581: Applying Your Fresh Eyes to the Role| Anthony Coletta, CFO, SAP, NA
Release Date: 03/18/2020
1,028: Shaping Finance Operations to Support Global Growth | Clemente Cohen, CFO, PG Forsta
CFO THOUGHT LEADER
Clemente Cohen’s finance career began in the early 1990s inside the Munich offices of Silicon Graphics, approximately 6,500 miles from the Silicon Valley company’s headquarters and 7,500 miles from his birthplace in Argentina. This transcontinental start marked the beginning of a career defined by global problem solving , adaptability and generous helpings of M&A experience. Cohen, who grew up in Germany after moving from Argentina, problem solving perspective to his role. Joining Silicon Graphics as an accountant, Cohen tells us he was able to quickly demonstrate to others a...
info_outline
1,027: Strategic Finance in the Digital Asset Industry: Lessons from a Bitcoin Mining Leader | Salman Khan, CFO, Marathon Digital Holdings
CFO THOUGHT LEADER
When Salman Khan arrived in Dubai from the U.S. in the early 2000s, he was a seasoned auditor with PricewaterhouseCoopers, ready to narrow his focus on the oil and gas industry. If someone had told him then that he would one day be the CFO of the world’s largest Bitcoin mining company, Khan would have undoubtedly replied, “What mining company?” At the time, digital assets were a distant concept, and his world revolved around the complexities of oil reserves, regulations, and international finance. In Dubai, Khan honed his skills by navigating the intricacies of the oil and gas sector,...
info_outline
1,026: Partnering for Growth in the Age of AI | Kabir Ahmed Shakir, CFO, Tata Communications
CFO THOUGHT LEADER
According to CFO Kabir Shakir, when AI giant Nvidia sought to expand its alliances in India, it knew exactly with whom to partner: “They did their homework, and they tapped on Tata’s door.” This partnership, Shakir tells us, has proven to be but one of a number of alliances in Tata’s journey toward becoming “the national AI champion for all of India.” Along the way, Tata Communications received its first order of Nvidia’s technology, whose integration has since been fast-tracked into Tata’s production processes. With Tata’s dominance in the Indian market, Shakir continues to...
info_outline
1,025: Cost Management to Strategic Investment | Chikako Tyler, CFO, California Bank & Trust
CFO THOUGHT LEADER
In her role as CFO of California Bank & Trust, Chikako Tyler faced the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank—the second financial crisis of her career. Unlike the first crisis, the Great Recession, which forced her to leave a rewarding career in commercial real estate, this time, Tyler was prepared to take charge. In 2009, as the economic downturn decimated the real estate market, Tyler recognized the need for a change. She pivoted to banking, taking on a temporary role at California Bank & Trust, where she quickly discovered her passion for the intricacies of finance. Her journey through...
info_outline
1,024: From Overdrive to Insight: Lessons Learned in the Pursuit of Success | Tom Bock, CFO, SmartFinancial
CFO THOUGHT LEADER
In 2005, fresh into his first banking job at Citigroup, Tom Bock found himself working 63 hours straight to prepare for a critical pitch. Fueled by a desire to prove his worth, he pushed his limits, refusing to rest until the task was completed. However, this grueling experience came at a cost—his nose began bleeding, a stark sign of physical exhaustion. Despite his best efforts, the pitch fell short, leading Bock to a moment of deep reflection. At the time, Bock was someone who believed in sheer perseverance, equating success with pushing through challenges alone. But the Citigroup...
info_outline
1,023: How Finance Propelled a Tech Enthusiast into the C-suite | Doug Potvin, CFO, Trinity Logistics
CFO THOUGHT LEADER
Doug Potvin’s journey to becoming the CFO of Trinity Logistics reveals the power of adaptability and continuous learning. Initially captivated by technology in high school, Doug pursued a degree in computer science, only to discover a passion for finance during a college course. This pivot led him to the National Marine Fishery Service (NMFS), where he gained invaluable experience in loan origination and financial analysis. Despite the security and stability of his government job, Doug felt increasingly constrained by bureaucratic micromanagement. Seeking greater autonomy and a desire to...
