CFO THOUGHT LEADER

CFO THOUGHT LEADER brings you first hand accounts of CFOs who are driving change within their organizations. Our interviews capture their actions so that you can learn what might work for your organization. In addition to their company history we share the career journey of our spotlighted guest: What do they struggle with? How do they persevere? What makes them successful?

994: Balancing Top-Line Growth and Bottom-Line Results | Naresh Bansal, CFO, Menlo Security 04/24/2024

994: Balancing Top-Line Growth and Bottom-Line Results | Naresh Bansal, CFO, Menlo Security 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 leadership. As a finance executive, Bansal was responsible for providing some of the routine financial insight required to steer the firm through rapid growth phases and was instrumental in preparing it for its public offering—a task that involved rigorous financial restructuring and compliance readiness. However, when they were acquired, the trajectory changed—and began to present a new set of challenges. Post-acquisition, about 80% of the leadership team departed within the first 6 months, which of course is a common scenario in acquisitions that can often lead to significant cultural and operational shifts. Bansal, however, not only stayed on but thrived. He navigated through these turbulent waters by leveraging his deep understanding of the company’s financial backbone and by building strong relationships with the new management. His strategic insight was crucial in bridging the gap between the old and new cultures, ensuring continuity and stability. The tenets of his approach were twofold: Maintain rigorous financial discipline to ensure the financial health of the company and work diligently to gain the trust of the new leadership. By aligning the company’s strategic objectives with those of the new parent company and demonstrating the intrinsic value of the strategic vision, he not only secured his position but also played a critical role in the integration process. This chapter of his career highlights a key lesson for finance professionals: Success often depends on the ability to manage not just numbers but also change. In the face of new corporate landscapes, it is the strategic, adaptable CFO who can turn challenges into opportunities for growth and learning. /episode/index/show/cfothoughtleader/id/30956758

993: Building Resilient Careers: Lessons from a CFO Expat | Hilary Norris, CFO, GTreasury 04/21/2024

993: Building Resilient Careers: Lessons from a CFO Expat | Hilary Norris, CFO, GTreasury 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 stark introduction to the challenges of navigating corporate cultures across borders—this time, with a German-based company that had different views on diversity and dual careers. Despite the hurdles, she saw through the integration phase with poise and strategic insight, yet ultimately decided to part ways due to cultural misalignments. The end of one chapter, however, led to a new beginning—a substantial role managing finance across 17 businesses in the Asia Pacific. This move not only highlighted her resilience but also her ability to leap into new opportunities, reshaping her career path on a global scale. Having relocated from the UK to international opportunities in Asia and the US, Norris doesn’t hesitate to emphasize the role of supportive personal relationships in career development. Norris mentions the challenges and compromises involved in aligning her career moves with her husband’s, highlighting the importance of having a partner who is flexible and supportive of career opportunities across geographies. Today, as a seasoned CFO, her journey underscores a crucial narrative in finance leadership: resilience, the ability to adapt, and the courage to embrace change define the path to success, far beyond the figures on a balance sheet. /episode/index/show/cfothoughtleader/id/30918498

992: Unlocking Holistic Company Performance | Udit Tibrewal, CFO, Anomali 04/17/2024

991: Transforming Investment Wisdom into Management Strategy | Jeff Bray, CFO, Semperis 04/14/2024

Controllers Classified: Building high-performing global finance teams 04/13/2024

990: From Print to Platform: Strategic Shifts in a Digital Age | CFO Mitch Peipert 04/10/2024

989: The Homecoming: A Tale of Growth, Leadership, and Return | Jeremy Johnson, CFO, Dayforce 04/07/2024

Driving Value Beyond the Balance Sheet - A Planning Aces Episode 04/05/2024

988: The Quest for Sustainable AgTech| Bob Houghton, CFO, Pivot Bio 04/03/2024

987: May The Road Rise To Meet You | Jennifer Loo, CFO, Tala 03/31/2024

Special Episode: Evan Goldberg Talks: The Evolution of NetSuite and Embracing AI 03/29/2024

986: Blending Finance with Operational Ingenuity | Erin Sawyer, CFO, Certinia 03/27/2024

985: A World Where Everything is Negotiable | Sarah Alper, CFO, Pactum AI 03/24/2024

Controllers Classified: Managing financial processes across regions and systems 03/22/2024

984: Efficiency and Acquisition Readiness | Bob Purcell, CFO, Billtrust 03/20/2024

