In this episode of the [A] Growth Ventures Podcast, Hamlet Azarian sits down with Len Finkle, CEO of Profisee, a master data management software company based in Atlanta.
Len has been a CEO three times, and he is nine years into the current one. When he walked into Profisee, it was about 70 people, $4 million in ARR, and losing a little money. Today it is north of $60 million in ARR, better than 40 percent compound annual growth for nine straight years, across two different private equity sponsors. But the reason this conversation matters is what happened before Profisee. His first CEO seat was at Empower, a rollup of three businesses that had stopped growing because, in his words, they did not know who they were. That company was bought by its biggest competitor. Len took the lesson and ran the next one differently.
This conversation explores how he decides what to fix first when he steps into a company, why forecasting accuracy tells you more about a sales team than the numbers do, how he handles tough board meetings, and why he thinks most corporate AI projects are going to fail.
His central insight: stop trying to make all of your data perfect before you do anything with it. Start with the business outcome you need, find the handful of data attributes that outcome actually depends on, and make only those right.
What We Discussed with Len
1. Know Who You Are
Len’s first CEO seat was Empower, a rollup of three businesses (HR software, payroll tax, workforce management) that kept acting like three companies and had stalled. His takeaway: the market can’t understand you if you don’t understand yourself. He carried the same lesson into Profisee, where Parker Gale brought him in to replace the retiring founder, ~70 people and ~$4M ARR, and focused it on a value proposition executives could grasp fast.
2. People First, and the 360 That Changed How He Leads
People are Len’s top priority, because you can’t scale if every decision runs through you. Two years into Profisee, growth had slowed to single digits, so he ran a 360 on himself and his own team rated him low on teamwork. The fix: he had seven people working for him when he needed seven working with each other. He started pushing leaders to each other instead of answering everything himself.
3. Hiring Sales and Forecasting Accuracy
Len looks for three C’s in salespeople: curiosity, courage, and commitment. But his real tell for a great sales org is forecasting accuracy. Most treat it as a board exercise; Len treats it as proof of excellence, since accurate forecasting shows a rep understands the deal, has reached the real power base, and gets honest answers instead of hope. When a rep is honest that a number is at risk, the organization can actually help attack the problem together.
4. Handling Tough Board Meetings
Len’s rule: never surprise a board. Communicate along the way and you build the trust that makes a hard meeting just bad instead of horrific, so it becomes about solving a problem they already know about. He prepares members ahead of time, wants their feedback in the room, and pushes back when he’s convinced he’s right, because the CEO owns the outcome either way. He also makes the case for an ex-CEO on the board alongside the PE partners.
5. Flip AI on Its Head
Profisee cleans, enhances, and harmonizes enterprise data, which matters more than ever as agentic AI starts working autonomously, since agents need accurate data to send invoices or manage inventory on their own. Len’s advice for any CEO on AI: stop trying to perfect all your data first. Start with a specific business outcome, find the 10 to 20 data attributes it depends on, and make only those perfect. One client cut time from idea to shelf, since 30 days saved is 30 days of revenue. Pick a narrow, already-critical outcome and you get real ROI.
Key Takeaways
- 01:25 – The Empower story: a three-company rollup that did not know who it was, and got acquired by its biggest competitor
- 04:43 – Taking over Profisee from its retiring founder at ~70 people and $4M ARR
- 07:41 – Scaling to north of $60M ARR over nine years at 40%+ CAGR
- 08:33 – The day-one equity shock: motivating a company when most employees no longer hold equity
- 11:41 – Why people are the number one priority when stepping into any company
- 12:18 – The 360 review that revealed seven people working for him instead of with each other
- 14:15 – Purpose over mission: a prism for every product and go-to-market decision
- 18:11 – The three C’s for hiring salespeople: curiosity, courage, and commitment
- 20:12 – Why forecasting accuracy is a reflection of sales excellence, not just a board report
- 24:53 – Handling tough board meetings: never surprise the board, build trust in advance
- 30:01 – The value of an ex-CEO on the board alongside the PE partners
- 31:29 – What Profisee does: clean, enhance, and harmonize enterprise data
- 34:20 – Why agentic AI and the ROI it unlocks all depend on accurate data
- 40:11 – Flip it on its head: start with the business outcome, not perfect data
Final Takeaway
Len Finkle’s story is a playbook for scaling a PE-backed company without losing the people who make it work. He puts people first, builds teams that work with each other instead of through him, insists on a clear purpose, and treats forecasting accuracy as a signal of how well his sales organization really understands its deals. And when it comes to AI, he flips the usual order: outcome first, then the narrow set of data that outcome depends on.
Whether you are a founder preparing to take on private equity, an operator trying to break through a growth ceiling, or a leader figuring out where AI actually belongs in your business, this episode makes one thing clear. Scale comes from clarity, trust, and the discipline to narrow your focus to what truly matters.
Connect with Len Finkle
Email: len.finkle@profisee.com
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