Mastering Cash Flow Operations with Radical & Incremental Innovation - Insights from my Japan trip

At the end of last year, I finally took some time off for a family trip to Japan - a rare break to recharge from the grind that comes with building and growing a company. While we were there a powerful earthquake hit the country on New Year's Day.? Japan sits on the Ring of Fire and has about 20% of the world’s strongest earthquakes. The Japanese government pushed the boundaries on seismic resilience of buildings after the Great Kanto earthquake of 1923 that devastated Tokyo and Yokohama where 140,000 lives were lost.? This was a radical innovation or Kaikaku in Japanese.? Since then they have kept improving upon the seismic resilience and developed a 3-tier architecture?- incremental innovation or Kaizen.? Another example of Kaizen was the flawless evacuation of all 379 people aboard the JAL Flight 516 at Haneda airport that burst into flames when a coast guard plane crashed into it.? This evacuation was possible because of the rigorous annual training and examinations for all crew -? a commitment to excellence and incorporating any new learnings.? JAL had one of their planes crash into a mountain in Aug 1985 where only 4 out of 524 people survived and since then JAL committed to never having this happen again.

I could draw parallels from these events and the Japanese innovation culture to what we do at rtZen. We are performing an intricate balancing act between radical and incremental innovation for finance operations that dramatically and continuously improves cash flow optimization.??

We have completely rethought how to address the underlying problem of the disconnect between accounting and operational data. Our solution involves bringing them into a single finance operations platform, seamlessly integrating with our customer's chosen ERP system and the customer's transaction bank(s). It’s a single pane of glass, if you will, that challenges the siloed point products, manually created spreadsheets and processes that are norms of finance operations today.

Traditionally, finance operations have been very reactive, only addressing issues after they have occurred. We have redesigned a solution using an AI-powered approach allowing businesses to anticipate and solve problems before they arise, as well as gain insights to shape the future of their operations. Through behavioral learning, intelligent features, and a co-pilot mode we empower businesses to optimize their cash flows. Not only does this benefit day-to-day operations but it also enables businesses to navigate unexpected events more effectively. Imagine having the ability to easily move money before major bank failures or accurately track real-time cash positions to pay for corporate acquisitions

At rtZen we enable continuous improvement and automation in our customer’s daily operations. We believe even small changes can have a significant impact. By digitizing bill capture and approvals, providing? a consolidated cash position, and automatic GL and cash reconciliations we help create a more streamlined and productive financial environment, while also bringing immediate time and cost savings.

Despite the challenges faced in 2023, we had a successful year as we transitioned from early pilots and design partners to having paying customers in production. This achievement is pure gold for an early stage startup like ours, as it validates the need for intelligent and automated finance operations that optimize cash flows. It also serves as a reminder that cash has always been king even if there was a momentary lapse of reason that had made some businesses forget this. The growing demand for our platform affirms that our focus on providing efficient and effective cash flow optimization is both necessary and relevant.

As we embark on a new year, our dedication to pushing boundaries and continuously improving sets us apart as artisans (or should I say rtZens) in the field of finance operations. We understand that this area may not always be considered glamorous, but we believe it deserves the attention and innovation we bring to it. Thank you for being a part of our journey thus far!

We can’t wait to light it up, work with you to write our story and scale new heights!!? Happy New Year 2024.? Let’s go!!!

rtZen(artisan) is an AI-powered? SaaS platform providing real-time visibility, automation and intelligence?to optimize your finance operations

(Interested in learning how rtZen can optimize your cash flows? Feel free to DM me or send a message to [email protected] or check out our website www.rtzen.ai )