Episode 3

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Published on:

19th Sep 2025

From Tinkerer to CTO with Mattia Peiretti

In this episode, Mattia Peiretti shares his journey from a young tinkerer to the CTO of PocketCFO, a startup focused on making finance effortless for entrepreneurs. He discusses the importance of curiosity, the role of AI in finance, and the dynamics of building a successful team. Matt emphasizes the need for daring and innovation in the tech landscape, offering valuable insights for aspiring CTOs and entrepreneurs.

Chapters

00:46 Intro & Early Tech Obsession

05:04 From School Projects to Running an Agency

12:10 Scaling Up at Pararius

16:17 Inside the Antler Experience

22:58 Finding a Co-Founder & PocketCFO’s Start

29:32 Why SMEs Matter & The Future of Finance

41:00 Building Fast, Smart Tech without Regrets

50:42 Lessons & Advice for Aspiring CTOs

About Mattia

Mattia is a techie at heart. Since the age of 3 years old he was fascinated with technology and the impact that could be achieved by it. From taking toys apart and playing with Arduino at 10, to building a game engine in C++ at 12, to starting a Web dev and Marketing agency at 18.

His passion for building also expanded from tech to business. Building innovative products that solve real world problems. Having worked with lots of SMEs and having seen their problems up close, now on a mission to make finance for SMEs intuitive and proactive, leveraging AI and cutting egde technologies.

Where to find Mattia

  1. LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mattiapeiretti/
  2. Website: https://mattiapeiretti.com/
  3. PocketCFO: https://pocketcfo.io/
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About the Podcast

The CTO Compass
CTO, CIO & Tech Leadership: Strategy, Clarity, Building Teams & Real-World Lessons
The CTO Compass is a podcast about CTO, CIO, and tech leadership - on strategy, scaling, teams & bringing clarity to technology leadership for real boardroom impact.

Hosted by Mark Wormgoor, each episode features candid conversations with experienced CTOs, CIOs, and senior tech leaders from startups through to large enterprises.

The focus is on the real work of leading in tech:
– Setting clear tech strategy that aligns with business goals
– Scaling teams and culture
– Making high-stakes decisions under pressure
– Navigating the transition from hands-on engineer to executive leader

This is not a hype show, nor a theoretical leadership podcast. Guests share hard-won lessons, mistakes, and practical insights from the moments that mattered most - when clarity was missing, heavy decisions needed to be made, and leadership was tested.

If you’re a CTO, CIO, or tech leader looking to sharpen your thinking, increase your influence, and create real impact in the boardroom, The CTO Compass is built for you.

About your host

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Mark Wormgoor

How do you decide which tech to bet on when AI is moving so fast?
And everyone expects you to have all the answers?

I work alongside leaders when technology decisions keep them up at night. Over the past 30 years, I’ve been in those moments myself - leading large global IT organizations, consulting for industry leaders, and advising executives and boards.

What I’ve learned is that the hardest part isn’t the technology itself. It’s setting the right direction, building teams that can execute, combined with rigorous execution.

Today, I lead Tairi. We work as a strategy, coaching and execution partner for leaders where technology is a real driver of business value, not just a supporting function.

As technology and AI continue to reshape businesses, my focus is simple: helping leaders make the right tech decisions - and execute on them.