The CFO Playbook

In this episode, Christopher Striano, Chief Operating Officer of Global Finance at Blackstone, joins David McClelland to discuss the impact of corporate culture on business success, from the perspective of the world's largest alternative asset manager. With over $1 trillion in assets under management, Blackstone invests in businesses across industries and geographies, including private equity, real estate, credit, and hedge funds. In this revealing discussion, we hear how global entities need to balance culture and strategy to attract and retain great talent. Chris shares highlights from his 25-years at Blackstone; how the company has evolved from a small entity to a global powerhouse, while maintaining a cohesive and inclusive culture; and how it stayed true to its core values by embracing regional influences in its 26 offices across the Americas, Europe and Asia. Highlighting a trinity of healthy competition, teamwork, and philanthropy in creating an engaged and unified Finance team, Chris puts his long-term career growth and job satisfaction down to nurturing relationships and great communication. We also explore how integrating technologies and AI might be changing strategy for Finance teams, through strategic alignment, it doesn't have to change culture. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this episode, David McClelland is joined by Myles Corson, EY Global and Americas Strategy and Markets Leader, Financial Accounting Advisory Services and host of the Better Finance Podcast, to discuss the evolving landscape for finance leaders amidst uncertainty and instability, termed the 'polycrisis'. As we navigate a complex global landscape, marked by geopolitical tensions, inflation uncertainties, environmental changes leading to pressure on supply chains, and technological uncertainties, Myles explains how finance leaders can evolve from their traditional roles to become indispensable strategic partners within their organisations. Amidst a world of rapid change and the relentless news cycles that shape our perceptions, we examine the role of technology in both contributing to and alleviating uncertainty. The rise of AI and digital transformation presents not just challenges but also unprecedented opportunities to redefine the role of finance. Hear how CFOs can balance short-term performance with long-term strategic investments, embracing innovation while managing risk. As finance leaders become the compasses guiding their organisations, the importance of setting a clear direction and empowering teams with data-driven insights takes centre stage. Myles underscores the need for agile mindsets and strategic alignment to navigate this complex landscape, ultimately adding unparalleled value to organisations. For more information about the challenges facing CFOs, read Myles' DNA of the CFO report. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this episode of The CFO Playbook, David McClelland is joined by Marie Joyce, CFO and COO of NTR, the trailblazing renewable energy specialist to discuss their mission to advance sustainable infrastructure by investing in wind, solar, and energy storage assets across Europe. What exactly does it take to transform from toll roads to renewable energy? Marie reveals the incredible evolution of NTR, offering a rare glimpse into the strategic milestones that have defined the company, from its early investments in wind energy with Airtricity in 1999 to its current focus on wind, solar, and energy storage projects across Europe. We hear how NTR's diversification across various markets and technologies has cemented its leadership in the renewable energy sector. Marie also shines a light on the pivotal decisions that set NTR apart, such as the shift from a US-centric approach to capitalising on the stable European market. She recounts the company's transition to co-investing with institutional capital, a move that has significantly mitigated risk while expanding investment capabilities. Hear how advancements in technology have made renewable projects financially viable without government subsidies, and how strategic partnerships, such as with Legal & General Investment Management, have been instrumental in the company's growth. Beyond the financial strategy, Marie lifts the lid on the human element that drives NTR's success including initiatives to foster diversity and inclusion in the traditionally male-dominated sectors of engineering and finance. From flexible working arrangements to fertility leave, NTR's culture not only supports its workforce but also aligns with its ambitious climate goals. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this episode of The CFO Playbook, David McClelland is joined by Mark Freedman to explore the changing landscape of finance leadership, from crash to AI and beyond. Mark started his career at Deutsche Bank before moving onto London Stock Exchange Group. Over three decades in the finance sector, he's proved himself to be a transformational force ready to face down the challenges of a digital finance age. Now in post as CFO of global money brand Travelex, Mark has been instrumental in making strategic decisions, providing steadfast resilience through a challenging era, following a much publicised cyber incident at the start of 2020. Despite the negative headlines, Mark's tenure has embraced opportunities for growth. Empathising the strength of Travelex's brand and its extensive physical distribution network as key assets, Mark has faced questions about the relevance of “travel money” head on. Highlighting the evergreen resilience of cash and the growth potential of digital cards, his current role has pivoted Mark from scorekeeper to decision-maker, with a deep understanding of business - using effective communication, and staying up-to-date with technology. About Soldo: Soldo provides company cards connected to a powerful management platform. Employees use Soldo cards to buy what they need for work without being out of pocket or going over budget. Finance teams use Soldo to distribute money instantly, while staying in control of who spends, how much, where, and on what. Thousands of businesses, from small to large corporations including Mercedes-Benz, Sony, and Get Your Guide use Soldo to make their business spending simple and efficient. To find out more or to book a demo, visit Soldo. Chapters: 0:05:07 - Career Transition Reflections and Growth 0:09:03 - Career Progression in Banking Industry 0:15:04 - Era of Financial Innovation 0:18:25 - Finance Transformation Opportunity 0:22:52 - Business Journey Through Turbulent Times 0:34:25 - Future of Travel Money Changes 0:42:24 - Evolution of the CFO Role Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this episode we look beyond the UK with guest Huiming Chen discussing the challenges and opportunities of leading finance teams across diverse geographies and cultures with host David McClelland. In her current role as Europe Commercial CFO at Illumina, Huming shares her expertise on acknowledging and bridging cultural differences, fostering open communication, and balancing structural preferences to enhance team performance. Hear her secret to effectively navigating cultural nuances and improve collaboration within a global finance team. Gain a deeper understanding of the intricacies of feedback and communication styles in multicultural environments through Huiming's personal journey from China to the US. We also explore the stark contrasts between Eastern and Western feedback approaches and the critical importance of timely, constructive feedback. Hear how small talk, such as the British habit of discussing the weather, plays a significant role in building professional relationships and how to adapt communication styles to fit different cultural contexts. Huiming also provides insight on the future of finance and the evolving role of CFOs in the face of technological advancements. Emphasising the essential traits of successful CFOs and the importance of creating environments where diversity and innovation thrive, Huiming shares strategies to empower finance teams for innovation, balance operational and strategic responsibilities, and leverage AI technology for informed decision-making, ensuring effective global leadership and cultural adaptation in the workplace Huiming will be judging the Global CFO 100 Awards 2024 by Soldo in partnership with HotTopics. This new award honours CFO's who are driving transformative financial strategies and innovative business practices, shaping the future of finance. Entries close on 31st August 2024, for more information visit https://hottopics.ht/global-cfo-100-awards-nominations.  Chapters: (0:00:00) - Global Cultural Challenges in Finance Leadership (0:10:42) - Cultural Feedback and Relationship Building (0:14:41) - Embracing Diversity in Leadership Roles (0:22:38) - Future Traits of Successful CFOs (0:33:53) - Empowering Future Finance Through Technology About Soldo: Soldo provides company cards connected to a powerful management platform. Employees use Soldo cards to buy what they need for work without being out of pocket or going over budget. Finance teams use Soldo to distribute money instantly, while staying in control of who spends, how much, where, and on what. Thousands of businesses, from small to large corporations including Mercedes-Benz, Sony, and Get Your Guide use Soldo to make their business spending simple and efficient. To find out more or to book a demo, visit Soldo. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