983: The CFO as Architect of Value | Aaron Alt, CFO, Cardinal Health 03/17/2024

983: The CFO as Architect of Value | Aaron Alt, CFO, Cardinal Health In the world of finance, where leadership roles await those who distinguish themselves along a select number of familiar paths, Aaron Alt’s journey to becoming a CFO stands out for its breadth and depth, transcending conventional boundaries. Starting in law, Alt quickly found his groove inside the legal world’s cornucopia of M&A advisory services. It was here where he would realize the potency of focusing beyond legal parameters—a habit that would spur a pivotal shift in his career from emphasizing legal details to prioritizing relationships and financial strategy. From the trenches of M&A advisory to the executive suites of public companies, Alt tells us, his foundational philosophy has always revolved around the relentless pursuit of shareholder value creation—a mission that involves uncovering hidden opportunities and fortifying against potential threats. “It’s allowed me to look under a lot of rocks,” Alt reflects, underscoring his commitment to safeguarding and nurturing corporate value. It’s just such devotion that 15 months ago led him to step into the CFO office at healthcare giant Cardinal Health. Alt joined the healthcare company shortly after Cardinal had welcomed a larger and more diverse board as the result of an agreement with an activist investor firm. As part of a broader turnaround plan, Alt’s expertise is now expected to be instrumental in navigating the challenges and opportunities ahead at Cardinal, underlining the company’s readiness to embrace change and foster growth for all stakeholders. To date, a comprehensive self-review of the healthcare giant’s business remains ongoing. “We’re very focused on making sure that we are generating cash flow everywhere that we can—and we believe that if we’re consistent in our strategy and clear on our metrics for success, we can get a lot of things done together,” comments Alt, who during our discussion also offers up a strategic lesson from his tenure at Target, specifically regarding the retailer’s decision to exit the Canadian market gracefully. Says Alt: “This was one of the hardest working experiences that I’ve had, and its message has stuck with me even as I’ve needed to think about other business problems: You really need to keep an eye on the fact that at the end of the day, even as CFO, it’s not just about the numbers.” –Jack Sweeney /episode/index/show/cfothoughtleader/id/30406623

982: Blending Alcohol and E-commerce | Matt Wolf, CFO, DRINKS 03/13/2024

981: Bridging Continents: A Finance Leader’s Journey | Jakson Peters, CFO, TourRadar 03/10/2024

981: Bridging Continents: A Finance Leader’s Journey | Jakson Peters, CFO, TourRadar Jakson Peters's journey from humble beginnings to becoming a global CFO is a tale adaptability, and continuous learning. Born in Brazil, he had initial career expectations far removed from the finance world that had their roots in the start of his working life as part of the family's milk delivery business. This early experience, so remote from his eventual home in the c-suite, laid the foundation for his future success, he explains.. From 1998 to 2002, Peters worked for DaimlerChrysler in São Paulo, a stint that marked the beginning of a corporate finance trajectory that would eventually lead the young financial planner to embark on a journey of self-improvement that would include mastering English and pursuing an MBA from Wharton in United States. With the latter in hand, Peters returned to Brazil to serve as a member of Mondelēz International's FP&A team before stepping into a number of CFO roles with midsize firms. Transitioning from his established Brazilian CFO credentials, Peters next embraced the challenge of moving to Malaysia. This move represented not just a change of location but also a leap into a new cultural and business landscape. In Malaysia, tasked with navigating the complexities of merging two competing online businesses, Peters learned how to communicate and lead in a cultural setting where "yes" can mean different things. After 4 years in Malaysia, Peters resumed his journey by moving to Dubai, where he was appointed CFO of Property Finder, a leading online real estate marketplace. Here, he leveraged his online experience to drive the company forward in the vibrant expatriate community that characterizes Dubai's business landscape. Peters's time in Dubai was not about just professional growth, though—it was about contributing to a thriving business ecosystem and reinforcing to all that his path from Brazil to international shores was continuing to be a narrative of constant learning and leadership evolution. /episode/index/show/cfothoughtleader/id/30307558

Controllers Classified: An expert’s POV on the future of blockchain in accounting 03/08/2024

980: The New Era for Legal Services | Eric Bouchard, CFO, Axiom 03/06/2024

979: The Changing Stripes of Finance Leadership | Chermaine Hu, CFO, Episode Six 03/03/2024

