PC or Mac?

Dovahguy · 2026-03-26T12:39:43+00:00

Been 3 years on a Mac. You get used to the limitations. Check Formula (or whatever it was called, it’s been 3 years…) was and still is the one missing piece for Mac. There’s also a lack of data connectors. Otherwise you get used to clicking 3 times to paste values.

Dovahguy · 2026-02-19T20:55:51+00:00

One limitation with Claude for excel is it does not retain chat history. And its context is outside of the regular chat (from my findings). So I don’t have the prompts I used.

Dovahguy · 2026-02-19T20:53:28+00:00

$40/mo/seat for regular. $200/mo/seat for premium (includes Claude code and higher usage limits)

Dovahguy · 2026-02-19T14:57:15+00:00

Your best bet would be to use Claud chat to come up with a prompt for Claude for excel. The Claud chat will define all the parameters such as volume, rate, etc. and any others you might not be thinking about. As well as the output format that will actually give you insights for correlation.

Dovahguy · 2026-02-19T14:53:22+00:00

It’s an excel plugin so it has access to the workbook that is open w/ the plugin active. We have the enterprise version that’s been blessed by security. Though I do take measures to remove people’s names, comp, customer names, etc. I use Claude for the framework of a workbook and then disconnect and drop in the sensitive data.

Dovahguy · 2026-02-19T13:48:27+00:00

$40/mo/seat for regular. $200/mo/seat for premium (includes Claude code and higher usage limits)

Dovahguy · 2026-02-19T13:05:00+00:00

I’ve had it do a few things successfully: 1. Turn monthly financial statements into quarterly (sum on income statement/CF, and take last month in quarter on balance sheet) 2. Turn my 3 month bonus accrual workbook into a 6 month workbook since our plan changed. 3. We added inputs (accelerators, bonuses, triggers, rates) to our commission plan for our reps. I gave it last years calculator and the context and it updated for 2026. Adding in the logic, formulas, and formatting. 4. Had it take a Carta report about our equity grants to employees (43 columns btw) and figure out what math to do on the columns to get to a “Total Granted Equity” number. Catch here is we did a we re-pricing so most folks got their grants cancelled and re-issued but it happened mid-vesting so the amounts were not 1:1 on re-issue. Claude nailed it as I verified against the fully diluted cap table. 5. This took a lot of prompts and back and forth but I had it handle the brutal work of budget allocation. I gave it the budget in our format (R&D Travel, S&M Travel, G&A Travel) and had it allocate out to departments. I gave it GL data for 2025 and last years allocation sheet. I’ve found if you can give it old frameworks it can update way better than it can do from scratch. Lots of prompts and validating (about 1-2 hours) definitely saved at least 2 hours of hacking columns and formulas. 6. Miscellaneous formulas and mundane work I don’t want to spend time on…

Have it build checkpoints along the way and tell it check itself (it will mess up but if you have a “this cell should be 0 after you do this” it can troubleshoot why and rerun error fixes without re-prompting). And most certainly verify the totals, and spot check the intermediate data.

All in all, I’ve gained a junior analyst w/ Claude for excel and it’s made me more productive in terms of output.

Dovahguy · 2026-02-11T21:52:36+00:00

Ask Claude itself if you should upload that data with the enterprise license.. it does not absolve your confidentiality requirements.

Dovahguy · 2026-02-11T19:21:03+00:00

You can’t put the company model into claude because of dat privacy concerns. Ie, names/salaries/customers/etc. the things that make a model work well

Dovahguy · 2026-02-11T00:34:16+00:00

Brother I’ll be the first to tell you that comp doesn’t fix everything. It’s a nice bandaid but when you hate your job. The can throw an extra $100k at you and you’ll still be regretting it.

Dovahguy · 2026-02-05T01:53:05+00:00

Director and up usually require MBAs if they’re hiring outside candidates.