What do a retail powerhouse, a manufacturing giant, and a financial services titan have in common? According to our guest Helen Ashton, it's the universal value of cross-sector experience. In conversation with David McClelland, Helen shares her fascinating journey through multiple industries, emphasising how diverse roles have armed her with unique insights and essential relationship-building skills. A finance leader with over 30 years of dynamic experience, Helen's expertise is a masterclass on leveraging core finance skills to adapt and thrive in new environments. She shares the common challenges finance leaders encounter and the strategic importance of honing influencing skills to drive business success. From spearheading technological innovations to nurturing a young, diverse team, Helen's time as CFO at online fashion giant ASOS is a testament to truly visionary leadership. This episode also explores how innovative hiring practices and open-minded recruitment can enhance finance teams, fostering a rich pool of future talent ready to take on CFO roles in the future. Candidly reflecting on the slow progress made in diversity and inclusion in senior finance roles and her own vision for the future of finance - transformed by data automation and strategic involvement - paint a compelling picture of a field ripe for rebranding. This episode is brimming with insights on the evolving landscape of finance leadership, championed by a true industry veteran. Helen will be judging the Global CFO 100 Awards 2024 by Soldo in partnership with HotTopics. This new award honours CFO's who are driving transformative financial strategies and innovative business practices, shaping the future of finance. Entries close on 31st August 2024, for more information visit https://hottopics.ht/global-cfo-100-awards-nominations.  Helen founded Shape Beyond after 25 years of transforming complex, high-growth organisations. She's worked at Executive Board level and led private equity portfolio businesses to successful exit. Shape Beyond's deep knowledge of the retail industry is fuelled by Helen's time as the CFO of ASOS and board member of JD Sports. We embrace digital transformation and agile, diverse cultures. Chapters: 0:03:23 - Career Growth Through Industry Diversity 0:12:04 - Finance Leader 0:18:50 - Innovation in Fashion Retail CFO Role 0:22:48 - Leveraging Data for Customer Service Improvement 0:27:03 - Fast-Paced, Customer-Centric Executive Dynamics 0:30:52 - Youthful Talent Surprises in Finance 0:33:17 - ASOS Brand Mission for 20-Somethings 0:37:22 - Diversity, Inclusion, and Authenticity in Leadership 0:43:43 - Criteria for Selecting Future CFOs About Soldo: Soldo provides company cards connected to a powerful management platform. Employees use Soldo cards to buy what they need for work without being out of pocket or going over budget. Finance teams use Soldo to distribute money instantly, while staying in control of who spends, how much, where, and on what. Thousands of businesses, from small to large corporations including Mercedes-Benz, Sony, and Get Your Guide use Soldo to make their business spending simple and efficient. To find out more or to book a demo, visit Soldo. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In May's episode of The CFO Playbook, David McClelland talks to Mehjabeen Patrick, Director of Finance at Arts University Bournemouth, about the challenges and opportunities of finance leadership in the creative sector. As former Chief Finance and Investment Officer at Creative UK, Mehjabeen is all too aware of the financial challenges faced by creative businesses. From her early days working in the banking sector, Mehjabeen is a passionate advocate of finding creative approaches in all aspects of finance. From distributing government grants to providing business mentoring, she highlights the need for finance leaders to actively listen to and learn from creatives, to drive both artistic and economic growth. Drawing from over 20 years of experience in the sector, Mehjabeen shares the importance of thinking outside the box. Hear how she thinks finance leaders should embrace creative approaches while managing budgets, by bringing design thinking into their day to day work. This episode also explores the impact of technology and digital innovation to engage diverse audiences by telling finance stories in new ways. Chapters: (0:02:56) - Finance Leadership in the Creative Sector (0:16:20) - Finance and Creativity in the Arts (0:24:11) - The Impact of Technology on Creativity (0:36:14) - Thinking Outside the Box in Finance About Soldo: Soldo provides company cards connected to a powerful management platform. Employees use Soldo cards to buy what they need for work without being out of pocket or going over budget. Finance teams use Soldo to distribute money instantly, while staying in control of who spends, how much, where, and on what. Thousands of businesses, from small to large corporations including Mercedes-Benz, Sony, and Get Your Guide use Soldo to make their business spending simple and efficient. To find out more or to book a demo, visit Soldo. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In the latest episode of The CFO Playbook, David McClelland is joined by Giles Andrews OBE, co-founder of Zopa, the world's first P2P lending business launched in 2004, to discuss two decades working in FinTech and the role of artificial intelligence in shaping the financial services of the future. Finding himself as an accidental CFO in the early days of Zopa thanks to an accountancy qualification, Giles progressed to CEO and Chairman and is still an active Board Member, responsible for in excess of £4bn in loans in the UK, and revolutionising the way we look at banking. Reflecting on the economic storms faced globally over the past few years, Giles offers an insider's perspective on the 2008 financial crisis, revealing how it inadvertently fuelled Zopa's growth by transforming the lending landscape. Now managing a diverse portfolio, from the intricacies of Zopa's operations to Chair of online automotive marketplace CarWow, Giles is all too familiar with the challenges faced against a backdrop of evolving consumer behaviour and digital upheaval. In a world now captivated by artificial intelligence, he shares his thoughts on the positives in work efficiency and improved user experience in customer service, but expresses concerns about ethics and governance, especially in financial services. Balancing innovation and regulation, Giles highlights the importance of ethical leadership and community spirit to ensure a prosperous ecosystem for businesses of all sizes, whilst embracing advancements in technology. Chapters - (0:00:00) - Financial Leadership and Innovation (0:12:21) - Navigating Financial Crisis and Growth (0:19:25) - Recent Financial Sector Collapses and Innovation (0:24:08) - Innovation in Banking and AI (0:36:06) - Ethics and Privacy in AI Governance (0:41:54) - Issue of Financial Engineering in Business About Soldo: Soldo provides company cards connected to a powerful management platform. Employees use Soldo cards to buy what they need for work without being out of pocket or going over budget. Finance teams use Soldo to distribute money instantly, while staying in control of who spends, how much, where, and on what. Thousands of businesses, from small to large corporations including Mercedes-Benz, Sony, and Get Your Guide use Soldo to make their business spending simple and efficient. To find out more or to book a demo, visit Soldo. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this episode of The CFO Playbook, David McClelland explores how financial management should be embedded into company culture with Richard Dana, co-founder and CEO at Tembo Money. With a background in corporate finance, Richard shares how he leveraged his interest in travel to co-found the budget-boutique hotel booking platform Doris and Dickie, and the lessons learned from being thrifty in balancing the books from day one with a small team, managing by cost. Reflecting on his role as CFO at Founders Factory, a unique platform matching leading corporate brands with industry expertise with innovative start-ups to solve specific pain points within their sector. Richard affirms his mantra that founders should focus on being thrifty and making every pound work hard, whilst having a path to profitability and a clear understanding of the financials. Now on a mission to address the housing affordability crisis, Richard co-founded family lending platform Tembo Money, with the aim of closing the generational wealth gap by broadening access to homeownership. With no CFO currently in place, the focus since its launch in 2020 has been on becoming profitable with a lean team and outsourced accountancy. Richard highlights that despite the crossovers between the CFO and CEO roles, there is a much greater focus on "selling the business" as a CEO, whilst keeping an eye on the money during the early days of growing a new business. Finally, against the backdrop of the current economic landscape, Richard gives his view on starting a business in a recession; although it's challenging, partnering with established companies and focusing on a product with a real customer need can help mitigate risks. Extending cash runway is crucial for startups, and involves monitoring cash flow, cutting costs, and exploring non-investment funding options. Chapters - (0:00:01) - Inside the World of Finance Leaders (0:13:29) - Building a Finance Startup (0:22:45) - Funding and Recruitment for Startups (0:33:57) - Startup Strategies and Acquisition Considerations (0:43:39) - Liberating Finance for Families About Soldo: Soldo provides company cards connected to a powerful management platform. Employees use Soldo cards to buy what they need for work without being out of pocket or going over budget. Finance teams use Soldo to distribute money instantly, while staying in control of who spends, how much, where, and on what. Thousands of businesses, from small to large corporations including Mercedes-Benz, Sony, and Get Your Guide use Soldo to make their business spending simple and efficient. To find out more or to book a demo, visit Soldo. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

With growth at the heart of the recent Spring Budget, how can companies fuel productivity and accomplish more? On March 13th, 2024, business and economics experts met at the London Stock Exchange to decode the Chancellor's Spring Budget at an event hosted by Soldo. This live episode of The CFO Playbook is hosted by David McClelland and features an expert panel - David Owen, Chief Economist, Saltmarsh Economics  Liz Earle MBE of Liz Earle Wellbeing Emma Heal, MD at Lucky Saint Carlo Gualandri, CEO of Soldo Chapters - (00:00) - Productivity and Growth Challenges in the UK (11:54) - Economic Growth and Productivity Opportunities (21:58) - CFO-CEO Partnership for Business Success (30:33) - Impacts of AI on Business Operations (39:40) - AI Technology and Future Industry Trends (53:41) - Summary of Support in the Spring Budget About Soldo: Soldo provides company cards connected to a powerful management platform. Employees use Soldo cards to buy what they need for work without being out of pocket or going over budget. Finance teams use Soldo to distribute money instantly, while staying in control of who spends, how much, where, and on what. Thousands of businesses, from small to large corporations including Mercedes-Benz, Sony, and Get Your Guide use Soldo to make their business spending simple and efficient. To find out more or to book a demo, visit Soldo. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Welcome to a new series of The CFO Playbook, brought to you by Soldo. In this episode, our new host, technology reporter, presenter and consumer champion, David McClelland talks to Baron Anyangwe, a finance leader, about his journey and insights into leadership. They discuss the importance of flexibility and passion in career choices, the impact of volunteering, and Baron's own holistic leadership framework. The framework includes principles such as widening perspectives, finding meaningful work, focusing on strengths, and setting milestones for progress. Baron emphasises the importance of markers and milestones in guiding progress and decision-making, including the 6 Ps of success: Purpose, Principles, Priorities, Progress, Play, and People Skills. The episode also explores the value of playfulness in fostering creativity and innovation, whilst retaining the need for experimentation and adaptability in finance leadership. This episode also delves into the rise of B Corp businesses and the challenges and opportunities they present for sustainability, reflecting on the concept of liberating finance and the role of finance leaders in driving positive change. Key Takeaways: Flexibility and passion are key in making career choices and finding meaningful work. Volunteering can provide opportunities to make a positive impact and develop leadership skills. Markers and milestones are crucial in guiding progress and decision-making. Playfulness fosters creativity, innovation, and exploration of the art of the possible. Experimentation and adaptability are essential for success in finance leadership. People skills and leadership are foundational for effective collaboration and achieving the best outcomes. The rise of B Corp businesses highlights the increasing importance of sustainability and purpose-driven organisations. Finance leaders face challenges and opportunities in driving sustainability and balancing short-term and long-term goals. Liberating finance involves embodying principles, providing value, and making data-driven decisions for long-term sustainability. Soldo provides company cards connected to a powerful management platform. Employees use Soldo cards to buy what they need for work without being out of pocket or going over budget. Finance teams use Soldo to distribute money instantly, while staying in control of who spends, how much, where, and on what. Thousands of businesses, from small to large corporations including Mercedes-Benz, Sony, and Get Your Guide use Soldo to make their business spending simple and efficient. To find out more or to book a demo, visit Soldo. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This episode of the CFO Playbook features an interview with Ed Lu, Chief Financial Officer at Fandom, a San Francisco-based gaming and entertainment community platform.Ed is a gaming and media tech executive with deep finance, strategy and operational experiences focused on VC and PE-backed Gaming and B2C companies. He holds a Master's in Management Science and Engineering from Stanford University, and a Bachelor's in Economics from UC Berkeley.In this episode, Ed talks about the explosive growth of the gaming industry over the course of the pandemic, the impact that generative AI will have on game development, and the ups and downs of the financial investment side of the sector.--------Guest Quotes:“A lot of these [gaming] companies have had to somewhat bootstrap themselves, right? Or like, on a shoestring budget, get something out, show the metrics that the VCs will understand, ‘Oh, okay, I get it. Here's the D1, here's the D3, D7, D28, here's the monetization, here's the ARPU, whatnot. I can now project it out further.' But they're not getting funding prior, right? And so they've been coming into the game a little later, like sort of post traction.” - Ed Lu--------Topics:01:34 Ed's background06:53 The evolution of monetization in online gaming 15:44 Trials and tribulations of game development20:21 Investment in the gaming sector30:03 Downsides of VC investing40:12 Managing employee retention as a CFO49:24 Reflecting on his career--------Sponsor:This show is brought to you by Soldo, the brighter way to manage business spending and expenses. With Soldo, you can control every expense, track spend in real time, automate financial reporting, and then use those insights to fuel growth. Learn more at Soldo.com--------Links:Connect with Ed on LinkedInConnect with Fran on LinkedInThe CFO Playbook Listener Survey