979: The Changing Stripes of Finance Leadership | Chermaine Hu, CFO, Episode Six At the very beginning of our talk with CFO Chermaine Hu, she revealed an irony about the CFO title that we rarely get to expose. To wit: The very title toward which any executive has invested so many illustrious career years conveys ownership of what might seem to be a less than illustrious role—or at least one requiring little future endeavor. “I have always struggled with the CFO title,” explains Hu, who notes that the moniker captures only a fraction of what most CFOs actually do. Hu’s unexpected comments seemed to be appropriate openers for an executive who doesn’t mind—and in fact prefers—being different from the rest of the pack. Or at least this is just one of several takeaways that we garner from Hu’s early career years. In fact, it turns out that Hu had an independent streak even before she entered the world of finance. Back in 1998, as she was approaching graduation from the University of Cambridge—job offer from Morgan Stanley already in hand—she decided to take job during Easter break serving ice cream at a local McDonald’s. Recalls Hu: “I felt that I needed some real-world experience.” Hu’s ice cream stint—while seemingly incongruous with her blooming future as an investment banker (including 14 years with Morgan Stanley)—was just one in a number of surprise chapters found in the narrative of Hu’s past that expose a curious mind and a dedication to continuous learning. One bookmark in her journey, Hu tells us, still rests between the pages recounting the time that she was blindsided by a “missed promotion” during her investment banking years. Not uncharacteristically, though, Hu was wise enough to allow greater reflection to expose a silver lining. “You need to have setbacks in life,” she admits, revealing her deep understanding of the growth that comes from facing challenges head-on. /episode/index/show/cfothoughtleader/id/30206693

978: From Silicon Roots to Global Routes | Jeff Woolard, CFO, Velocity Global 02/28/2024

977: Sales Success in Tech: Unlocking Rep Performance Insights | David Freeman, CFO, Starburst 02/25/2024

977: Sales Success in Tech: Unlocking Rep Performance Insights | David Freeman, CFO, Starburst Joining Intel Corp. in 1999 as a recent college graduate, David Freeman began his finance career as part of the tech giant’s plus-size finance team that supported various business groups. Looking back, Freeman finds that few aspects of the tech giant’s business were more influential in shaping his early career years than the company’s direct and “confrontational” culture. “They expected excellence,” he recalls. “They expected details, and they expected you to know your business.” Along the way, despite the many opportunities that Intel regularly offered him, Freeman came to realize that he wanted to open his next career door somewhere else. “I didn’t really love being at a large company, so—after 7 years there—I decided that it was time to move on,” continues Freeman, who opted to join a pioneering cloud company known as NetSuite. At fewer than 500 employees, NetSuite was aiming to be among the first SaaS companies to go public, and Freeman tells us that he ultimately had a hand in drafting the company’s S-1—a hands-on role that ultimately led him to spending 16- to 20-hour days at the printer. However, Freeman believes that the greatest takeaways from his time at NetSuite may have come from the exposure that he had to the decision-making done by NetSuite’s CFO during the IPO process. “For the first time, I could see day-in and day-out what the CFO did, and this really gave me kind of a better sense of the role,” he remembers. We can see that as his career moved forward, Freeman’s pursuit of experience and opportunities left little doubt that he had the CFO office in mind as a destination. Still, when the head of sales at Nutanix invited him to step into a VP of Sales operations position, he didn’t hesitate to stray from what might have been a more traditional finance path. Says Freeman: “To be honest, I really hadn’t thought about this type of role that much, but I kind of felt like, ‘Hey, if there’s ever a time to do it, why not now?'” –Jack Sweeney /episode/index/show/cfothoughtleader/id/30097998

Operating ON and IN The Business - A Planning Aces Episode 02/23/2024

976: A Troubleshooter's Guide to Financial Leadership | Craig Wert, CFO, Jobber 02/21/2024

975: Turning the Tide at Beachbody | Marc Suidan, CFO, The Beachbody Company 02/18/2024

975: Turning the Tide at Beachbody | Marc Suidan, CFO, The Beachbody Company When PwC partner and relentless champion of shareholder value Marc Suidan stepped into the CFO office at The Beachbody Company in April 2022, intrigue was bound to follow. Certainly, a struggling fitness and health company may not be viewed by many as the optimal door-of-entry to the operations side of things. However, for Suidan—a 17-year PwC veteran—Beachbody was without a doubt an enticing challenge. As a seasoned advisor to management, Suidan had contributed shareholder insights to the turnarounds and restructurings of dozens of businesses. However, at Beachbody, he would be executing from inside the organization, where the levers for strategic as well as operational improvement would be within his reach. “Interestingly enough, half of Beachbody’s business is digital subscriptions, while the other half is the nutritional supplements that people who work out consume,” he reports. “People take energy drinks before working out and protein supplements afterward, so these are all part of part of the health supplements that we offer.” Suidan adds that the current turnaround effort has relied on three core pillars: dramatic cost-cutting, enhancing the digital experience around their top-tier content, and fixing the nutrition business. So far, Suidan tells us, two of the three pillars are already paying off. “We’re on track to have created over $200 million in savings in less than 2 years—I mean, it’s just crazy for a company of this size to find this much saving so fast,” comments Suidan, who notes that the company also revamped its digital platforms last March, a development that led CNN to name Beachbody’s consumer app the best in the fitness and workout app space this past December. During the coming 12 months, according to Suidan, energy drinks, protein supplements, and the diversification of Beachbody’s nutrition channels will be top-of-mind. “My two big pieces for the coming year are, number one, to finish that third pillar of the turnaround, and, number two, to get the message out—which is not easy, by the way, right?,” he concludes. “There are 4,000 public companies, but we need to talk about the two legs that we’ve already completed, so we should be able to get that message out.” –Jack Sweeney /episode/index/show/cfothoughtleader/id/30002833

