Always Stay Curious: Interview with Chitra Balasubramanian, CFO of CircleCI

I recently went one on one with Chitra Balasubramanian, CFO of CircleCI.

Adam: Thanks again for taking the time to share your advice. First things first, though, I am sure readers would love to learn more about you. How did you get here? What experiences, failures, setbacks or challenges have been most instrumental to your growth?

Chitra: Thanks for having me Adam. I’m the Chief Financial Officer at CircleCI, the largest continuous integration and continuous delivery (CI/CD) platform. We help thousands of companies worldwide validate change in an increasingly complex cloud-native environment. Put simply—we empower developers to take ideas to execution, at scale. 

As the CFO, I’m responsible for overseeing CircleCI's general and administrative functions. I’ve helped lead the company through major wins to establish itself as a leader in its space, and work closely with our CEO, Jim Rose, to fundraise. In fact, we recently closed a $100 million Series F, led by Greenspring Associates, bringing our valuation to $1.7 billion. Additionally, I’m an executive sponsor and mentor of CircleCI’s Women & Allies Employee Resource Group, CircleSHEi. 

I also serve on the Board of Trustees for the Computer History Museum, a remarkable hub that showcases the history of computing and continues to chronicle new advances in technology. Here I advise on general finance and operational matters, as well as participate in long-term strategic conversations for the institution.

Like many CFOs, my background is in finance and accounting. I first started in public accounting, then went on to becoming one of the first subject-matter experts on financial auditing for PricewaterhouseCoopers' Center for Advanced Research division, an innovation think tank responsible for the design and development of advanced technologies that solve previously unsolvable problems for the firm's core practice areas. Here I worked closely with a team of veteran technologists to design new tools that the company of 180,000+ employees would go on to use to streamline its business. From there I became fascinated by cutting-edge, innovative technology and quickly found myself in the startup world following a stop in Technology Investment Banking. 

The first startup I worked at was Blackhawk Network and my role there was split between marketing and supporting a product and all of its forecasting, budgeting, etc. That role really exposed me to marketing metrics and their importance. So when I joined another startup years later, now known as RetailNext, that was developing a brand new set of metrics, it became my job to figure out how to educate customers on this new suite of metrics. 

After I conquer one thing, I want something else to learn from and push myself to take on another challenge. That’s ultimately what led me to CircleCI.

Adam: What are the most important attributes of an effective CFO and why?

Chitra: An effective CFO isn’t just focused on the numbers, they’re focused on understanding every aspect of the business. CFOs need to understand all drivers of the business including the CEO’s vision, the go-to-market and product teams’ goals and objectives, as well as the experience of the employee base, in order to be a successful strategic advisor. 

Especially in a year like 2020 where we faced a pandemic, political turmoil, social and economic shifts, it’s important that CFOs really understand what everyone is going through and lead with empathy. 

Adam: What are your three best tips applicable to financial service professionals?

Chitra: First and foremost, it’s important that financial service professionals think and lead in a forward-looking way. Finance leaders can sometimes be viewed as a blocker or one who imposes constraints. But finance is all about fueling those on the ground and driving the business forward. Start with your big picture strategy. Manage the constraints as they arise. 

Next is to work closely with other departments including engineering and their IT counterparts to see how you can help them succeed. Software and technology are core to a company’s business, so it’s important that both of these teams are represented in financial decision-making processes. 

I also encourage financial service professionals, especially CFOs, to have a network to soundboard ideas, solve problems with and solicit support. Every CFO has a different environment and different challenges, but ultimately we’re all going through the journey together. I’ve found it helpful to talk to other CFOs on what their return to office plans look like, or what HR benefits they’re thinking about putting in place for the first time. This helps me to think about things differently and solve challenges with the support of others. 

Adam: What do you believe are the key qualities of an effective leader? How can leaders and aspiring leaders take their leadership skills to the next level?

