Blog

Frank Growth – Episode 222 – Getting a CFO on Board with Your Growth Plan with Simon Heyrick

by Cristel Baste

Episode #222: Simon Heyrick — How CFOs become real growth partners

What it actually takes to turn your CFO into a growth ally instead of a gatekeeper.

For founders, CEOs, and CMOs trying to align finance with marketing and growth investments.

Simon Heyrick is the CFO of Sun World International and was Jason’s CFO and then CEO at Soothe. In this conversation, Simon walks through what changes the moment you step into the CEO seat (“overnight, there was a shift in the relationships”), what every CFO role across green Dot, Soothe, and Sun World has had in common, and how he evaluates growth pitches from CMOs. He shares the story of Soothe’s brand refresh that didn’t survive a single board member’s objection, the TV spend he’d take back in hindsight, and why at Sun World — a 50-year-old PE-backed agriculture IP business — the finance model runs out 25 years and the data sets matter more than the AI strategy.

WHAT YOU’LL HEAR
– The two CFO archetypes — growth partner vs. growth gatekeeper — and how risk tolerance separates them
– How to pitch growth investments to a CFO without getting dismissed (skip the impression counts, bring an intellectually honest ROI story)
– Why institutional investors rarely understand operations, and how to manage the “feet below the surface” dynamic
– What Simon learned moving from tech and marketplaces to a 50-year-old agriculture IP company where customers are farmers, not consumers

youtube logo
spotify logo
apple podcast logo

Frank Growth

Top Articles

Frank Growth – Episode 224 – The Bootstrapper’s Revenge with Alex Roy

Tuesday, June 16, 2026

Frank Growth – Episode 224 – The Bootstrapper’s Revenge with Alex Roy

Episode #224: Alex Roy — Bootstrapping an AI company for 12 years, no funding He founded an AI company in 2014—when AI was a punchline—bootstrapped it with zero outside capital, and landed Fortune 50 clients. For founders and growth operators figuring out how to build (and sell) AI products in a market that shifts every...
Frank Growth – Episode 229 – Longevity Medicine’s Dirty Secret with Jim Donnelly

Tuesday, July 21, 2026

Frank Growth – Episode 229 – Longevity Medicine’s Dirty Secret with Jim Donnelly

Episode #229: Jim Donnelly — Franchising longevity medicine without losing medical quality How to scale a medical franchise when you can’t train a local owner to interpret biomarkers. For operators and founders standardizing a complex, high-trust service across many locations. Jim Donnelly scaled Restore Hyper Wellness to 260 locations before starting Humanaut Health, a concierge...
Frank Growth – Episode 235 – The Marketing Engineer with Nick Lafferty

Tuesday, September 1, 2026

Frank Growth – Episode 235 – The Marketing Engineer with Nick Lafferty

Episode #235: Nick Lafferty on Marketing Engineering, Category Creation, and Closing His Own Deals He was the first marketing hire at Profound, and within weeks he was shipping production code and taking sales demos himself. For founders making their first marketing hire and for marketers deciding what to learn next. Nick Lafferty is the Founding...
Frank Growth – Episode 234 – Nobody Has The Playbook Yet with Dave Steer

Tuesday, August 25, 2026

Frank Growth – Episode 234 – Nobody Has The Playbook Yet with Dave Steer

Episode #234: Dave Steer on repositioning a brand around AI in three months Webflow’s CMO had 90 days to relaunch the website, reposition the brand, and ship an ad campaign. For marketing leaders whose board just told them to become AI native, and who don’t have a playbook for it. Dave Steer is CMO at...

See more

Browse Categories

See more

Ready to unlock your growth?

Book Free Call

We take a custom approach to your growth goals by assembling and leading the best-in-class marketing team to support your next stage.