Shows / CFO THOUGHT LEADER
CFO THOUGHT LEADER
CFO THOUGHT LEADER is a podcast featuring firsthand accounts of finance leaders who are driving change within their organizations. We share the career journey of our spotlighted CFO guest: What do they struggle with? How do they persevere? What makes them successful CFOs? CFO THOUGHT LEADER is all about inspiring finance professionals to take a leadership leap. We know that by hearing about the successes — (and yes, also the failures) — of others, today’s CFOs can more confidently chart their…
Episodes
CFO THOUGHT LEADER655: Awaiting the Return to Travel | Tom Tuchscherer, CFO, TripActions
Twenty-five to 30 years ago, senior executives seeking CFO roles did not think like Tom Tuchscherer. Many still don’t, which is why CFO roles have increasingly…
CFO THOUGHT LEADER654: The Path to Being IPO-Ready | Drew Vollero, CFO, Allied Universal
When Drew Vollero arrived in the CFO office of Snap (formerly Snapchat) in 2015, the executives occupying the tech world’s traditional IPO talent bench no…
CFO THOUGHT LEADERIn Search of a Culture Metric | A Workplace Champions Episode
"Talent has become really important, and you have to remain constantly focused on it—today, I spend around 20% of my time on it." - Ross Tennenbaum, CFO…
CFO THOUGHT LEADER653: From Real Estate to the Immune System | Chad Cohen, CFO, Adaptive Biotechnologies
Of all of the business discussions that Chad Cohen has had over the years, few are likely as memorable as the 20-second conversation he had with Zillow CEO…
CFO THOUGHT LEADER652: Exposing Gross Margin’s Hidden Levers | Jeff Nichols, CFO, UJET
In 2016, when Jeff Nichols had been a senior member of Glassdoor’s FP&A team for 2 years, he and other members of the finance team were confronting the nagging…
CFO THOUGHT LEADER651: Remedying Your Metrics Disconnect | Ross Tennenbaum, CFO, Avalara
Ross Tennenbaum remembers that back in 2018, when he was a managing director at Goldman Sachs, he had conversations with a number of senior executives from…
CFO THOUGHT LEADER650: When Opportunity Comes Your Way | Kieran McGrath, CFO, Avaya
In 2008, as the economic downturn threatened to upend IBM Corp.’s financial well-being, the company’s leadership was considering different candidates to lead a…
CFO THOUGHT LEADER649: Entering the Auction Room | Martin Nolan, CFO, Julien's Auctions
Had Martin Nolan studied engineering instead of accounting, his career path would likely never have entered the worlds of Marilyn Monroe, John Lennon, and…
CFO THOUGHT LEADER648: A Life Sciences Angler Casts a Sturdy Line | Bill Adams, CFO, NervGen Pharma
It’s a familiar sequence: A strong-minded investor musters the will to lead and steps into the CEO office determined to revitalize a struggling technology…
CFO THOUGHT LEADER647: Accruing Your Global Acumen | Adrian Talbot, CFO, Hotwire
When Adrian Talbot tells us that he parachuted into Thames Television in the early 1990s, the image of the London skyline—once used to brand the popular…
CFO THOUGHT LEADERBonus Episode: The Networking Imperative | Robert Bendetti, CFO, Life Cycle Engineering
Bendetti: I'm trying to steal that great quote from Warren Buffet, "I'm trying to be greedy while others are fearful." And I'm trying to grow. And if you're an…
CFO THOUGHT LEADER646: Making Finance a Workforce Whetstone | Michelle McComb, CFO, Bluecore
Just as Michelle McComb was imagining that she would shortly be joining another Silicon Valley start-up as a finance leader, the CFO of Lucent Technologies…
CFO THOUGHT LEADER645: The Investor Came Knocking | Glenn Schiffman, CFO, IAC/InterActive
There’s little question that 2020 will long be remembered as a year of crisis for the casino industry. Commercial gaming revenues in the U.S. were down 79…
CFO THOUGHT LEADERCOVID Keeps People Top of Mind Among Business Leaders - A Workplace Champions Episode
More keenly aware of the competitive price of employee burnout and workforce attrition — many midsize companies are today busy rethinking how they attract…
CFO THOUGHT LEADER644: Thwarting COVID By Rethinking Opportunities | Mike Brower, CFO, Office Evolution
Back in the late 1980s, Mike Brower’s list of audit clients included a roster of oil and gas companies as well a local university and a number of different…