info_outline
1,022: The Power of Lean Thinking | Todd Patriacca, CFO, BVI Medical
CFO THOUGHT LEADER
Todd Patriacca was more than a dozen years into his finance career when two things happened that accelerated its trajectory. The first was that he found a mentor—or, rather, that his future mentor found him. The second was that he became immersed in Lean culture. Starting his career at Arthur Andersen, Patriacca spent nearly 10 years in public accounting, a span that allowed him to gain a broad perspective on various industries. However, it was in a subsequent role as corporate controller at a private company that he found a mentor to guide him through essential areas like tax, treasury, and...
info_outline
1,021: A Taste for Professional Growth: How the U.S. Coast Guard Granted Larry White an Expansive Finance Career
CFO THOUGHT LEADER
The year 1986 was a pivotal one for Larry White’s career in the U.S. Coast Guard. After entering the Coast Guard Academy in 1976 and graduating in 1980, White subsequently advanced through a series of intriguing roles including commanding an 82-foot patrol boat before deciding to pursue an MBA. The Coast Guard agreed to underwrite this move, enhancing his resume and eventually making him an attractive candidate for high-profile roles in Fortune 100 companies. Still, White had no intention of leaving the Coast Guard. Going forward, a decision by White to specialize in finance, rather than...
info_outline
1,020: A Savvy Investor Cracks the Operator’s Code | Seth Wunder, CFO, Acorns
CFO THOUGHT LEADER
t a recent executive team dinner, several Acorns executives were reminiscing about their childhood professional aspirations. While many had had career dreams that had long ago lost their luster—Seth Wunder told his colleagues that he never gave much thought to being anything other than an investor. “I grew up in a household and family that was focused on investing and on the growth of the markets,” Wunder recalls. As a teenager, he was already engrossed in financial markets, which would set the stage for a career path that would eventually lead him to the CFO office at Acorns, a...
info_outline
Navigating Communication Challenges - A Planning Aces Episode
CFO THOUGHT LEADER
Brett & Jack discuss the commentary and insights of three accomplished CFOs (Sandeep Aujla from Intuit, Shelagh Glaser from Synopsys, and Seth Wunder from Acorns), while highlighting their distinct approaches to strategic finance, organizational structure, communication, and business growth. While all three Planning Aces highlight the importance of strategic finance and organizational efficiency, their reflections differ in focus. Aujla emphasizes the integration of finance with business strategy, Glaser focuses on aligning investments with strategic goals and improving communication...
info_outlineCFOTL: Share with us a finance strategic moment?
Coletta: The most recent strategic moment that sticks with me goes back two years to when I moved to our North America organization as CFO. We were on the battlefield of innovation and the cloud business, and we were carrying a big share of the company's business, with high expectations on the street already. We had a business that had been a bit bumpy in the beginning of the year, but we had a solid team that was always seeking to improve itself. To me, it was, Okay, what do I bring to the table and how do I change the dynamic here? The good news was that we had a lot to work with, but the bad news was that when you are public and in a very exposed environment, you never have as much time as you’d like. It's very important not only to deliver quickly, but also to change or invert some trends.
I really make sure that I bring value to the business. My team and I give advice and make fact-based decisions that really form a success plan for the remainder of the year at any given time. The strategic moment for me came at the end of the year. We had a very sound acceleration and great financial results, and the team got recognized as Finance Region of the Year. We had gotten employee engagement going up, as well as leadership trust. Service attitudes with regard to the business were way above the benchmarks, and all of this was performed with quality, so we had gained in predictability, efficiency, energy, and credibility. Obviously, the credit goes to the team all together, and this takes an entire leadership team really rising to the occasion. But it's quite powerful to see how dynamics can change and how you can sustain success when you focus on the right things.
This strategic moment for me was then when I entered that office and got so much responsibility put in front of me. There were a lot of areas to improve—I won’t say “fix”—but to improve. At the same time, we had a very high run rate, and some areas were doing fairly well. We had a business environment that was quite steady, a big customer base, and so on. So, how do you really drive change in a short period of time, which in this case was the seven months left in the year to make an impact and turn the ship, so to speak? We have been riding this wave ever since. We have a lot of positive momentum across the board on the business front and also in finance, and I think that inverting some of the trends at the right time was critical. You learn a lot about yourself. You also learn a lot about the ability to drive change and people. To me, this was a very strategic moment in my career in terms of really having the ability to build on everything that I had learned before and everything that I had seen in different capacities in order to really move the needle quickly.