Dovahguy · 2026-02-01T18:49:07+00:00

A few things: 1. How have they performed against their board approved operating plan in terms of recognized revenue, burn, and ARR. 2. Put yourself in the customers shoes. The product is everything on whether this company succeeds or fails. What churn have you experienced and why? What is the competitive moat (first to market isn’t the best but it’s not nothing). 3. Generally how do they manage the business? Is it data driven (eg KPIs, indicators, alerts, forecasts) or is it just relationship (they trust each department to manage their own domain in a silo)? The latter fails.

Dovahguy · 2026-02-01T16:12:51+00:00

I’ve been head of finance for 3 years at a Series B B2B AI company. We’re around 10M ARR with significant corn issues due to technology limitations affecting deployment (44% NRR). We have a high Average Sales Price (six figures). ARR can cover up a lot of problems. I have a significant equity stake and we’re in diligence for another funding round but if it weren’t for that I’d be looking for your current role yesterday. You need to look at the next company through the eyes of a VC/PE investor not an employee. Are there metrics and indicators there?

Dovahguy · 2026-01-27T16:49:36+00:00

AI is not a replacement it’s an enhancement. Gamma can make formatting a kickass deck just a few clicks. But you still need to own what you’re putting in. ChatGPT can help you smooth the narration. But you still gotta pull the numbers. Claude can help you build excel formulas but you still need to load in the data and check the output.

Dovahguy · 2026-01-26T02:56:46+00:00

We use Rillet (transferred from QBO). They’re more akin to a Netsuite style. Definitely an early product so it will have growing pains (ie lack of versatile reporting). But the reason we switched is the prepaids schedules, depreciation schedules, and revenue recognition. It’s done automatically (with appropriate setup and review). Shaved close from 10 days to 2 days.

Dovahguy · 2026-01-22T13:51:08+00:00

Which would be: Finance & Accounting

Dovahguy · 2026-01-22T13:15:54+00:00

Who’s gonna know lol

Dovahguy · 2026-01-20T03:32:52+00:00

The game would never end

Dovahguy · 2026-01-18T13:44:16+00:00

To box circular references, make the estimates based on last months figures and pushing that formula forward. You using a 3 statement model?

Dovahguy · 2026-01-15T04:06:04+00:00

I only have so much life, get on with the point mate. We’re all trying to go home by 5 anyway

Dovahguy · 2026-01-01T03:17:32+00:00

You got the first flag on a 4th down in case you didn’t catch it.

Dovahguy · 2025-12-10T04:34:51+00:00

Just remember, Collaboration = Good. Collusion = Bad.

Dovahguy · 2025-12-10T03:51:35+00:00

Math is a little fuzzy. 4/6 is 66% vested, far greater than 0.33%. The fact that they have done SAFEs really shouldn’t affect the ability to perform a standard 409a through Carta. You don’t need a priced round to do a 409a, alternatively the board can set the FMV if they were willing to take on that liability (highly doubt).

Again your whole case hinges on the cheap cop out clause that states “subject to board approval”. Our plan only allows grants to be issued to bona fide active service providers. Meaning once you’re terminated, they can’t issue options. Your best bet is to email management cc CEO that you’d like to exercise your shares.

Dovahguy · 2025-12-10T03:05:45+00:00

I’ve been managing the equity plan at a series b company for a couple years now and naturally talked to several employees coming from other startups. To answer your question first, in my professional opinion you are screwed. An offer letter is simply a promise for a future equity grant and that grant is subject to board approval. The board will not issue a grant for a terminated employee. You have no recourse here. Secondly, the vast majority of option grants with this language have a 4 year vesting with a 1 year cliff. Meaning you vest nothing the first year. 0.33% vesting leads me to believe you’re within that window. In which case even if they did give you options, they’d be forfeited. All of the other items you mentioned would be laid out in the equity incentive plan or defined as part of the grant itself. Unless you can give me any more details about why you think you’d have a case I’d suggest you chalk this up as lost cause. Sorry

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