CFO THOUGHT LEADER643: The Rise of People-Centric Finance | Katie Rooney, CFO, Alight Solutions
Back in 2015, Katie Rooney was only 7 months into her first industry CFO role at Aon when her boss asked her to exit the office. “He came into my office on…
CFO THOUGHT LEADER642: The Virtues of Top Line Growth | Sachin Patel, CFO, Apixio
It’s not uncommon for career-building executives inside the finance realm to obtain an MBA in order to pivot their careers in a new direction. Such was the…
CFO THOUGHT LEADER641: The IPO Playbook & Creating Opportunity for Others | Steve Cakebread, CFO, Yext
“It’s not cheap to go public,” concedes CFO Steve Cakebread, echoing the oft-repeated refrain that founders and CFOs confront when considering the prospect of…
CFO THOUGHT LEADER640: Communicating Your Strategic Plan | James Samuels, CFO, EXUMA Biotech
Jamie Samuels still recalls some of the raised eyebrows that he saw after having completed in short order both the verbal and written portions of an exam that…
CFO THOUGHT LEADER639: Thriving at the Deep End | Catherine Birkett, CFO, GoCardless
Back in the early 2000s, Catherine Birkett found herself being pulled into confidential meetings where her company’s senior management was discussing…
CFO THOUGHT LEADER638: The Path to Being Cost Smart | Jim Gray, CFO, Ingredion
It's the type of business restructuring capable of striking envy in the hearts of many a company board member—and particularly those known to favor one…
CFO THOUGHT LEADER637: Experiencing the Market Economy Spirit | Tom Fencl, CFO, Pricefx
The son of two doctors, Tom Fencl recalls that while growing up in communist Czechoslovakia, to him a free market economy was more “an intellectual curiosity”…
CFO THOUGHT LEADER636: Being Part of the Team | Marsha Smith, CFO, Siemens, USA
Members of Siemens USA’s finance team would probably not be surprised to learn that when their CFO, Marsha Smith, is asked to reveal the experiences that…
CFO THOUGHT LEADER635: Finding Your Finance Team's North Star | Markus Harder, CFO, Contentful
The Berlin headquarters of software developer Contentful occupies an old brick warehouse with heavy metal doors and broad functional corridors and spaces…
CFO THOUGHT LEADER634: Milestones for M&A Success | Steve Young, CFO, Duke Energy
It was a little over 40 years ago when Steve Young first joined what would become Duke Energy, the giant electric power holding company headquartered in…
CFO THOUGHT LEADER633: Marching to Fintech's New Beat | Matt Briers, CFO, TransferWise
Among the more transformative chapters of Matt Briers’s finance career was his 3-year stint monitoring and forecasting margin performance inside Google’s UK…
CFO THOUGHT LEADER632: Exposing the Connection Between Financial and Operational Data | Jacqueline Purcell, CFO, Deputy
Jacqueline Purcell’s path to the CFO office began inside an Australian law firm where as a young attorney she was advising corporate clients and their bankers…
CFO THOUGHT LEADER631: Explaining the Business Reason Behind the Number | Steven Springsteel, CFO, betterworks
Back in the early 1990s, Steven Springsteel nabbed an interview for a CFO role with a high-flying tech start-up. At the time, he was controller for Apple’s…
CFO THOUGHT LEADER630: Building the Business Case | Bennett Thiemann, CFO, Applicaster
It was the type of role that any recent business school graduate could envy—not because of the position’s title (Chief of Staff) or how much it paid, but…
CFO THOUGHT LEADER629: Freshly Ripens On The Vine | Matt Hagel, CFO, Freshly
It’s a story that Matt Hagel likes to share as he networks with fellow finance executives and accounting types. Back in 2017—only days after stepping into a…
CFO THOUGHT LEADER628: Allocating Resources to Achieve the Right Outcomes | Inder Singh, CFO, Arm
Inder Singh started off his professional life as an engineer, only to learn that the large engineering projects that he aspired to someday lead often faced as…
CFO THOUGHT LEADER627: Learning the Lyrics to a Finance Career | Mark Sargent, CFO, Westhaven Power
At the start of his finance career, Mark Sargent says, he could not picture himself working for a large, big-name corporation. He says that he was drawn…
CFO THOUGHT LEADER626: The Path to Greater Profits | Jason Peterson, CFO, EPAM Systems, Inc.
