Episode 34: Catherine Dahl – Building Beanworks, Scaling to $100M, and Creating Freedom Through Leadership

Catherine Dahl is the former CEO of Beanworks, a fintech company specializing in accounts payable automation. Under her leadership, the company scaled from early struggles to a $100M exit. Today, she focuses on supporting early-stage fintech companies and mentoring women entrepreneurs.

🎥 Watch this conversation on YouTube, and don’t forget to SUBSCRIBE!

Key Topics Covered

• From Accountant to CEO: Catherine’s unconventional path to leading a tech company and the lessons she learned as a non-technical founder.
• Building a Growth System: How systems like Metronomics helped Beanworks scale from $300,000 to $7 million in recurring revenue.
• Core Values in Action: The transformative impact of aligning leadership and team culture with core values.
• Navigating the Exit: Lessons from selling Beanworks for over $100 million and transitioning to life beyond the business.
• Advice for Founders: The importance of hiring the right leaders, creating clear accountability, and focusing on what you do best.

Key Takeaways

1. Systems are Essential: "You need a growth system if you want to scale fast with the least amount of pain."
2. Culture Drives Success: Embedding core values into hiring and team processes ensures alignment and builds a thriving company culture.
3. Hire for Growth: Finding the right leaders who can scale with the company is critical—“It took me seven tries to get it right.”

Memorable Quotes

• "Freedom means choice—the ability to make decisions about how you spend your time, money, and energy."
• "If your core values aren’t baked into your hiring, you’ll struggle to create alignment."
• "The right team and the right systems are the key to scaling without unnecessary pain."

Links & Resources Mentioned

• CEO & Leadership Team Cohort Coaching with Catherine Dahl & Matt Dion
• Learn about Beanworks: beanworks.com
• Explore Metronomics: metronomics.com
• Book Recommendation: Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson

Actionable Takeaways

1. Create a scorecard for every senior hire to ensure clear expectations and accountability.
2. Bake core values into hiring and onboarding processes to strengthen your culture.
3. Use systems like Metronomics or Scaling Up to bring clarity and structure to your business strategy.

If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe, share it with your network, and leave a review. For more on building high-performing businesses, visit jeanmoncrieff.com.