Chitra: Effective leaders I admire are often those who are calm and analytical. When it comes to decision-making, effective leaders are the first in the room to dissect the impact of the challenge at hand in order to mitigate risk and determine the best next step. 

Because of this approach, team members and direct reports are more trusting and open to express when they’ve faced a roadblock or made a mistake, for example. Or when they’ve done something amazing. This way you know early on if you need to course correct or double down on strategies and processes as challenges or projects evolve. It encourages constant feedback loops and the ability to iterate and improve.   

Adam: What are your three best tips applicable to entrepreneurs, executives and civic leaders?

Chitra: Start big. Worry about the checks and balances second. If you’re thinking about the future possibilities based on your individual current capabilities, it’s likely you’re limiting yourself and your business from maximum potential.

Once you have your big idea, then you can start to lay the groundwork and chip away at the smaller elements. I always find it to be most efficient when I tackle challenges in bite-sized pieces. Start by dissecting the impact of the challenge in order to determine next steps. There’s almost always a problem to a solution, you just have to start small. To build a house, you have to first start by laying down the brick. 

Also, lean on others to help you in your journey and seek opportunities outside of your comfort zone. Get comfortable getting uncomfortable. Accomplishing your goals takes a village, but if you take on the hard stuff and surround yourself with supporters, you'll be amazed by the opportunities.

Adam: What is your best advice on building, leading and managing teams?

Chitra: Top-level, ambitious goals cannot be achieved without overall structural growth. It’s important to invest in your teams and your employees because they’re the ones who help make a successful company. 

I think it’s important to create teams where individuals have exceptional experiences. One of the most important tasks of the CFO is making sure your team feels comfortable. Team members should be able to share their perspectives, bring up challenges, and ask for help without judgement. Create a space that encourages asking for help, supporting others and showing empathy. 

Adam: In your experience, what are the key steps to growing and scaling your business?

Chitra: Our focus and our business model is centered on the customer, their experience and their growth. Focusing on giving our customers what they need, how and when they need it, is something that is so critical to our growth story: We only make money when our customers derive value from our platform. There are plenty of companies that sell solutions that can sit on a shelf, unused, but they still get paid. We don’t believe that model works best for our customers and it doesn’t push us to continue to innovate.  

My advice is to really get to know your customers, the challenges they are facing, the challenges that are upcoming, and figure out how to meet their needs in more places. 

Adam: What are your best tips on the topic of capital raising?

Chitra: Capital raising is a systematic process. It might seem mysterious to those who haven’t been involved in the process before, but it’s a pretty straightforward process. You start with a set of investors who are appropriate for your stage and industry and then start talking with them. Some will pass and others will want to move on to the next step, and from there you continue on this process to ensure both parties are a good fit. It’s a marathon, not a sprint.

Because of this, it’s important that you talk with investors year-round. You want your investors to be informed over time, so that when fundraising needs to happen, it’s not a cold start. You can move faster in the process when you have a relationship and it makes the whole process so much smoother. 

Adam: What is the single best piece of advice you have ever received?

Chitra: “Always stay curious.”


Adam Mendler is the CEO of The Veloz Group, where he co-founded and oversees ventures across a wide variety of industries. Adam is also the creator and host of the business and leadership podcast Thirty Minute Mentors, where he goes one on one with America's most successful people - Fortune 500 CEOs, founders of household name companies, Hall of Fame and Olympic gold medal winning athletes, political and military leaders - for intimate half-hour conversations each week. Adam has written extensively on leadership, management, entrepreneurship, marketing and sales, having authored over 70 articles published in major media outlets including Forbes, Inc. and HuffPost, and has conducted more than 500 one on one interviews with America’s top leaders through his collective media projects. A top leadership speaker, Adam draws upon his insights building and leading businesses and interviewing hundreds of America's top leaders as a top keynote speaker to businesses, universities and non-profit organizations.

Follow Adam on Instagram and Twitter at @adammendler and listen and subscribe to Thirty Minute Mentors on your favorite podcasting app.