CFOTL: You first arrived at EPAM in 2017, can you tell us what was top of mind as you entered the office? What were some of your early priorities? Peterson: I…
CFO THOUGHT LEADER625: A Transformative Transaction | Eyal Hen, CFO, Rekor Systems
Back in 2004, on the very day that Ormat Technologies, Inc., began trading on the New York Stock Exchange, Eyal Hen began working in as an assistant controller…
CFO THOUGHT LEADER624: Accelerate Around the Curve | Alyssa Filter, CFO, Clari
Filter: When we were talking at the executive staff level, it's from a mindset of accelerating around the curve. And so I think our CEO has really coined that…
CFO THOUGHT LEADER623: When an Opportunity Rises to Meet You | Sinohe Terrero, CFO, Envoy
When Envoy CFO Sinohe Terrero is asked about his career chapter at Etsy, the online marketplace founded in 2005 and headquartered in Brooklyn, New York, he…
CFO THOUGHT LEADER622: Elevating Your Organization's Financial IQ | Shane Hansen, CFO, Planful
CFOTL: Having only stepped in to the CFO office in April, what is the vision you have for the role of CFO? Hansen: I’m really keen on having Planful be a world…
CFO THOUGHT LEADER621: The CFO as Science Enabler | Ivor Macleod, CFO, Athersys
When veteran CFO Ivor Macleod first contemplated joining an early-stage pharma company, the condition known as acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) was…
CFO THOUGHT LEADER620: When People Matter Most | Laurie Krebs, CFO, Red Hat
It was October 2019. Red Hat, Inc., was preparing to submit its latest quarterly results to its new parent, IBM Corp., and Laurie Krebs had just been named Red…
CFO THOUGHT LEADER619: Using Data to Power Up Ad Inventory| Ray Carpenter, CFO, Xandr
When Ray Carpenter retraces his steps to the CFO office at Xandr—an analytics and advertising company formed by AT&T’s WarnerMedia—he singles out two earlier…
CFO THOUGHT LEADER618: From COVID's Initial Shock to IPO in 60 Days | Dave Jones, CFO, Vroom
Not unlike the careers of his finance leader peers, the finance career of Dave Jones, CFO of online car seller Vroom, has been shaped and influenced by…
CFO THOUGHT LEADER617: Finding Your Seat at the M&A Table | Dennis McGrath, CFO, PAVmed
Dennis McGrath was only recently married and a new home owner when he was invited to a Phillies game by the CFO of AC Manufacturing. At the time, McGrath was…
CFO THOUGHT LEADER616: Predictability and the Pipeline | Ashim Gupta, CFO, UiPath
When asked to share a few of the experiences that he feels prepared him for a CFO role, Ashim Gupta recalls what he characterizes as a significant accounting…
CFO THOUGHT LEADER615: Validating Your Proof Points for Investors | Jeff Epstein, (CFO Emeritus) Oracle, DoubleClick, King World
In the mid-1990s, when Jeff Epstein was busy satisfying the M&A appetites of media clients for First Boston, one of his smaller, but more boisterous clients…
CFO THOUGHT LEADER614: In Pursuit of Data's Deep Impact | Matt Borowiecki, CFO, Biofourmis
When asked what led him to open his latest career chapter as CFO of Biofourmis, Matt Borowiecki quickly mentions the 2018 sale of MassMutual Asia Ltd. to…
CFO THOUGHT LEADER613: Helping Others Get the Big Picture | Anders Fohlin, CFO, Medius
Early in his finance career, Anders Fohlin discovered that he could ratchet up his capacity to consume information and problem-solve simply by drawing…
CFO THOUGHT LEADER612: The Rewards of Customer Insight | David Wells, CFO, ENDRA Life Sciences
