Interview
Q& A
Michael Ford
Founder & CEO
Castaway Forecasting XU:
Castaway has been around the industry now for 12 years. Tell us what’s new with you and the team?
MF:
Our biggest news has been the recent release of Castaway Cloud. We’ve been working hard on this for a long time and we’re very proud of the result. At the same time, we’re transitioning the Castaway business to a cloud company. It’s a very different way of thinking and I’m loving the energy the team is bringing to the challenge.
I love face to face meetings with customers and partners around the world, so not being able to travel has been a challenge for me. We also had to revisit how we recruit new team members, which is an ongoing challenge for everyone, I’m sure.
XU:
Someone told me you don’t believe in budgeting. Excuse me, but is this true?
MF:
Ha, yes it’s true. It does get me in trouble with the traditionalists, but I think the old ways of budgeting kill businesses. One-year at a time, one scenario, no updates, with a forward view that shortens as the year goes on … it makes the business short sighted. Rolling forecasting all the way for me!
XU:
What is your vision for those involved
XU:
Oh wow, that’s big news. It must have taken something to build a cloud software product during the last 2 years of a global pandemic. What did you have to overcome?
MF:
It helped that my team has always been good at collaboration. We had the tools and means for everyone to work in their homes. Like most people, we had to sharpen our communication skills over video calls. The engineering team remained very productive. We’ve had people on the customer working hybrid for years, so our customer success, consulting and sales teams didn’t miss a beat.
74 / Issue 30
XU Magazine - the independent magazine for Xero users, by Xero users.