This episode of the CFO Playbook features an interview with Bill Fahrbach, Chief Financial Officer at Facet, offering impartial and invaluable financial advice and services at an affordable membership fee.Bill is a strategic Financial Executive and Entrepreneurial CFO/COO with an extensive investment banking background and rounded technology operational experience. With a track record of significant growth, capital raises, and exits, he's a leader in finance, operations, systems, and legal capacities.In this episode, Bill talks about the changing dynamics between CFO and CEO, the importance of a healthy work-life balance, and how a primarily remote-first culture affects the pathway to becoming a CFO.--------Guest Quotes:“I think what has changed is, if you think about the CFO role, it's really critically important that you get the right information out to the organization. So, the organization wants to understand how we are doing as a business, and it's not as simple as sort of just saying like, look, here are the numbers, right? There's a lot of color, there's a lot of context. So I would say as CFO, it's been challenging. It's actually pushed probably the limits in terms of like how do you communicate effectively with the employee base, whereas when you're in the office in a physical office, it's more natural, I guess you could say, and more seamless to sort of be having routine discussions with, employees across the board and articulating, you know, the good, the bad, and everything in between and getting that message across. In a virtual environment, what I've found is that the struggle is always finding that balance of how do I get the right message out in the right forums. And not create, let's say, like a drain of unnecessary meetings that people get bored in, right? So, it's finding that balance, you know, articulating the right information, but also giving the right context in a way that employees will be engaged. I'd say that was, that's been the biggest challenge.” - Bill Fahrbach--------Topics:00:38 Bill's role and adjusting to remote work03:49 How a remote first culture affects the pathway to CFO07:51 Educational background13:19 Dynamics between CFO and CEO17:53 Facilitating company acquisitions21:47 Work life balance24:23 About Facet and IPO29:18 Best decision he's ever made--------Sponsor:This show is brought to you by Soldo, the brighter way to manage business spending and expenses. With Soldo, you can control every expense, track spend in real time, automate financial reporting, and then use those insights to fuel growth. Learn more at Soldo.com--------Links:Connect with Bill on LinkedInConnect with Fran on LinkedInThe CFO Playbook Listener Survey

This episode of the CFO Playbook features an interview with Andy Dean, Chief Financial Officer at Eden Futures, providing high quality, person-centered care, supported living and enablement for people with disabilities and support needs.At Eden Futures, Andy leads the Finance, Service Development and IT teams. Prior, he started his career training with KPMG as a Chartered Accountant, gaining experience within both Audit and Transaction Services. He has since worked for a variety of care providers in social care starting with Craegmoor as Group Financial Accountant. From there he gained broader experience at GKN plc before joining what became Embrace Group in 2012 as Group Financial Controller. Andy helped to manage the recovery and subsequent sale of that business before joining Eden Futures.In this episode, Andy talks about the current state of social care in the UK, his work as a leader for teams in finance, service development, and IT, and how policies, politics, and technology affect the space.--------Guest Quotes:“ Part of your role, as CFO, is that wide base of stakeholders. You can be talking to your shareholder one day. You can be talking to your lender another day. You can be talking to your insurer. You know, CFOs like me are often responsible for the IT, so get involved in the IT discussions, talking to our customers. So, in our case, our commissioning partners around whatever issue it might be, say fee rates, occupancy. Get involved with the lawyers that are on the contractual side. So yes, it is a varied role. You know, the old adage that 'no day is ever the same' is absolutely right from a CFO perspective.” - Andy Dean--------Topics:01:37 Andy's background and role as CFO07:22 Current state of social care in the UK13:14 Technology in social care17:43 Employee retention and politics21:00 Dealing with uncertainties25:45 Mentorship--------Sponsor:This show is brought to you by Soldo, the brighter way to manage business spending and expenses. With Soldo, you can control every expense, track spend in real time, automate financial reporting, and then use those insights to fuel growth. Learn more at Soldo.com--------Links:Connect with Andy on LinkedInEden Futures WebsiteConnect with Fran on LinkedInThe CFO Playbook Listener Survey

This episode of the CFO Playbook features an interview with Chris Voss, Founder and CEO of The Black Swan Group. Previously, Chris was the lead international kidnapping negotiator for the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the FBI's hostage negotiation representative for the National Security Council's Hostage Working Group. Chris used his many years of experience in international crises and high-stakes negotiations to develop a unique program that applies globally proven techniques to the business world. Through the Black Swan Group, he provides training for a variety of businesses and individuals on negotiation skills. He's also the author of Never Split the Difference: Negotiating as if Your Life Depended on It.In this episode, Chris and I talk about how he became an FBI hostage negotiator, what a CFO can learn from negotiation, and the three biggest mistakes to avoid when negotiating.--------Guest Quotes:“Really counterintuitive stuff, this thing that we call empathy, you know, we call tactical empathy. It's ability to influence, if you can wrap your mind around what it really is, it works under all circumstances. Doesn't matter, as long as human beings are involved, whether it's a colleague, whether it's a client, whether it's an employee, whether it's somebody you work for, it seems mystical because it really operates on neuroscience and the feelings of being understood. But human beings are wired to be completely emotional. You know, every decision, you make up your mind based on what you care about, which makes decision making an emotional process because your fundamental basis is what you care about. And so then it's just applied emotional intelligence. And you know you can succeed in the boardroom or work with what I learned dealing with a drug dealer or a terrorist.” - Chris Voss--------Topics:03:02 How to become an FBI hostage negotiator03:41 What a CFO can learn from negotiation12:52 Three biggest mistakes in negotiation18:45 Achieving outcomes22:28 In-person versus digital communication27:38 Real life stories--------Sponsor:This show is brought to you by Soldo, the brighter way to manage business spending and expenses. With Soldo, you can control every expense, track spend in real time, automate financial reporting, and then use those insights to fuel growth. Learn more at Soldo.com--------Links:Connect with Chris on LinkedInThe Black Swan Group LTDConnect with Fran on LinkedInThe CFO Playbook Listener Survey

This episode of the CFO Playbook features an interview with Robin Dunbar, Professor of Evolutionary Psychology at University of Oxford and Co-author of The Social Brain: The Psychology of Successful Groups.Professor Dunbar is British anthropologist and evolutionary psychologist and a specialist in primate behavior. He is best known for formulating Dunbar's number, a measurement of the “cognitive limit to the number of individuals with whom any one person can maintain stable relationships.” His research is concerned with trying to understand the behavioral and cognitive mechanisms that underpin social bonding in primates and humans.In this episode, Professor Dunbar talks about how evolution affects the dynamics of organizations, the seven pillars of friendship, the impact of work on personal relationships, and the observable changes in a sense of community overtime.--------Guest Quotes:“In a C-suite level, you have to find ways of sharing your time and not micromanaging everything, that's where the disaster comes, I think, because you destroy everything. You try and micromanage the whole of a big organization, not only do you make a hash of that because it's too big, but you also don't have any time left over for your family relationships and so on, and they fall apart. So, you've got to trust the people you work with, as it were, below you, in the layers below you to do their job, and that has to be the culture. And, there are places where that happens, you have this sense of trust and obligation and people work willingly, as it were, and overwork, maybe,  willingly, not for the money they're paid but out of a sense of pride and obligation to the job they do. If you encourage that kind of attitude again, which used to be much more common, then you don't have to worry about what's going on down below because that's being taken care of in the layers below you. You can sit back and deal with strategy, which is what C-suite folks should be really concerned with because, and sparing yourself enough time at the corners of the day to invest in your own kind of family and social environments.” - Robin Dunbar--------Topics:02:51 Introducing Robin's book: The Social Brain: The Psychology of Successful Groups06:35 How evolution affects the dynamics of organizations11:36 The seven pillars of friendship18:21 Difference in application for group sizes in a workplace setting30:32 Generational changes in the sense of community38:47 The impact of work on personal relationships--------Sponsor:This show is brought to you by Soldo, the brighter way to manage business spending and expenses. With Soldo, you can control every expense, track spend in real time, automate financial reporting, and then use those insights to fuel growth. Learn more at Soldo.com--------Links:Connect with Robin on LinkedInThe Social Brain: The Psychology of Successful GroupsConnect with Fran on LinkedInThe CFO Playbook Listener Survey

This episode of the CFO Playbook features an interview with Tom Herbert, Tech Editor at AccountingWEB, the largest independent online community for accounting and finance professionals in the UK.Tom is a journalist, editor and broadcaster with experience across digital and print publications. For the past seven years, he's specialized in business, accountancy and technology journalism. He writes and edits news, features, interviews and opinion pieces and also features on a variety of podcasts, videos and webinars as both a host and guest.In this episode, Tom talks about ChatGPT and the future of AI, the recent Silicon Valley Bank situation, The Tyranny of Expense Reclaim, and his opinions on accountancy stereotypes.--------Guest Quotes:“I think that accountants, the stereotype is, Nigel in the corner office with his spreadsheet, and they're incredibly boring people, like Monty Python and various others have spread this around. But, I actually find accountants incredibly entertaining. I think they're generally very quirky, quite eccentric, and often quite blunt. But, when I pitched up in 2015, after, as you said, a series of events, writing, travel, writing, sports, journalism, like my wife's, yeah, ‘accounting journalism, are you sure?' But, yeah, I've loved every minute of it, genuinely. It's been great fun.” - Tom Herbert--------Topics:03:54 Chat GPT and AI10:21 Silicon Valley Bank14:14 Resumes and trust18:44 The Tyranny of Expense Reclaim24:44 Opinions on accountancy stereotypes--------Sponsor:This show is brought to you by Soldo, the brighter way to manage business spending and expenses. With Soldo, you can control every expense, track spend in real time, automate financial reporting, and then use those insights to fuel growth. Learn more at Soldo.com--------Links:Connect with Tom on LinkedInConnect with Fran on LinkedInThe CFO Playbook Listener Survey

