Welcome to the Women in Tech Series from the Global Tech Leaders Podcast. Today we are speaking to Lin Chan Chief Financial Officer at Hayden AI. She has extensive experience in international finance with start-ups and multinationals. Her industry experience includes commodities, manufacturing, and cleantech including solar, nanotechnology, software service, internet, communications, storage, semiconductor and consumer products.

We kick off by asking Lin to share her career journey with us and what has led her to where she is today.

• Grew up in Malaysia.
• Always wanted to be in business, as her grandmother was very successful.
• Lived with Aussies.
• Great place to develop.
• Learnt confidence.
• Met her husband there.
• Going public.
• Tech world.
• Silicone Valley.
• Exit and plan your strategy.
• So many tech startups.
• HDMI
• The world of cannabis.

We ask Lin what she feels is the most challenging part of her financing role.

• Duty to the board and shareholders.
• Step up with the risk of losing your job, and going over the CEO.
• Stressful.
• Buddhism.
• Disclosing it to the chairman.
• Straight shooter.
• Public controller.
• IPO

Next, we ask Lin what are the stages of funding in an organisation and how they go about raising the money.

• Projecting growth.
• Revenue.
• Profitability.
• Treasury.
• HaaS
• External market data.
• Seed money.
• Series A - first round of funding.
• Series B - scale up operations.
• Trust.
• No one can do what Hayden is doing right now.

Then we ask Lin what advice she would give other women CFOs that are in the making.

• Have tough skin.
• Don't expect to win any popularity contest.
• Take money to make money.
• In a startup everything is flexible.
• Available and accessible at all times.
• You are the producer of your own movie.

Lastly, we ask Lin, about a tool she uses to stay organised that she can't live without.

• Spreadsheets.
• Powerpoint.
• Notebook.
• Phone.