Controllers Classified: Open AI's Controller on How AI Can Transform Accounting 02/16/2024

974: Crafting Strategy in a Data-Driven World | Eric Jenny, CFO, SOCi 02/14/2024

973: Cultivating Relationships and Spearheading Change | Alejandro Castro, CFO, ONX 02/11/2024

973: Cultivating Relationships and Spearheading Change | Alejandro Castro, CFO, ONX It was during a 9-year tenure at food giant ConAgra Brands that Alejandro Castro became involved in a companywide initiative that would forever alter his approach to leadership and strategic thinking. Born and raised in Mexico, Castro had begun his professional voyage at Price Waterhouse, where he launched a public accounting career from the accounting house's Mexico City office. After ConAgra came knocking several years later, he accepted a position within its Mexico operations that eventually led to a promotion involving relocation to the U.S. and the firm's Omaha headquarters. Castro tells us that this move was pivotal, offering him exposure to the food giant's global operations and strategic involvement at a high level that included participation on a board of directors in Asia. Still, Castro's path took somewhat of an unexpected turn when ConAgra's CEO approached him to help spearhead an initiative designed in part to boost efficient decision-making across the company. In short, ConAgra management had sanctioned the companywide adoption of the GE Work-Out methodology, and Castro was to be stationed along the implementation's front lines. Division presidents, unit leaders, and factory workers alike all now came to be spending face-to-face time with Castro so that everyone together could identify existing behaviors or practices that were undermining efficient decision-making. Castro recalls: "We were able to fix issues that had existed within the company for years and years. We did this by connecting the people who really knew what was going on—the people who were close to the job—and this quickly made a big difference." Now, what might have appeared on paper to be but one career assignment among many suddenly began to accelerate Castro's own understanding of business operations while further establishing his reputation across the company as a leader known for fostering collaboration and driving meaningful change. Says Castro: "For me personally, it was the interaction with the people and talking about the different issues that really altered my whole view of the business." –Jack Sweeney /episode/index/show/cfothoughtleader/id/29893138

972: Recalibrating Your Strategic Lens | Rachel Stack, CFO, Cologix, Inc 02/07/2024

972: Recalibrating Your Strategic Lens | Rachel Stack, CFO, Cologix, Inc Not unlike that of many of her CFO peers, Rachel Stack's journey toward becoming a CFO has been punctuated by pivotal transactions. No single example of this turns out to have been more complicated or rich with lessons than what Stack refers to simply as "the take-private of Zayo." However, before the path forward for Zayo was made clear, there had been a moment of strategic recalibration that would test her resolve and shape her approach to future challenges. Reflecting on this period, Stack shares: "One big strategic moment has to have been when the attempted split of Zayo into two separate entities was being considered. We thought about splitting it into a fiber company and an enterprise firm." The plan, aimed at unlocking value and sharpening strategic focus, did not go as planned. "The market's response was immediate and clear," Stack recalls. "The stock was down, I want to say, by 20%." This moment of adversity, however, was far from a setback in Stack's eyes. Instead, it became a defining moment that refined her strategic thinking. "It was a clear message from the market that they didn't think that this was the way forward for Zayo," Stack explains. The feedback from the market, which was invaluable, led Stack and her team to reconsider their strategy and ultimately reconsider the take-private transaction. "The take-private of Zayo was a significant turning point for me," Stack reflects. The complex negotiations, the building of relationships with different potential acquirers, and the ultimate decision to go with Digital Bridge and EQT showcased her ability to navigate through uncertainty and emerge with a strategic victory. "The whole experience was an entire adventure on its own," she muses, on the challenges faced during the transaction. This episode of strategic redirection, followed by the successful take-private transaction, exemplifies Stack's resilience and strategic acumen. Her journey underscores the importance of being adaptable, learning from the market, and maintaining transparency and honesty in all dealings. As CFO of Cologix today, Stack tells us, she has brought these lessons to bear, as she helps to steer the company through growth and change, while never losing sight of the fact that in moments of adversity, there always lies an opportunity for growth and strategic recalibration. /episode/index/show/cfothoughtleader/id/29835663

CFO THOUGHT LEADER

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