This episode of the CFO Playbook features an interview with Peter de Silva, Author, Director, and Trustee.Peter is an experienced chairman, CEO, president, executive committee member, public and private company director and trustee for national not-for-profit organizations and national charitable foundations. He's a Former Harvard University Senior Fellow - Advanced Leadership Initiative, and author of Taking Stock: 10 Life Leadership Principles from My Seat at the Table.In this episode, Peter talks about the importance of successfully cultivating relationships for career progression, the financial impacts of the 2020 ‘meme' stock craze, and leaves us with his top three pieces of advice for the CFOs of the future.--------Guest Quotes:“If I think about three or four pieces of advice for aspiring financial leaders, I would leave you with this. One, take intelligent risks. I didn't want to move to Cincinnati. I didn't want to move to Kansas City. But I did, and I grew much more quickly. I got way ahead from where I would've been if I sat in my office in Boston. So, take those intelligent risks. Second, and something that has to be learned, you need to hire people that compliment you and challenge you. The leader that hires people that look just like them and marches in line, it doesn't work. You want people who challenge you around that table. And, as long as they do it respectfully and ethically, it's all good with me. But, ensure you find people who compliment and challenge you. Third, constantly challenge yourself to improve. None of us are done learning and growing and we won't be until we draw our last breath because that's the essence of life, is to learn and grow and to develop. And my last piece of advice for everyone is to do what you love and love what you do. And, if you don't, It's time to move on.” - Peter de Silva--------Topics:01:22 Peter's background06:12 Early career09:28 Experience at Harvard14:38 Meme stock craze22:56 Peter's book25:43 Cultivating relationships30:40 What's next for Peter31:26 Advice for upcoming CFOs34:00 Learning experiences--------Sponsor:This show is brought to you by Soldo, the brighter way to manage business spending and expenses. With Soldo, you can control every expense, track spend in real time, automate financial reporting, and then use those insights to fuel growth. Learn more at Soldo.com--------Links:Connect with Peter on LinkedInConnect with Fran on LinkedInThe CFO Playbook Listener Survey

This episode of the CFO Playbook features an interview with Chris Gaunt. He is the CFO Practice Leader for Europe, Middle East and Africa at Spencer Stuart, an executive search, board, and leadership advisory service.In his role, Chris works on a variety of Group CFO appointments for many of the world's largest publicly traded companies, as well as for private equity-backed portfolio companies. He has a strong international focus, often for clients in emerging economies who wish to access the global executive talent pool. Prior to joining Spencer Stuart, Chris worked with another leading international executive search firm, most recently serving as the Managing Partner of its UK CFO practice. He began his career in the financial leadership search field in the firm's New York office. Earlier, Chris worked as a management consultant for the Washington, D.C.-based Advisory Board Company. In that capacity, he led consulting teams working with senior executives across industries on their human resources strategy and operations. Chris holds a master's degree from the London School of Economics and a bachelor's degree from Georgetown University.In this episode, Chris talks about the ever changing role of the CFO, the modern challenges of headhunting, leadership as a whole, and the steps you can take to reach the top.--------Guest Quotes:“You need a certain stiffness, a certain toughness, of character to survive the sort of constant battering and the loneliness that is involved in being a CEO. I won't dispute that. I would say that we're seeing, again, an evolutionary change where the command control type of the CEOs of yesteryear are simply no longer in vogue. What we've seen, and the Covid crisis amplified this, is that CEOs today, more than ever, have to demonstrate real empathetic and inclusive leadership." - Chris Gaunt--------Topics:02:08 Introducing Chris03:11 Current state of CFOs06:30 Challenges in headhunting10:11 The skill set of a modern CFO16:21 Prerequisites for becoming a CFO22:53 The process of CFO headhunting27:45 Examples of successful CFO searches--------Sponsor:This show is brought to you by Soldo, the brighter way to manage business spending and expenses. With Soldo, you can control every expense, track spend in real time, automate financial reporting, and then use those insights to fuel growth. Learn more at Soldo.com--------Links:Connect with Chris on LinkedInConnect with Fran on LinkedInThe CFO Playbook Listener Survey

This episode of the CFO Playbook features an interview with Kevin Benmoussa, EVP & CFO at Aleph Farms, a company growing beef steaks from non-genetically engineered and non-immortalized cells isolated from a living cow. This is done without slaughtering the animal and with a significantly reduced impact to the environment.Before helping to drive growth at Aleph, Kevin held numerous leadership positions at some of the biggest brands in the world. His previous roles include CFO at The Vita Coco Company, where he was responsible for expanding the company's global finance functions before leading that company's IPO in 2021, and positions at Nestlé and PepsiCo where he drove growth and profitability through mergers and acquisitions, strategic alliances, and business development.In this episode, Kevin talks about the ever-changing role of the CFO, the importance of profitability and forecasting in growing companies, and the booming expansion of the cultivated meat industry in recent years.--------Guest Quotes:“The CFO role has evolved dramatically over the last decade or so. As you would think before, with the CFO being the traditional bean counter and the policy maker within the company, just saying no to things. And really focusing on accounting, I think this definition of CFO has really, really changed today. I view myself, you know, as part of that new generation of CFO that are much more business focused. And, trying to be an enabler for a business and as an organization, and leverage the finance function as a tool, to really enable the company to achieve what it needs to achieve.”“You want to make sure you're growing profitably. That's always something that has stuck with me over the years. I've seen great businesses, great startups, great companies that they've had tremendous revenue runways, tremendous growth, but at no real path to profit. And we've seen a lot of those cases, especially the last year or two, where we've seen a company fail because of that, right? Because, you know, expectations are very high from a growth point of view, which is great because growth is the key element of any company. But, at the same time investors start to realize, hey, beyond the growth we need to understand the profitability because, at the end of the day, a business needs to make money.”“I want to always stay optimistic but I say, cautiously optimistic, right? Which is, I want to make sure, you know, I look at things in the best optimal way as possible, and ready to spend, and ready to support the growth of the company as best as we can. At the same time, making sure we keep some flexibility to adjust and course correct if need be throughout the year, depending on the situation. I think this is crucial and every CFO in every company, whether very large or very small, has to be prepared to do that today.”“Don't constrain yourself to your specific job description.  And what that means is to always go beyond what you're supposed to do and really understand what's around you, understand the context, and see how can you help others in what they do, even though it doesn't necessarily impact what you're doing today. Because, that's how you're gonna become the most effective, and that's how you're gonna bring the most value to the organization as a whole.”--------Topics:03:05 What is cultivated meat?04:25 Kevin's background08:19 Organizational structure at Aleph Farms10:02 The changing role of CFO17:39 Profitability and forecasting the future22:11 Important KPIs for Kevin25:01 Preparing for disaster scenarios28:52 Mentorship30:22 Final advice--------Sponsor:This show is brought to you by Soldo, the brighter way to manage business spending and expenses. With Soldo, you can control every expense, track spend in real time, automate financial reporting, and then use those insights to fuel growth. Learn more at Soldo.com--------Links:Connect with Kevin on LinkedInConnect with Fran on LinkedInThe CFO Playbook Listener Survey

This episode of the CFO Playbook features an interview with Justin Lackey, CFO at Asset Panda, a powerful, highly configurable asset tracking and management SaaS platform on a mission to help the world work smarter.In his current role as the Chief Financial Officer, Justin oversees revenue operations, pricing, and data analysis, which are all transferable skills brought over from his previous positions as Director of Revenue Operations, and Manager of Pricing Strategy and Finance. Prior to Asset Panda, Justin held four separate financial analyst positions at ACTIVE Network, a premier global marketplace for activities and events. He graduated with a degree in general finance from Texas A&M University in 2017.In this episode, Justin talks about the importance of maintaining transparency in the new world of finance, navigating risk appetite when conducting business during black swan events, and adapting to and remaining motivated in remote work environments.--------Guest Quotes:“I like to look at everything as a revenue generating role, right? What are you doing to impact revenue? Whether it's a tweak you're making in our sales process, our marketing process, insights you're helping give them, there's a direct downstream impact on revenue for that. Becoming obsessed with that revenue side of the business, I think is important for any young analyst, any aspiring CFO.”“I think a really good quality for a CFO, CRO is, can you take a complexity and can you make it digestible, right? That is always the million dollar question of, okay, we have this set, this data set, this preexisting analytics set, right, of historical information. How do I put this into an action item and how do I deliver it so anyone can understand it?”“I think haste of pivot is super important. Boils back down to that data collection piece of, how long is too long for a project to kind of run its course, right? You have the opportunity to act much quicker based on leading indicators than you could've. It's not all about waiting until seeing the win rate anymore, waiting until seeing total revenue, right? You can kind of grab some of that upfront data, make some pretty educated guesses, and pivot quickly.”“There's a famous kind of mindset model that talks about the different zones that people can find themselves in. And there's a reactive zone and a proactive zone, along with a waste and a distraction zone, things like that. We spend a lot of time in that reactive zone today, but we're not necessarily using time in the proactive zone that can lead to efficiencies within that reactive zone. What am I doing day-to-day that really could be automated that's taking up a lot of my time, and how do I invest that time back into my personal life?”--------Topics:02:06 Justin's role and background07:53 The new world of finance13:22 Transparency in finance18:06 Addressing risk appetite22:08 Black swan events28:31 Remaining motivated in remote work33:51 Siege mentality in company leadership37:33 Tips for success in business--------Sponsor:This show is brought to you by Soldo, the brighter way to manage business spending and expenses. With Soldo, you can control every expense, track spend in real time, automate financial reporting, and then use those insights to fuel growth. Learn more at Soldo.com--------Links:Connect with Justin on LinkedInConnect with Fran on LinkedInThe CFO Playbook Listener Survey