Back in the mid-1990s, David Wells was a financial analyst for a Bay Area supply chain management company that boasted an impressive list of Silicon Valley…
CFO THOUGHT LEADER611: An Acquisitive State of Mind | Jon Nguyen, CFO, Kyriba
Jon Nguyen got his first taste of M&A-related work in the early to mid-2000s when he served as the finance partner for the auto lending unit of HSBC. “In…
CFO THOUGHT LEADER610: Getting a Read on Economic Recovery | Michael Borreca, CFO, LYNX Franchising
Finance leaders who remain skeptical of the prospects for economic recovery inside the 2020 calendar year may want to consult LYNX Franchising CFO Michael…
CFO THOUGHT LEADER609: Minding Your Financial Ps and Qs | Matt Ellis, CFO, Verizon
It’s a story that Verizon CFO Matt Ellis seems to enjoy telling and one that he has undoubtedly related more than once before. One evening while in high…
CFO THOUGHT LEADER608: Opening the Acquisition Chapter | Jody Cire, CFO, AllCloud
When the Sarbanes–Oxley Act was enacted 18 years ago, it required the Securities and Exchange Commission to create regulations to define how companies should…
CFO THOUGHT LEADER607: Exercising Discipline to Expose Trend Lines | Angiras Koorapaty, CFO, Reversing Labs
When a new CEO is recruited to lead a company, it’s not uncommon for the incumbent CFO to be replaced. However, there are certain network-savvy CFOs who are…
CFO THOUGHT LEADER606: Leveraging the Value of Culture | Will Costolnick, CFO, Hire Dynamics
Years from now, when Will Costolnick thinks back to the start of his CFO career, he will likely count the 12 months that preceded his appointment as CFO of…
CFO THOUGHT LEADER605: When Finance Sings a New Tune | John Cappadona, CFO, School of Rock
Unlike the music artists and instructors recruited by School of Rock to provide music lessons at its 270 locations around the globe, John Cappadona was first…
CFO THOUGHT LEADER604: When It's Time for a Fire Drill | Gordon Stuart, CFO, Unit4
In the late 1980s, when Gordon Stuart exited a 4-year stint as an auditor with Price Waterhouse, he bid accounting farewell—or at least he did until he stepped…
CFO THOUGHT LEADER603: All Eyes on Recovery Indicators| John Bonney, CFO, Harness
When John Bonney joined San Francisco–based Harness a little more than a year ago, he became not only the company’s first CFO but also its first finance hire…
CFO THOUGHT LEADER602: A Creative Agency Weathers the COVID Storm |Peter Mair, CFO, CMD Agency
Mair: It was probably in the first week of March, we had to close our Seattle office and have people work remotely. And it was about the second week in March…
CFO THOUGHT LEADER601: Championing Cash Flows to Disarm COVID | Hilla Sferruzza, CFO, Meritage Homes
Related Article From Forbes.com Years from now, when Hilla Sferruzza recalls her initial actions to buffer the impact of COVID-19 on home builder Meritage…
CFO THOUGHT LEADER600: Charting Your Course to Survive and Thrive | Amir Jafari, CFO, Reputation.com
When Amir Jafari looks back and reflects on his path to the CFO office, he includes two character traits that have arguably long distinguished finance leaders…
CFO THOUGHT LEADER599: Sharpening Your Customer Acumen | David Woodworth, CFO, insightsoftware
At the age of 31, David Woodworth was offered CFO positions at two different firms. The first offer came from his then current employer, where as vice…