EP 189. Chris Morgan, Co-CEO, Oxygen Advisors

Apr 29, 2025

Chris Morgan, Co-CEO of Oxygen Advisors, shares insights from his journey growing a finance service for tech startups in Australasia. He discusses scaling from a one-man band in New Zealand to a 45-person team and the unique challenges of the Australian market. The conversation highlights the rise of fractional roles like CFOs, the role of AI in finance, and the significance of maintaining strong client relationships. Chris also reflects on his personal growth, illustrating how empathy and connection pave the way for business success.

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INSIGHT

Startup Funding Ecosystem Differences

New Zealand's startup funding was once angel dominated but now sees more VC involvement similar to Australia.
Australian ecosystem is more mature with more family offices and generational wealth impacting investment style.

ANECDOTE

Client Growth and Graduation

Tracksuit scaled rapidly with Oxygen's fractional CFO support but outgrew the model within 18 months.
Other clients have longer tenures depending on growth trajectories and finance complexity.

ADVICE

Rise of Fractional Roles

Fractional roles like CFO and RevOps offer startups focused, affordable support without full-time costs.
Fractional RevOps helps tie sales, marketing, and customer teams to drive growth efficiently.

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In this episode of Open The Pod Bay Doors, Host Ian Gardiner is joined by Chris Morgan, Co-CEO of Oxygen Advisors, a fast-growing outsourced CFO service supporting early-stage tech startups across Australasia. Chris shares the story of how Oxygen grew from a one-man band in New Zealand to a 45-person team, helping more than 100 startups scale and raise capital.

He dives into the challenges and opportunities of expanding into Australia, the evolving needs of startups, and how Oxygen is staying ahead by introducing new services like fractional revenue operations (RevOps) and exploring AI tools to drive efficiency — all while maintaining a strong, relationship-first approach.

Episode Highlights:

How Oxygen Advisors scaled from New Zealand to Australia.
Key differences between the New Zealand and Australian startup ecosystems.
The critical role of building trust and relationships in early-stage support.
Trends in fractional services, including CFO and RevOps support.
How AI is shaping the future of outsourced finance and operations.
Chris’s personal career journey and lessons learned from growing a high-performing services business.

Quick Fire Round:

📚 Book recommendation – Personally I like to read as a form of escapism from the heavy pressures of the world. So I really just read fiction. The one book that stays with me is slaughter house fire by Kurt Vonnegut. It's a classic, anti war sort of sci fi combo. It's weird. It's wonderful.
🎧 Podcast recommendation – I don't listen to a lot of podcasts but my go to would be Desert Island Disc
👨‍💼 Favourite CEO – From an international perspective Jason Lemkin from echosign, but then from a personal front I'd say James Sampson from file invite and Lincoln wantson from BraveGen
🗞️ News source – I can't help but check the New Zealand Herald. BBC for international news, but if I ever want to learn something or go deep on something, my go to is, Johnny Harris? He's a YouTube independent journalist.
🛠️ Productivity tool – I wouldn't be able to do my job without Slack. Both for managing external clients and internal
📱 Favourite app – Seesaw to stay up to date with what my oldest son, Teddy, is learning in his first weeks at school
📺 TV or movie recommendation – I'm partial to any British comedy but I think the top for me would be Gavin and Stacy
🎤 TED Talk topic – The art of fractional working - not fractional services but how to work in a fractional environment.

Tune in for a masterclass on scaling services for startups and the power of adapting to new markets.

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