This episode of the CFO Playbook features an interview with Rebecca Kacaba, CEO & Co-Founder of Dealmaker, the leading platform turning all capital raise types into simple ecommerce.Rebecca practiced law on Bay Street for over 10 years, founded the startup practice group at one law firm, and was co-chair of the Toronto Venture Technology and Emerging Growth Companies Group. Rebecca's vision and drive have landed her in Lexpert's Top 40 Under 40 and recognized as one of North America's most innovative lawyers by the Financial Times. Rebecca led DealMaker to be Canada's 3rd Fastest Growing Company 2022. In this episode, Rebecca talks about equity crowdfunding as a go-to method for raising capital, leading and persevering through the global pandemic, and provides advice for aspiring female entrepreneurs as she is considered one of the most powerful women in Canada.--------Guest Quotes:“If you think about that [equity crowdfunding] versus the traditional process of walking into a boardroom and shaking hands and heuristics based on appearance and even just joking around and making connections with people. That is a different process fundamentally than putting up the value prop of your business online. A quick video elevator pitch, and that's what's gonna resonate with people. So it moves away from who the founder is and the founder presenting the story to, Hey, here's the idea. Does the person investing over the internet really connect with this idea?”"Maybe you have a CEO who doesn't get along with institutional capital well, or maybe control is important to your founder. And equity crowdfunding can be a really meaningful way for them to set their own terms, go to market, get capitalized, and continue lots of companies."“We try to treat our team as well as possible, but ultimately, having a strong culture, we know what we are, we know we're a culture of high performers, and other high performers wanna be a part of that. And that's a very unique culture.”“I think to me, finance is such a cool function because when you have strong control over the numbers, it can play a really predictive, forward looking role in the organization in terms of helping filter through acquisition targets and modeling future revenues as part of the capital raising process. I think traditionally a lot of people think of finance and back-office as just back looking, and to me, the power of finance is in the forward looking aspect of the numbers and what the numbers can tell you about the future.”“I had practice zooming into detail and then zooming back out as a partner from a macro perspective and I think that's really what's required of you as a growth company CEO. You have to know when to jump in on something and dive down into the weeds, and then you have to know when to pull back up and stay at a high level.”--------Topics:02:34 Rebecca's background and the birth of DealMaker03:56 Equity crowdfunding as a go-to method for raising capital07:12 Role of a growth company CEO09:57 Leading through a global pandemic12:00 Future plans at DealMaker14:25 Qualities of a great CEO17:15 Hiring and employee retention20:35 Data analytics in equity crowdfunding23:31 Mentorship in business26:07 Advice for aspiring female entrepreneurs28:34 Lessons learned from mistakes29:21 Advice for CFOs--------Sponsor:This show is brought to you by Soldo, the brighter way to manage business spending and expenses. With Soldo, you can control every expense, track spend in real time, automate financial reporting, and then use those insights to fuel growth. Learn more at Soldo.com--------Links:Connect with Rebecca on LinkedInConnect with Fran on LinkedInThe CFO Playbook Listener Survey

Being a good CFO isn't just about managing money anymore. The modern CFO is being asked to implement new technology, guide product and business decisions, and look ahead to the future. On the CFO Playbook we look at how the finance functions at companies stay ahead of the curve. In season 2 we bring you new host, Fran Badenhorst, a career journalist and UK Content Lead for Soldo. You will still get the same interesting and informative content for the financial professional you heard before, but we are expanding our sights on the growing working world and universe of business. Each episode you'll get insights that help you grow yourself, your team, and your company. We'll explore how old school finance traditions fit into the new world of business. You'll hear from established and up-and-coming CFO's, Thought Leaders, Technology Trend Setters, and other C-Suite Leaders and professionals that impact the finance function.Our casual conversations will take a deep dive to get at the heart of what is important to our guests. We will draw out the stories, bright ideas, best advice, and essential practices on what has helped them make an impact.Whether you're a seasoned CFO, new to your position, or aspiring to grow your career, we will discuss what needs to be on the mind and radar of people to be successful as they delve into the future of finance. --------Sponsor:This show is brought to you by Soldo, the brighter way to manage business spending and expenses. With Soldo, you can control every expense, track spend in real time, automate financial reporting, and then use those insights to fuel growth. Learn more at Soldo.com--------Links:Connect with Fran on LinkedIn

This episode of the CFO Playbook features an interview with Paul Cunningham, Partner and CFO at Helios Investment Partners, an Africa-focused private firm managing funds totalling $3.6 billion. With 34 years in the industry, Paul has an overall responsibility for all matters relating to accounting, financial control, taxation, fund administration and reporting and regulatory compliance for the Helios group entities.Paul served as Chief Financial Officer and Chief Operating Officer for Barclays Private Equity for six years prior to joining Helios in May 2008, and previously as Director, Head of Finance & Product Control Projects at Barclays Capital. He's also Chairman of the International Private Equity and Venture Capital Valuation Guidelines Board. Prior to joining Barclays, he worked within the finance functions of various major investment banks, including Deutsche Bank and Credit Suisse, since qualifying as a Chartered Accountant with Ernst & Whinney in 1989.In this episode of the CFO Playbook, Paul talks about the current state of the market in private equity, changes in finance functions brought about by the global pandemic, and how to build a strong team through authentic and genuine leadership.Take The CFO Playbook Listener Survey to help us improve the show. You'll also be entered to win your choice of the latest iPad Pro or a Samsung Galaxy S7.--------Guest Quotes:“Within private equity, and it's certainly been true of the firms that I've been CFO for, the role of CFO is more by exclusion. Anything that isn't related to making or divesting of investments potentially falls in the lap of the CFO.”“Typically, within a lot of private equity firms, it is the CFO that just keeps everything on the straight and narrow, keeps everything sort of running with the exception of the buying and selling of investments.”“Twenty years ago, private equity business was very much sort of cookie cutter. One investment looked very much like another. One fund looked very much like the last fund. And there wasn't a great deal that changed. But now you need to be part lawyer, part accountant, part tax advisor, part regulatory consultant, and I think 20 years ago that wasn't the case. Certainly not to the same extent.”“In terms of leading the team, one of the key things that I find is that I don't ask anyone in my team to do something that I have never done myself in the past or don't sometimes do myself at the moment”“I think that sort of move towards automation and digitalization has always been there within the finance function. It just sort of progresses over time. It's something that you can't just, oh, over the next two years we're going to digitalize every manual process. It needs to be constantly evolving.”“One of the most important bits of advice is never be too important to do anything because it helps keep you grounded. It also helps with building a team. Don't feel that because you are now CFO, you can't do your own photocopying for example.”--------Topics:01:15 Paul's journey03:29 The role of CFO in private equity05:22 How the role has changed over time07:13 Current state of the market13:12 Building a strong finance team15:12 Leading through the pandemic25:01 Changes in finance technology26:58 Automating manual processes32:52 Advice for aspiring CFOs--------Sponsor:This show is brought to you by Soldo, the brighter way to manage business spending and expenses. With Soldo, you can control every expense, track spend in real time, automate financial reporting, and then use those insights to fuel growth. Learn more at Soldo.com--------Links:Connect with Ross on LinkedInConnect with Paul on LinkedInThe CFO Playbook Listener Survey

This episode of the CFO Playbook features an interview with Chris Stefani, CFO at DWF, a  leading global provider of integrated legal and business services.Chris is a specialist in performance improvement in professional services, finance transformation and profit improvement. He oversees all of DWF's financial operations in the UK and internationally, with a focus on enhancing revenue, improving profitability and driving working capital management to support the firm's growth. He has extensive experience in advising executive boards on all aspects of financial management and control, and the development of financial reporting and analysis mechanisms. Chris has worked in many different finance function roles in the UK and Ireland and more recently in EMEIA, including as Head of Finance for UK&I Tax and CFO for the Republic of Ireland.In this episode, Chris talks about why the legal sector provides variety for someone working in the finance function. He explains what it's like to lead an organization through an IPO during covid, the war in Ukraine, and worldwide financial struggles. Chris also discusses the importance of delegation, coaching, and providing leeway and time for teams to process, progress, and be productive.  Take The CFO Playbook Listener Survey to help us improve the show. You'll also be entered to win your choice of the latest iPad Pro or a Samsung Galaxy S7.--------Guest Quotes:“I liken my job to being an air hostess on a plane full of people who are quite easily spooked by turbulence. They look to me to be calm, even when the plane's rattling around. Because I mean, I'm a nervous flyer, and if I look and the air hostess is panicking, I worry. So however much there might be going on in the background. I've got to present a calm face to the business, take questions, understand sentiment,  and also be fixing stuff in the background without making too much noise about it. I think that's what we've had to do in what's been an unprecedented time. It comes down to something as simple as just over communicating.” - Chris Stefani--------Timestamp Topics:01:35 Chris' career path05:33 CFO experiences at different companies08:55 Pioneering in a novel market13:10 Leadership through challenging times18:53 Achieving balance during stressful times25:56 Investing in the finance team as a CFO33:24 How Chris' team uses technology37:22 Advice for aspiring CFOs--------Sponsor:This show is brought to you by Soldo, the brighter way to manage business spending and expenses. With Soldo, you can control every expense, track spend in real time, automate financial reporting, and then use those insights to fuel growth. Learn more at Soldo.com--------Links:Connect with Ross on LinkedInConnect with Chris on LinkedInThe CFO Playbook Listener Survey

