opinion, not a replacement
Most founders don't want to throw away an introduction from someone they trust. They shouldn't. Investors, lawyers and accountants make introductions because they want you to succeed, and their network is genuinely useful.
A second opinion doesn't compete with that. It finishes the job the referral started. The referrer tells you the person is good. The second opinion checks whether they fit:
- Have they done this job at your stage? Good at a $40M company is a different job from good at a $3M one.
- Have they solved your specific problem? A raise, a churn spike, usage-based revenue and a security review need different people.
- Do they have room for you? How many clients they carry, and how many hours you'd really get.
- Will they own something, or advise? One founder described two fractional CFOs as "just paying someone for validation."
- Are they doing this on purpose? A career fractional is building a practice. An accidental fractional is between jobs and may leave when an offer lands.
None of those are questions your investor was asked to answer. They vouched for the person. Nobody checked the fit.
Why founders skip this step
It isn't laziness. It's three very human things.
It feels awkward. Checking your investor's friend can feel like questioning your investor.
You don't know what to ask. Jason Cohen, who built WP Engine, put it well: "Just because I went from a 0 to a 2 out of 10 in SEO skills, doesn't mean I know how to identify and hire a 9." If you're a 2 in finance or technology, you can't fully judge a 9 yourself.
You're in a hurry. The need usually shows up with a deadline: a raise, a diligence request, a board meeting. A second opinion feels like a delay.
All three are solvable, and the third one is backwards. The expensive delay isn't one extra call. It's finding out in month five that the person was wrong for the job.
What a good second opinion actually checks
If you do this yourself, ask these five questions of any candidate, however they reached you:
- How many fractional clients have you had, and how many now?
- Can I talk to two of them?
- What will you own in the first 90 days?
- What happens to my work if you take a full-time job?
- How would you handle our actual problem?
Then call the two past clients and ask one thing: "What did they actually own?" Not "were they good?" Everyone was good. You want to hear a number, a system, a result.
A career fractional answers all five in 30 seconds. An accidental fractional gets vague on the first four.
The three possible answers
A second opinion should end in one of three places. If someone offering one can't tell you which, it isn't an opinion.
1. "Hire them." They've done your job, at your stage, and their clients can say what they owned. Great. You now have a referral and a fit. Most of the time, this is the answer, and you should hear it plainly.
2. "Hire them, but change the terms." The person is right, but the engagement is vague. Define the number they own, the hours, and how it ends before you start. Most failed fractional engagements don't fail on talent. They fail on a scope nobody wrote down.
3. "Not for this." Good person, wrong problem or wrong stage. Better to know now, while you still have time to find the right one.
How to bring it up with your investor
If the awkwardness is what's stopping you, try this:
"Thanks for the intro. We run every senior hire through the same checks, so I'll do that and come back to you."
Most investors will respect it. Good ones will be relieved. It protects their reputation too: nobody wants to be the person who introduced the fractional CFO who left mid-raise.
When you can skip it
- The referrer has watched this person to your exact job, at your stage, recently. That's not just a referral. It's a reference.
- The work is small and short. A one-time books cleanup doesn't need a perfect match.
- You're strong in the area you're hiring for. If you can judge the work yourself, you already have the second opinion.
"That's exactly what an introductions company would say"
It is. Here's how Infinia makes money: [How Infinia makes money].
So here's the honest version: use the five questions yourself. You don't need us to run them.
But if you'd rather not do it alone, send us the name. We'll check them against the same criteria we use for every fractional we introduce, and tell you which of the three answers it is. If they pass, we'll say so. If they don't, and you want one, we'll introduce you to someone who fits. Free either way.
infinia.fun/for-businesses/intake
Quote sources: r/startups, "We got told during an investor meeting we needed a books guy" (reddit.com/r/startups/comments/1nm6v2h/_/nfaq97t/); r/startups, on fractional CFOs as "paying someone for validation" (…/nfbgt3n/); Jason Cohen, "My top 10 mistakes getting to $100M" (cloud.substack.com).