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What really happens in the first year of launching a startup?

In this episode of The Growth Department, Chelsey sits down with Marcus Rien, a CFO and CPA turned tech founder and the brains behind Waves CPAs. We'll unpack the messy, high-stakes, and deeply rewarding reality of going from corporate life to taking the entrepreneurial leap.

Waves CPAs is a tech-driven platform helping businesses find fractional finance talent AND helping entrepreneurial CPAs build flexible, meaningful careers. Marcus shares how his background in corporate finance and accounting led to spotting a major gap in the market, and why solving it required launching a startup of his own.

They dive into:

• What to expect in your first year as a founder
• How to grow a marketplace business from scratch
• The value of fractional CFOs and controllers for small and midsize businesses
• Why perfection kills momentum (and what to focus on instead)
• Lessons from sales, moonlighting, bootstrapping, and burnout
• Why the future of CPA work is flexible, remote, and founder-led
• Plus: How golf, springboard diving, and startup life actually overlap

Whether you're a CPA considering entrepreneurship, a founder building your first platform, or a business owner wondering if fractional finance support is right for you, this episode is packed with real-world insights you won't find in a startup playbook.

About Marcus Rien:
Marcus is the founder of Waves CPAs, a marketplace connecting companies with experienced, independent CPAs for fractional finance work. He's also a scratch golfer, former controller, and lifelong learner with a legacy brick outside U.S. Bank Stadium that reads: Belief Inspires Success.

Resources Mentioned:

• Connect with Marcus on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/marcusrien
• Learn more about Waves CPAs: https://www.wavescpas.com

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Each week, we interview founders, business leaders, and experts in their field about how to grow a business and the personal growth that comes with the journey. #LetsGrow !