This episode of the CFO Playbook features an interview with Alwyn Jones, Group CFO at Luno, a leading global cryptocurrency company with over 9 million customers in 43 countries that provides services for making it safe and easy to buy, store and learn about cryptocurrencies.Alwyn has more than 20 years of experience as a hands-on leader with a track record of delivery in financial and digital services. He strives to deliver exceptional business performance based around a deep understanding of the customer, clear strategic focus, and developing winning teams. Throughout his career, Alwyn has covered strategy development, capital markets, corporate finance, retail and digital financial services, and operational execution. During that time he's become heavily metrics and results driven, leveraging customer voice and analyses to define strategy, leading change initiatives to obtain and measure commercial results.In this episode of the CFO Playbook, Alwyn talks about the novel and evolving space of cryptocurrency and blockchain. He shares advice on retaining and hiring in a nascent industry,  as well as starting an app based bank from scratch. Alwyn also discusses the importance of building personal resilience and embracing the latest financial technology to improve performance.Take The CFO Playbook Listener Survey to help us improve the show. You'll also be entered to win your choice of the latest iPad Pro or a Samsung Galaxy S7.--------Guest Quotes:“Philosophy is critical, right? You've got to have a clear direction of where you're trying to go. And the faster you can go to that point as a business, the better, but finance is a key enabler to that. If finance isn't on the case, the business will naturally slow down to the tempo that finance operates at. So you can be an active inhibitor and break on the business, or you can be an enabler. And it's building that shift from, are the numbers right? Is money ending up where it needs to be? Do we have everything in order? Are we getting through our audits? To, how forward looking are we and how quickly are we doing that? Which by the way, auditors love as well because these systems, when they work, make their lives a lot easier.” - Alwyn Jones--------Timestamp Topics:01:32 Alwyn's background in finance03:05 Experience with Monzo10:11 Building a bank from scratch18:59 The novelty of cryptocurrency24:50 Importance of crypto for CFOs27:56 Hiring in the finance sector39:05 Technologies embraced as a finance team42:51 Advice for upcoming CFOs--------Sponsor:This show is brought to you by Soldo, the brighter way to manage business spending and expenses. With Soldo, you can control every expense, track spend in real time, automate financial reporting, and then use those insights to fuel growth. Learn more at Soldo.com--------Links:Connect with Ross on LinkedInConnect with Alwyn on LinkedInThe CFO Playbook Listener Survey

This episode of the CFO Playbook features an interview with Manish Sarin, CFO at Sprinklr, a leading enterprise company for all customer-facing functions. With advanced AI, Sprinklr's unified customer experience management platform helps companies deliver human experiences to customers across modern channels.Manish is an experienced public company executive leading finance teams, investor relations, and corporate development. He has extensive experience in building finance systems and processes for high growth SaaS companies, defining inorganic strategy, identifying and evaluating acquisition targets, structuring and negotiating transactions, and integrating acquired companies. His prior experience includes working with major Wall Street investment banks. He started his career at JP Morgan / H&Q and earned an M.B.A. from Columbia and B.Tech in Computer Science from IIT, India.In this episode of the CFO Playbook, Manish talks about how he got into finance so he could be in a position to make impactful decisions for businesses, and explains why the role of a CFO is very different now than it was just a couple of decades ago. Manish also describes what he feels are the general misconceptions of the CFO role, how technology is important to the finance function, what current CFOs must do in order to raise capital, and how he achieves cohesion within his team when hiring and retaining employees. In addition, he provides his view on the current fintech market and how to navigate the new normal when dealing with restricted funding availability.Take The CFO Playbook Listener Survey to help us improve the show. You'll also be entered to win your choice of the latest iPad Pro or a Samsung Galaxy S7.--------Guest Quotes:“One of the things that I look for, and probably the most important thing when I'm interviewing people, is what I call fire in the belly. So unless I see somebody's really passionate, the fact that they have lots of years of experience, relevant experience, have worked at compelling businesses, all of that is good. But to me, a motivated individual who wants to succeed is way more important than trying to find that square peg for that, you know, square hole.”“We live in a world of soundbites. If you look at how companies go public, investors have 30 minutes to understand the story, look at some financials and figure out, do they want to make a big multimillion dollar investment? And that squarely lies on the CFO. So distilling complex technology aspects or business aspects, and the ability to explain it in an easy to understand fashion. Super important for a CFO.”“A CFO shouldn't really view that he or she has a particularly well defined swim lane, they should view the entire business as something that they can actually have a say in, and the more comfortable they are with that, the more successful they will be.”--------Timestamp Topics:01:45 How Manish got started in finance05:20 What makes a good CFO07:30 Views on the predominant model of founder led companies12:47 Finding balance in the tech industry15:30 Financing and raising capital18:05 Views on the current market20:36 Advice to other CFOs31:00 Achieving cohesion with your team27:56 Views on technology within finance36:15 Advice for aspiring CFOs--------Sponsor:This show is brought to you by Soldo, the brighter way to manage business spending and expenses. With Soldo, you can control every expense, track spend in real time, automate financial reporting, and then use those insights to fuel growth. Learn more at Soldo.com--------Links:Connect with Ross on LinkedInConnect with Manish on LinkedInThe CFO Playbook Listener Survey

This episode of the CFO Playbook features an interview with Mark Freebairn, Partner, Head of the Board Practice, and the Financial Management Practice at Odgers Berndtson a global executive search, interim management, talent assessment, and leadership development firm based in London.Mark focuses on advising Odgers Berndtson's Board as a whole and others, while maintaining the track record the Financial Management Practice has built working with the finance function to identify and develop talent. Mark led the CFO Practice for 18 years before broadening his area of focus to lead the Board Practice. He benefits from seven years of experience as a Non-Executive Director on the Board of GlobalData plc and also sits on the Remuneration Committee for the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales.In this episode of the CFO Playbook, Mark talks about his current role as a CFO headhunter, his unique approach to solidifying his place as a knowledgeable expert in the finance area, and the importance of building relationships. Given how the role of CFO has evolved and expanded overtime, he explains what it takes for aspiring CFOs to achieve success, and defines the current market availability for senior finance positions in a post resignation world.Take The CFO Playbook Listener Survey to help us improve the show. You'll also be entered to win your choice of the latest iPad Pro or a Samsung Galaxy S7.--------Guest Quotes:“If you want to create a long term sustainable relationship, you create a circular relationship where you advise people when they want help in developing their career and you advise people when they want to hire people that will help them do better and develop their career that way. And if you create this circular relationship where every individual that you deal with benefits wherever they sit on that circle,  think you provide a full service offering, which as a consultant is all I wanna do.” You've gotta be bright. You've gotta be numerate. You've gotta be analytical. You've gotta be independent of thought. You've gotta be robust in terms of your personality because you won't always be popular. “Work out where you want to get to, and then understand the experience you need to get there. Work out the roles that give you that experience, work out how long you need to do them for,  work that backwards to where you are now. If you are on that path, you're heading in the right direction, keep going. But if you are not on that path then, first and foremost, go and talk internally to your boss and your HR partner and say, I wanna get there, I'm currently here, I can't get those two paths to link up which means I've gotta do something different, help me. And if you can't get help that way, because you will always do better internally because you've got your career, your reputation, your network, your knowledge to exploit to get the move you want; if you can't do that internally, then start thinking about how you do that externally.”--------Timestamp Topics:01:48 Mark's role as a CFO headhunter04:53 Getting started at Odgers Berndtson11:24 The evolving role the CFO18:48 The process of becoming a CFO29:37 Defining the current market for CFO roles40:06 Advice for aspiring CFOs--------Sponsor:This show is brought to you by Soldo, the brighter way to manage business spending and expenses. With Soldo, you can control every expense, track spend in real time, automate financial reporting, and then use those insights to fuel growth. Learn more at Soldo.com--------Links:Connect with Ross on LinkedInConnect with Mark on LinkedInThe CFO Playbook Listener Survey

This episode of the CFO Playbook features an interview with Chitra Balasubramanian, CFO at CircleCI, a continuous integration and continuous delivery platform that can be used to implement DevOps practices in the cloud or on private infrustructures. With more than 20 years of experience accelerating business growth through data analysis, Chitra is best known for scaling technology startups. As the current CFO, and one of two C-suite females, at fast-growth unicorn CircleCI, she's led the company through major wins to establish it as a leader in the space. Chitra has been critical to the company's fundraising alongside CircleCI's CEO, Jim Rose. She has led the company through multiple rounds of financing, raising more than $215 million throughout her tenure.In this episode of the CFO Playbook, Chitra talks about her interest in being involved in technology forward finance, which led her to the startup world. She speaks about using data to identify and model the impact of change to a business, how her company increased its global employee headcount amidst a pandemic, the importance of remaining agile as a CFO, and why you need to remain empathetic and ensure open communication with your company and investors.Take The CFO Playbook Listener Survey to help us improve the show. You'll also be entered to win your choice of the latest iPad Pro or a Samsung Galaxy S7.--------Guest Quotes:“The way I've sort of tackled agility is by really trying to take a long-term view and at the same time paying attention to the short term planning horizon. How can we think about what's really best for the company over the long term, but also make sure to invest in a way where we can remain nimble over the course of the shorter term time horizon, where there's a little bit more global uncertainty around us.”“I think it's important to be proactive. You should be a leader that educates your teams and provides guidance in an advisory role to the CEO. In this type of market for CFOs and other finance leaders, you don't necessarily know what are the right questions to ask, how to make sense of what's going on in the market, or how to navigate through these cycles. But, financial leaders are really in the best spot one because they have access to the information and that analytical horsepower. They've got a team with that economic mindset and can understand different business relationships.”--------Timestamp Topics:01:20 Career Path 06:00 Comparing Crises and their Effects07:50 Changing of Tech Sector Capital Markets 10:05 Navigating Current Market 13:20 Managing Investor Relations and Expectations 16:20 Leading Teams Through Change 18:20 Maneuvering the Market and Employment    20:20 Being a Partner with the CEO 25:50 Hiring, Retention, and Networking 28:20 Use of Technology--------Sponsor:This show is brought to you by Soldo, the brighter way to manage business spending and expenses. With Soldo, you can control every expense, track spend in real time, automate financial reporting, and then use those insights to fuel growth. Learn more at Soldo.com--------Links:Connect with Ross on LinkedInConnect with Chitra on LinkedInThe CFO Playbook Listener Survey

