LSE Focal Point Podcast Nick Leopard - Founder and CEO of Accordion
Mar 3, 2026
Nick Leppard, Founder and CEO of Accordion and co-founder of SaaS platform Maestro, brings deep PE finance and banking experience. He discusses building a firm to serve CFOs of private equity-backed companies. Conversation covers scaling from staffing to consulting, founding discipline, culture-first hiring, and traits that succeed in PE finance.
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Narrow Focus Created A Unique Market Position
- Accordion focuses exclusively on office of the CFO consulting for private equity backed companies to occupy an underserved niche.
- Nick identified the gap after hands-on portfolio work post-2008 showing big firms weren't serving middle-market PE-backed CFO needs.
How 2008 Crisis Sent Nick Into Portfolio Operations
- Early career at CapitalSource and Bear Stearns shaped Nick's view of high-performing teams and finance depth.
- The 2008 crisis forced mezzanine investors into portfolio operations, sending Nick to CFOs and revealing recurring operational gaps.
Culture As The Engine Of Talent And Quality
- Culture-first hiring creates a virtuous cycle: great culture attracts top talent, which produces better work and higher-quality clients.
- Nick credits investing in culture for Accordion's brand and ability to scale while keeping quality.