645: The Investor Came Knocking | Glenn Schiffman, CFO, IAC/InterActive
Release Date: 10/25/2020
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...
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990: From Print to Platform: Strategic Shifts in a Digital Age | CFO Mitch Peipert
CFO THOUGHT LEADER
Back in 2016, Mitch Peipert stood at a crossroads. With a career foundation deeply rooted in the precision and rigor of public accounting, Peipert had navigated his way through the financial landscapes of various companies, honing his CFO leadership and operational prowess. Yet, nothing could have prepared him for the arrival of a new, enigmatic force at Thomas Publishing—a dynamic CEO with eyes set firmly on the horizon of digital transformation. The news allowed a small degree of uncertainty to occupy Peipert’s mindset. A seasoned finance professional, he was adept at managing numbers...
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989: The Homecoming: A Tale of Growth, Leadership, and Return | Jeremy Johnson, CFO, Dayforce
CFO THOUGHT LEADER
Back in September of 2021, Jeremy Johnson, Senior Vice President of Finance at Ceridian (now Dayforce), decided it was time to test his mettle—a decision that led him far from where he began, only to return with a leadership perspective somewhat different from what he expected. Determined to challenge himself and expand his horizons, Johnson left the familiarity of Ceridian, where he had steadily advanced his career for the past nine and a half years, to accept a CFO position with SmartRecruiters. Johnson’s test, however, was about to grow exponentially. At SmartRecruiters,...
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Driving Value Beyond the Balance Sheet - A Planning Aces Episode
CFO THOUGHT LEADER
This episode our Planning Aces emphasize the importance of leveraging one's breadth of experience, stepping beyond traditional FP&A roles, and focusing on execution to bring significant value to organizations. They also emphasize the evolving nature of finance professional interactions and the idea that strategic insights can serve as catalysts for organizational change, prompting shifts in product development, market strategy, and operational execution. This episode features the FP&A insights and commentary of CFO Jeff Woolard or Velocity Global, CFO Aaron Alt of Cardinal Health and...
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988: The Quest for Sustainable AgTech| Bob Houghton, CFO, Pivot Bio
CFO THOUGHT LEADER
In the heart of a bustling paper mill, where the scent of fresh pulp intermingled with the hum of machinery, Bob Houghton kicked off his finance career. Fresh out of college and a number of states removed from his Minnesota roots, Houghton understood the intricate dance of departments working in unison to produce everyday paper essentials. It was here, in the domain of plus-size machines, that he began to embrace the value of stepping beyond comfort zones for growth. His journey from starting within the paper mill’s diligent production ethic to becoming finance leader at Pivot Bio is a...
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987: May The Road Rise To Meet You | Jennifer Loo, CFO, Tala
CFO THOUGHT LEADER
Back in 2009, with a law degree in hand along with some frontline consulting experience, Jennifer Loo swung open the door at LegalZoom—where in short order she was tasked with architecting the fast-growing company's FP&A function from the ground up. For Loo, the responsibilities that would quickly surface at LegalZoom would not only challenge and meet Loo's career ambitions head on, but give rise to an entire career path, bringing with it her education, distinct capabilities, and potential. Suddenly, her diverse background, bridging the analytical rigor of consulting with the...
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Special Episode: Evan Goldberg Talks: The Evolution of NetSuite and Embracing AI
CFO THOUGHT LEADER
In a special episode of CFO Thought Leader, host Jack Sweeney converses with Evan Goldberg, Founder and Executive Vice President of Oracle NetSuite, during this month's SuiteConnect conference in NYC. Goldberg reflects on the company's 25 year journey, emphasizing its foundational vision that championed a unified business management suite. Goldberg also sheds light on the invaluable mentorship from Larry Ellison, Oracle's co-founder, which uniquely positioned NetSuite for success. As the discussion unfolds, Goldberg candidly shares his evolution from a product-focused executive to...
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986: Blending Finance with Operational Ingenuity | Erin Sawyer, CFO, Certinia
CFO THOUGHT LEADER
Reflecting on her career choices, Erin Sawyer tells us that one pivotal point stands out—a decision that involved moving her family across the country. This step triggered not only a geographical shift but also a change in Sawyer’s professional life, when her work alongside a CEO ultimately fueled her aspirations to become a chief financial officer. She had always been so captivated by numbers that by the tender age of 5 she had determined that her destiny lay in accounting. Her initial steps into the corporate world at Honeywell Aerospace as a cost accountant laid the groundwork for years...
info_outlineThere’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 percent during the second quarter when compared to Q2 2019, a fact that made IAC/Interactive’s August announcement that it was purchasing 12 percent of hospitality and gambling giant MGM all the more headline-grabbing.
“We think we found a once-in-a-decade opportunity to find a meaningful position in an iconic brand,” explains IAC/InterActive CFO Glenn Schiffman, who says IAC’s balance sheet remains flush with cash (more than $3 billion) after the recent spinoff of online dating site Match.com.
“We believe that Las Vegas will come roaring back, and this comes back to how IAC likes to invest: We like massive addressable markets with tailwinds from offline to online, and that’s what we see with gaming,” says Schiffman, who is no stranger to industries in crisis.
Back in September of 2008, Schiffman was head of investment banking for Lehman Brothers’ Asia-Pacific business when the firm filed for bankruptcy due to its part in the subprime mortgage crash.
Schiffman, along with other top Lehman partners, helped to manage the sale of Lehman’s Asian business to Nomura Securities.
“In times of crisis, you have to separate the urgent from the important because in a crisis everything appears urgent but not everything is important,” explains Schiffman, who says that he learned just how important being able to separate the two was when the clock was ticking in the wake of the Lehman bankruptcy and his team was seeking a resolution that would best serve Lehman’s Asia workforce. (Episode 440)
“We saved every single job in Asia—and that was 3,000 jobs, including my own,” comments Schiffman, who adds that the Lehman bankruptcy, among other things, revealed how during a time of crisis an individual’s character becomes more evident.
“Crisis doesn’t define character, crisis reveals character,” says Schiffman, who, after joining Nomura, went on to help establish and build the bank’s North American investment banking division. –Jack Sweeney