This episode of the CFO Playbook features an interview with Christopher Yoshida, President & Chief Financial Officer at Northern Data AG, a company that combines intelligent and sustainable data centers, cutting-edge hardware, and self-developed software for various HPC applications such as bitcoin mining, blockchain, Artificial Intelligence, big data analytics, IoT, and graphics rendering. Christopher is an entrepreneurial executive with more than 20 years of experience as a global financial leader. He is deeply invested in understanding financial markets and has a passion for building dynamically successful teams. He began his career at Goldman Sachs and spent more than eleven years as part of the international management team at Morgan Stanley. Afterwards, he successfully worked as a Senior Advisor and Head of European Capital Solutions for The Carlyle Group, and was a Senior Advisor for BottlePay and AIX, which both had successful exits in 2021. In this episode of the CFO Playbook, Christopher discusses the best path to finding balance in a global leadership role such as a CFO, how to be prepared for the challenges of adapting to new responsibilities, and how to remain engaged in times of trials and tribulations. He also talks about why top companies should be investing more into their employees, and how the approach to employment and entrepreneurship has changed drastically, in part due to the pandemic.Take The CFO Playbook Listener Survey to help us improve the show. You'll also be entered to win your choice of the latest iPad Pro or a Samsung Galaxy S7.--------Guest Quotes:“It's really important to think, to dream big, have ambition, challenge yourself, take risks. I think that keeps a career dynamically healthy. And, you know, gone are the days where we're going to spend 30 or 40 years in the same company, let alone the same industry. I mean, that was a concept for our parents' generation and a very valued loyalty concept too. I just think people are going to prioritize their own ambitions, their own interests, their own curiosities ahead of their career. And I think those meld together here in the startup world, the tech world, or the innovative world really, really well.”“I don't care how well resourced the company is you're working for. I don't care how accoladed and rewarded and regarded the company may be. If you're working for a person who's not investing in your development, it's irrelevant. And I think as a manager that is one of the core tenets of being an employer or as a manager, you're supposed to invest in your people. And, you know, I think there's more emphasis on that going forward.”“It's okay to be average at some things. You can't be exceptional at everything. It doesn't work like if you have exceptional behavior, then you get exceptional outcomes. You can't be a decathlete and be number one in everything. I don't think that's feasible. So it's okay to be average over here, but to aspire to be something better over there.”“I do think connection with your people is typically an empathetic connection. And you want to drive results during stressful times. It's not through raising your voice. It's not through turning up your temperature. It's not through making it harder. It's actually generally down to listening and connecting to your people. And that's exactly the environment I think we're in right now in the tech world, but it's the environment the financial world was in 12 years ago in the financial crisis and several times since. It's all too easy just to start yelling and shouting, demanding more minutia and micromanaging. If you do that, you're going to kill the organization. I think you need to, if you've hired well, trust them, empower them, cheer them on, support them.”--------Timestamp Topics:02:00 Christopher's career journey04:15 Taking opportunities08:30 Finding balance in a global leadership role14:10 Invest in Your People23:00 Hybrid vs. remote work27:15 Market forecasting38:00 Engaging with investors41:00 Advice for upcoming CFOs--------Sponsor:This show is brought to you by Soldo, the brighter way to manage business spending and expenses. With Soldo, you can control every expense, track spend in real time, automate financial reporting, and then use those insights to fuel growth. Learn more at Soldo.com--------Links:Connect with Ross on LinkedInConnect with Christopher on LinkedInThe CFO Playbook Listener Survey

This episode of the CFO Playbook features an interview with Gemma Castle, CFO at Cult Wines, which blends heritage, expertise, and innovative technology to transform the fine wine industry for producers, wine enthusiasts, collectors, and investors alike. With over 20 years of experience, Gemma Castle is well versed in delivering nuanced and sophisticated financial strategies in the fast growth SME sector. As CFO at Cult Wines, Gemma has been pivotal in providing financial leadership and guiding the company through critical stages of growth, including navigating the implementation of North American offices. Before joining Cult Wines, Gemma worked in the leisure and hospitality industry for 10 years, where she served as Director of Finance for Travelzest and Yotel Limited Global Hotels, as well as CFO for Light Cinemas Limited.In this episode of the CFO Playbook, Gemma talks about the process of investing in wine and how her company ensures a high level of quality control. She explains the importance of collaboration among the finance team, while providing avenues to give them the best chance to be productive and successful. Gemma also gives insight on why she thinks embracing and investing in technology is critical for efficiency, progress, and connection when it comes to employees, clients, and recruiting.  Take The CFO Playbook Listener Survey to help us improve the show. You'll also be entered to win your choice of the latest iPad Pro or a Samsung Galaxy S7.--------Guest Quotes“I think it's all about having good support. My department's success is not just down to me, it's down to the people I employ and if they work well, then that's obviously a good reflection on me. And if they don't, then obviously I have to carry the can for that. So I think, balancing the demands means having the right people in your teams so you don't feel the need to micromanage. You want to feel perfectly secure that everybody's doing their job.”“To get to be a CFO, I think you have to learn from your mistakes because you are going to make mistakes, but it's how you then move on from them. It includes listening to people. You shouldn't profess that you've got all of the answers and, if someone else does have a good suggestion, don't be scared of acknowledging that person. Because, I've been in a number of roles where some people have made some very good ideas and perhaps more senior people have taken credit for it. So, it's all about giving credit where it's due.”--------Time Stamp Topics:01:50 Professional Journey 05:30 Fine Wine as an Investment09:00 Quality Assurance for Wine Investors09:00 Cult Wine's Finance Function 14:45 Finance Team Development and Collaboration17:30 Hiring and Retention Challenges20:30 Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion23:48 Technology, NFTs, and Blockchain30:30 Technology as a Tool for Efficiency34:30 Time Management, Team Reliability, Being a Good Leader--------Sponsor:This show is brought to you by Soldo, the brighter way to manage business spending and expenses. With Soldo, you can control every expense, track spend in real time, automate financial reporting, and then use those insights to fuel growth. Learn more at Soldo.com--------Links:Connect with Ross on LinkedInConnect with Gemma on LinkedInThe CFO Playbook Listener Survey

This episode of the CFO Playbook features an interview with Leigh Ramsden, CFO at Trulioo, a leading global identity and business verification provider specializing in anti-money laundering and ‘know your customer' compliance. With over 15 years in senior level finance, Leigh is accomplished in the leadership of finance teams while implementing strategies and managing effective business processes to achieve corporate goals and maximize growth in high-volume environments.As CFO at Trulioo, Leigh has been an effective operational leader, providing financial and business strategy and direction to the organization. Throughout his career, he has excelled at building teams and successfully linking overall corporate goals to individual personal achievement. His previous experience includes financial leadership positions at Absolute Software, Deloitte, Radiant Communications, and PricewaterhouseCoopers.In this episode of the CFO Playbook, Leigh talks about what it takes to be a productive partner working alongside the CEO and the best ways to make that relationship work. He discusses the changes the pandemic has introduced to the finance world and stresses the impact that working from the office has on company culture. Leigh also explains the importance of being open to adopting new technologies to help advance the finance industry.Take The CFO Playbook Listener Survey to help us improve the show. You'll also be entered to win your choice of the latest iPad Pro or a Samsung Galaxy S7.--------Guest Quotes:“You really need to be the business partner for the CEO. So, the CEO is, you know, they've got obviously a really wide mandate. They need to be in control of the entire organization and in control of everything that's happening to the business. So what comes with that is a couple of things., like one is that they need to rely on someone almost absolutely when it comes to the numbers. So you have to know the numbers, you have to know how the business is working and they need to not worry about that at all. So that's a huge part of your role.”“It's really just taking stock of all of those things that need to happen. And then going through and stack ranking them on a priority basis, given your knowledge of what's happening in the business and what the demands are of the information that's being asked of you. And then just being really intellectually honest with yourself and being okay with not getting it all done overnight.”“A lot of people that come up through accounting or financial, you know, corporate finance or any of those streams, they're not necessarily data people. So having someone look at it or any tools that kind of bring together a lot of those disparate data sets into something that you can analyze and use for forecasting is probably a great investment to make on the technology side.”“Taking stock of your skillset and understanding where you need to make improvements or learn, and then figuring out a plan to make it happen is really important because no one is perfect in every area, everyone has areas of strength and weakness. So really having been thoughtful about making those improvements, making those learnings, or figuring out how you're going to kind of backfill some of those weaker areas is  super important.”“Think about your ability to communicate. I think that's something that I try to think a lot about, knowing your audience and tailoring your messaging for your audience. I mean, a lot of financial professionals can understand the business and the underlying metrics and understanding all that's very complicated by its nature. And a lot of people have that ability to understand that, but the job is really around simplifying it in a way that people can understand. I mean that's where you can really add a lot of value.”--------Time Stamp Topics:01:16 Leigh's journey into finance02:38 Changes in the audit world03:24 Transitioning into industry04:18 First role as a CFO07:12 How the role of the CFO is changing08:58 Advice for upcoming CFOs11:41 Deciding on priorities19:36 Recruiting and retaining staff at Trulioo21:45 Importance of working from the office29:10 Finance impact on employee experience31:38 Final advice for upcoming CFOs--------Sponsor:This show is brought to you by Soldo, the brighter way to manage business spending and expenses. With Soldo, you can control every expense, track spend in real time, automate financial reporting, and then use those insights to fuel growth. Learn more at Soldo.com--------Links:Connect with Ross on LinkedInConnect with Leigh on LinkedInThe CFO Playbook Listener Survey

