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From Excel Jockey to Category Creator: How Clockwork’s Founder is Reinventing Financial Planning
Founders often talk about falling in love with the problem, not the solution. But for Clockwork‘s founder Fady Hawatmeh, living the problem meant spending countless hours building Excel models for entrepreneurs who kept asking the same question: “What if?”
In a recent episode of Category Visionaries, Fady shared how his journey from outsourced CFO to software founder revealed a crucial insight: the financial planning and analysis (FP&A) tools available weren’t built by the people who actually used them.
“You can tell they weren’t built by CFOs,” Fady explains, reflecting on his time testing competitor solutions. “I tried every single tool in the market… I was a paying user for the majority of them.”
This firsthand experience shaped Clockwork’s approach to product development, but it also highlighted a common trap in enterprise software: the gap between what users say they want and what they actually need.
Early in Clockwork’s development, Fady learned this lesson the hard way. After spending six months and significant resources building an automated solution based on direct user feedback, he encountered an unexpected response: “Well, I need to be able to customize this and customize this,” he recalls users saying. “I’m like, you told me that you wanted it automatic.”
This moment crystallized a crucial insight about product development: “Trust your feedback, but also trust what you know and trust what you see and always push forward. Why are they giving you that piece of feedback?”
Rather than rushing to market, Fady spent four years refining the product. While he admits he “could have done it a lot sooner, a lot cheaper,” this methodical approach helped establish Clockwork as what he calls the “third generation FP&A” – making financial planning accessible to businesses that can’t afford six-figure annual software bills.
The strategy appears to be working. In their first full year in market, Clockwork achieved 5x revenue growth. But perhaps more tellingly, they’re winning by focusing on genuine problem-solving rather than sales tactics.
“When we get on calls, I love doing sales calls because I get to talk to people and hear their perspective and hear the struggles that they’re going with and legitimately help them fix their problems,” Fady shares. “If it’s something that Clockwork can solve, I immediately jump for joy and I solve it with them.”
This commitment to authentic problem-solving becomes particularly important as the FP&A space heats up with new entrants and massive funding rounds. While competitors chase what Fady calls “the flavor of the month,” Clockwork maintains its focus on small and mid-sized businesses – a segment he knows intimately from his consulting days.
“I know companies that are between one and 25 million in revenue. I know what they are going through,” he explains. “You can’t replicate my experience, and you can’t replicate my team’s experience. So when you take what I know, that’s something I don’t care if you raise $100 million, you cannot repeat that.”
Looking ahead, Fady envisions Clockwork becoming “the workday type platform for every company that makes less than $100 million in revenue.” Rather than just handling financial projections, he sees Clockwork evolving into a comprehensive platform managing payroll, HR, and other critical business functions.
The end goal? “If you’re not using Clockwork, you are missing out. Your company has an increased chance of failure if you’re not using Clockwork.”
For founders building in competitive markets, Fady’s journey offers a powerful lesson: deep domain expertise, combined with genuine commitment to solving customer problems, can create more sustainable advantages than simply having the biggest war chest. Sometimes, the best way to disrupt a category is to truly understand it first.
Actionable
Takeaways
Understand Your Market:
Deep personal experience with the problem can drive genuine solutions. Fady's background as an outsourced CFO provided invaluable insights.
Iterate with User Feedback:
Engage with your early users to refine your product. Trust their feedback but also leverage your own expertise to guide development.
Stay Focused:
In a noisy market, maintain focus on your core mission and unique value proposition. Ignore distractions from competitors’ funding news.
Build Genuine Relationships:
Prioritize genuine, customer-centric interactions over quick wins. Long-term success is built on trust and true value.
Scalability and Integration:
Plan for scalability by integrating multiple business functions into your platform, ensuring comprehensive solutions for your target market.
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