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...
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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...
info_outlineIn 2008, as the subprime mortgage crisis began turning the Street’s brash dealmakers into a squeamish clan of risk-averse bankers, Tim Murphy, an associate at Credit Suisse, decided that it was time to try some slots. Lots of them.
“I took a gamble in the casino space—it was probably one of the best decisions that I have made in my career and one the best decisions that we have made as a family,” explains the finance leader, who accepted a director of finance position with Cadillac Jack, a fast-growing slot machine manufacturing company based in Georgia.
At the time, Murphy’s wife (the couple had met at business school) was working for The Coca Cola Company in Atlanta, a factor that the finance executive says helped to hedge his career bet.
“I had opportunities to join investment banks in Atlanta and other large organizations, but we made a conscious decision that given the fact that she had a job at a very large and stable company, I could take a gamble with mine,” says Murphy.
Also influencing Murphy’s decision was the understanding that he would be reporting directly to the CEO, a former investment banker whom Murphy characterizes as a “hard charger.”
Besides helping Cadillac Jack to navigate gaming’s unique compliance highway, Murphy focused on finding ways to grow the business and make it more profitable.
“In about 3 years, we got to the point where we were comfortable with the business and began looking for an exit,” recalls Murphy, who began initiating discussions with potential buyers and lending partners.
Ultimately, Cadillac Jack was sold to Canadian gaming company Amaya for $167 million.
“It was just great experience for me in leading up to becoming a CFO,” says Murphy, who would join Amaya as director of corporate development, where for roughly a year he scouted out new purchases and divestitures for the publicly held firm before entering the CFO office of Atlanta-based REPAY, a publicly traded payment processing company.
“I joined REPAY in January 2014 just after the firm had taken in its first institutional private equity capital—prior to that, it had used really just family and friends’ capital,” continues Murphy, who over the past 7 years has helped the firm to unlock both private and public investment capital as it uncovered new avenues for growth.
Among REPAY’s transaction milestones was the sale of a controlling interest in the company to Corsair Capital in 2016 and a subsequent public offering executed via a SPAC business combination.
“Corsair was able to get a lot of liquidity at the closing of the business combination with the SPAC, and they have since fully exited the business at a much higher stock price than what it was when they entered,” notes Murphy, who adds that to date REPAY has leveraged its access to the public markets to help execute five acquisitions, helping the firm to expand into a number of new verticals. –Jack Sweeney
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