549: Stay the Course | Cort Townsend, CFO, Kofax Software
Release Date: 11/17/2019
997: From Reaction to Action: Capturing Insight for Growth | Daniel Bisgeier, CFO, Constellation
CFO THOUGHT LEADER
When faced with unprecedented challenges, the true mettle of a leader is tested. Daniel Bisgeier, a seasoned CFO, exemplifies how continuous improvement and strategic decisiveness pave the way for corporate resilience and growth. Reflecting on his career, Bisgeier notes that significant progress often doesn't come in bursts but through "persistent effort over time and constant refinement." A poignant illustration of Bisgeier's strategic agility occurred during his tenure at MediaMath, amid the tumultuous onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. The crisis had abruptly shifted the demand environment,...
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From Rearview to Road Ahead - A Planning Aces Episode
CFO THOUGHT LEADER
Leadership in FP&A: All three CFOs emphasize the role of finance in leading and driving business performance through strategic foresight, detailed operational insights, and proactive engagement. Technology and Innovation: There is a strong inclination towards integrating new technologies like AI to enhance the capabilities of finance teams and improve business processes. Collaboration and Influence: The CFOs highlight the importance of collaboration within organizations, where finance must work closely with other departments to influence and drive business outcomes effectively.
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996: Cultivating a CFO’s Toolkit | Aaron Levine, CFO, Prophix
CFO THOUGHT LEADER
From his early days in auditing at PwC to his current role as CFO at Prophix, Aaron Levine has had a career that has closely tracked the evolving nature of the financial leadership role. His journey has been marked by a series of strategic transitions and expansions of his skill set that illustrate the broadening demands of being a modern CFO. An important early chapter of Levine’s professional development was his tenure under Steve Vintz, who at the time was CFO of Vocus, where Levine served as a VP managing both accounting and finance. It was under Vintz’s mentorship that Levine came to...
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995: Embracing Change to Energize Your Career | Dan Murphy, CFO, Commercetools
CFO THOUGHT LEADER
The way Dan Murphy sees it the CFO position demands that leaders always be kept on high alert. It’s a mindset that had led him to habitually monitor updates and alerts related to key vendors, including banking institutions. And so it was, in first quarter 2023 when Murphy recalls spotting a vague tweet hinting at possible financial instability at Silicon Valley Bank. Despite the tweet’s uncertain implications, Murphy recognized the risks inherent in relying solely on one bank. He proposed a strategic move to company management: diversify the company’s financial reserves by transferring a...
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Controllers Classified | Accounting in the Sports World with Patrick Lynch of the Boston Celtics
CFO THOUGHT LEADER
On this episode of Controllers Classified, host Erik Zhou welcomes Patrick Lynch, Senior Vice President and Controller of the Boston Celtics, who shares his journey from ball boy to financial leader for the team. Patrick highlights the milestones of his career, including his transition from an internship to working closely with the CFO, and the significant growth of the Celtics organization. He also imparts wisdom on how to seize career advancement opportunities and offers advice for those aiming to enter the sports industry. The discussion then does a deep dive into the world of accounting...
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994: Balancing Top-Line Growth and Bottom-Line Results | Naresh Bansal, CFO, Menlo Security
CFO THOUGHT LEADER
Ask any CFO about their career-building years, and they will likely attribute their success to their adaptability and ability to render strategic insight. This tendency was recently amplified for us when we heard about the experience of Naresh Bansal, a seasoned finance executive who during a pivotal chapter early in his early career discovered that his company was about to be acquired by a larger one, Sage. His company at the time—initially an independent entity focused on aggressive growth and innovation—offered a vibrant but challenging environment that tested the mettle of its...
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993: Building Resilient Careers: Lessons from a CFO Expat | Hilary Norris, CFO, GTreasury
CFO THOUGHT LEADER
A little more than 15 years ago, Hilary Norris had the ultimate dream job at a tech company in sunny California, a perfect alignment of professional goals and personal life. However, the idyllic scenario was disrupted when the company was acquired, a common turning point that often spells uncertainty for many executives. Facing a potential career setback, Norris was initially marked for replacement but was later asked to stay on and lead the finance operations of the combined entity. This twist in her career path wasn’t just a test of her professional capabilities but also a...
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992: Unlocking Holistic Company Performance | Udit Tibrewal, CFO, Anomali
CFO THOUGHT LEADER
Kicking off his career fresh out of school, Udit Tibrewal joined the audit practice ofPricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) in New Delhi, where he set about learning the intricate workings of financial compliance. The ambition to broaden his horizon and a hunger for new challenges led him to make a bold move to the United States, landing him first New York City. The shift from New Delhi’s familiar chaos to New York’s dynamic hustle coincided with a widening of Tibrewal’s finance lens. It was here, amidst the skyscrapers of Manhattan, that he began to embrace the complexity of technology companies...
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991: Transforming Investment Wisdom into Management Strategy | Jeff Bray, CFO, Semperis
CFO THOUGHT LEADER
Long ago, the power of focus was a lesson that Jeff Bray learned early in his career while transitioning from the role of analyst to that of portfolio manager. He recalls a strategic moment when he realized that narrowing his investments from many down to just three to five key stocks would greatly amplify his success. This principle of concentrated effort not only transformed his approach to investment management but also became a guiding principle throughout his career, which includes his latest stint as CFO of Semperis, a leading cybersecurity firm. At Semperis, Bray is applying this bit of...
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Controllers Classified: Building high-performing global finance teams
CFO THOUGHT LEADER
In this episode of Controllers Classified, host Erik Zhou is joined by Katie Slattery, VP of Accounting and Corporate Controller at Fivetran. The conversation begins with Katie’s start in Ireland at KPMG Dublin as an auditor, and traces her path from auditor to accountant. Fun fact: Katie has been the first controller/accounting hire at several high growth companies! The conversation then pivots to Katie’s current priorities at Fivetran and how she translates company-wide KPIs into team specific goals around reliable data and control efficiencies. Katie also spends some time talking about...
info_outlineAs is the case with many finance leader resumes, Cort Townsend’s reveals a repetition of professional advancement and achievement that allows casual readers to quickly validate his CFO credentials. However, like those of many, Townsend self-tale is only a shorthand rendering of a career path filled with twists, turns, and high-stakes industry drama.
Such was the case in 2015 and 2016, a period in Townsend’s career annals with enough M&A high jinks and boardroom intrigue to fill an entire volume. Subsequently, though, in July 2017, Townsend landed neatly inside the CFO office of Kofax via an appointment that casual readers of his resume might have assumed was the natural next step for a dedicated senior executive who had already served as the firm’s controller and vice president of finance. So, where was all the drama?
Lost between the lines of Townsend’s resume was the acquisition of Kofax by Lexmark International in 2015 and the subsequent acquisition of Lexmark by Apex Technology in 2016. Along the way, Townsend was named finance chief of Lexmark’s enterprise software group, which turned out to be an abbreviated tour of duty that made him the obvious choice for a C-suite posting when Lexmark opted to spin off the software group in late 2016 and later sell it to private equity firm Thoma Bravo. The sale of the group would be completed in July 2017, the very month in which Townsend was appointed CFO of newly branded Kofax.
Witness just the type of swift-moving, complex narrative that allows even detail-oriented leaders like Townsend to much appreciate the virtues of a shorthand bio. –Jack Sweeney
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