This episode of the CFO Playbook features an interview with Kirstine Archer, CFO at Bam Boom Cloud. Although having been in finance for over 20 years, Kirstine says she fell into accountancy rather than making it a deliberate career move. Even though she may have taken a non-traditional path to CFO, Kirstine has a clear passion and expertise for helping small to midsize businesses by increasing their efficiency through advising and technology. Kirstine has worked for Bam Boom Cloud for the past two years. As CFO, her role isn't just about making sure the numbers balance, she is always striving for the company to have the best finance team around. Her goal is to make sure the company delivers world class finance systems, both as their number one fan and number one customer. Her previous experience includes financial leadership positions at Cooper Parry, Equifax, TDX, Boots and more.In this episode of the CFO Playbook, Kirstine talks about the many opportunities that technology provides for improving the way finance works. She emphasizes the need for more competition among companies to develop newly innovative finance tech. Kirstine explains how the finance industry should challenge the status-quo situated around old technology to develop new innovations that would eliminate human errors. She discusses her unconventional path to becoming a leader in finance, including finding benefit from attending an open university and getting on-the-job experience early in her career. Kirstine also talks about her approach to creating a great team, and provides advice for becoming a successful CFO. Take The CFO Playbook Listener Survey to help us improve the show. You'll also be entered to win your choice of the latest iPad Pro or a Samsung Galaxy S7.--------Guest Quotes:“When young people come into the world of work, they can be incredibly highly academic, intelligent, young people but don't have work skills. So don't have those skills in terms of communication or writing emails or just logic and problem solving and circling round to speak to people. There are a lot of skills that you don't get until you come into the world of work. And I think that the world has moved on. I think that with the entrepreneurial spirit, you are probably going to get more from the world of work and learning from peers and seeing the good side and the bad side of what they do than you are necessarily sitting in a lecture hall, listening to somebody who is incredibly qualified in what they do, but hasn't necessarily been in that work environment either ever or for a very long time. Knowing that you've got options should be really empowering to young people now because it's something that I didn't have when I was at school.”“Finance can be a tough place to work at times. You get the business looking at you, suppliers, customers, it can be a tough environment to work in. We need people around us who we can rely on as team members and who not only have that tenacity, but that drive and that desire to want to do their best in their role.”“I don't necessarily want a team that everybody wants to be CFO. I want a good, well-rounded team where, yeah some people are knocking down at my door, wanting my job after me, but other people want to do the best they are at the job that they've got because they have family outside of work, or they have loved ones that they're caring for, or actually they just don't want the stress and the hassle of a high powered job because they want to finish on time and go and play football. We're all many different sorts of people. And I think a well balanced team and a well-balanced company should support that.”“Cultural fit is massively important. I think we've probably all worked in organizations where what they do is great and we've probably been remunerated well, but that cultural fit isn't right. And if that cultural fit isn't right, then you get demotivated and you don't do your best. Eventually you get bored and you leave. So finding that right cultural fit from the office and spending the time doing that is massively important.”“Young people that come in haven't necessarily had a job in an office environment before let alone a finance function and actually setting them up with the right training and setting them up for success is important, but not everybody is going to succeed in that role. I think making a quick decision around that is equally as important. If you have gotten the wrong fit person in the team, and it could be that they're a great person but they're just not the right person for the role, then actually making that decision and finding either another role internally that's better suited to them or  letting them leave and find their own career path is important.”“I think the damage done to teams by keeping under-performance in place for long periods of time is worse than facing it head on and admitting that sometimes you make mistakes. Sometimes we get recruitment wrong. I know that I have in the past. You have to sometimes go with your gut. You sometimes have to go with the best person that's sat in front of you, hope they'll fit in and be great for them. And then, unfortunately, you have to deal with the consequences if they don't quite meet expectations.”“I don't see why any of us want to do something that technology can do for us. We get a bit worried about the robot revolution. That will never happen because robots will never think in the same way as humans. They'll never spot those little intricacies and add that value. I don't want to grow a team that's enormous. I want technology to take away the heavy lifting so that my team could do the interesting stuff, the stuff that really benefits them in their career journeys.”“It still astounds me, today in 2022, the world's global finance system is pretty much still held up by Excel. There is no finance function on earth that does not have an Excel spreadsheet somewhere. I think that's symptomatic of the fact that actually as finance people, we don't challenge the status quo enough sometimes. I think that sometimes, because we have month-end reporting and because we have to make sure that what we do gets done, we go, ‘I'd love to fix that but I haven't got time and I need this to carry on working, it will do the job'. And I think sometimes we need to be bigger advocates of the fact that this doesn't work for us.” “There are ways that you can use technology to speed every process up, every operational process. And the more that we do that, the more that you're not reliant on humans and human fallibility and errors with that. As finance people, there's nothing more frustrating than being like, ‘oh, someone forgot to do this', or ‘you posted something in the wrong way round'. If we can remove that and get people doing what they should be doing, which is controlled checks, analysis, the data and the insight side of things, then we'll all be better for it.”“I think there needs to be competition within this space. Otherwise you end up with just Excel again, just a newer version of Excel that everybody relies on. There needs to be competition. A single source is great and Microsoft enables that, but there has to be competition within the partners in terms of who's going to get to market first…. A world without competition is a world without innovation. So it's massively important that that continues.”“Don't rush into the CFO role. Some people seem to be very desperate to get to the top of the ladder. It will come if it's right to come to you, like the right opportunity will come up.”“For me, it's just about learning. If you're not learning in the role that you're in, then it's probably time to move on. But it doesn't always have to be up the career ladder. It can be sideways or a similar role in a different organization. If you want to be a CFO of a fast paced organization, spend some time in finance in a fast paced organization. See how you like it. Because one day that's all going to be yours to look after.”--------Timestamp Topics:01:30 Kirstine's career path05:39 Formal education07:58 Advice on university10:31 Education v. work experience13:04 Narrowing down hiring candidates19:27 How Kirstine's finance team functions compared to others25:45 In-house v. outsourcing when it comes to finance28:03 Opportunities for improving the way finance works36:35 Advice for upcoming CFOs --------Sponsor:This show is brought to you by Soldo, the brighter way to manage business spending and expenses. With Soldo, you can control every expense, track spend in real time, automate financial reporting, and then use those insights to fuel growth. Learn more at Soldo.com--------Links:Connect with Ross on LinkedInConnect with Kirstine on LinkedInThe CFO Playbook Listener Survey

This episode of the CFO Playbook features an interview with Mariana Lazaro, CFO Latin America at SumUp. Mariana has extensive experience in driving continuous financial and operational improvement, designing and implementing accounting processes and systems, developing and implementing strategic plans, and evaluating and executing mergers and acquisitions. From early in life, Mariana knew that she wanted to work in finance because it was important to her as a woman from an immigrant family to show she knew how to be an independent thinker that was able to own and manage finances. She thinks it is important for any CFO to be creative and nimble, building a finance tribe that invests in technology to be successful.Throughout her career, Mariana has become experienced with leading providers in the Technology, Bio Technology, Agriculture and Financial Services industries with Fortune 500 publicly traded corporations and private equity backed companies. She has been recognized for her ability to develop cross functional relationships and build high performance teams, while motivating and aligning personnel around a common set of goals.In this episode of the CFO Playbook, Mariana talks about the importance of innovation in financing for companies and customers, and the traits required of a CFO to build a team and lead it to success through the use of technology. She provides insight on integrating engineering teams to help accomplish goals and develop a harmonious ecosystem. Mariana also speaks about personal and professional empowerment, the importance of continued education, and her dedication to diversity, equity, and inclusion.Take The CFO Playbook Listener Survey to help us improve the show. You'll also be entered to win your choice of the latest iPad Pro or a Samsung Galaxy S7.--------Guest Quotes“It has always been my goal to work in the payment industry because inside of the payment industry, the finance department is not a back office. So you're not talking about the accounting department, you're talking about the department that's going to be really together with the business, delivering the product. So with SumUp or Square, any of those fintechs, finance is really the front of the show, together with the product and engineering team. So every time the FinTech launches a product, if you're talking about lending, if you're talking about estate pay out, or buy now pay later, any of those products, you have to have a source of findings in those products, in the background. The finance business partner will come in and really help the product to develop and that's something that I have passion for.”“Something that most of the CFOS will need to invest in is how do you put inside of the accounting team, finance squads and finance tribes to help you to give this step forward into the technology of the team as a whole.”“I think we need to realize and be patient. Every time you implement a new technology or you work with a new squad, there is the moment the team gets used to that you're able to explain what needs to be done. The product starts to work and then really you're able to take advantage and take the step up. It takes a little bit of time. So you need to be patient.”“When we put a squad to be working inside of finance, they need to have a tech lead. They need to have somebody because a finance person should be giving guidance, purely guidance and leave the technical part to an engineer. That's not something that energizes them. So for sure, create a structure where the squad inside of finance there's a tech lead, somebody that will be able to be their mentor and follow this person closely.”“I didn't impose on anybody that they needed to be a hundred percent here in the office. But, for me, to build this synergy among the team it is essential that we've been to the office at least two or three times a week. So now as a  rule, not a fixed rule because some of it is very nimble when, and I think we definitely cater to our employees, we're usually once to twice a week in the office and when we are launching something, a product, and then we will come probably every day because we need to be reading the contract, talking to the banks and talking to the engineering team.”“Sometimes the market makes over emotional decisions sometimes. But at the end of the day, the company should look within to see if what they have as products is something that's durable, something that will bring value to the company, not just for show but has a sense to it that this is a good product and you can back it up by engineers and by the process. I think these are the type of companies that will make it.”“Come out as more of an outspoken, especially towards women in leadership. It makes a difference when you see a woman occupying, especially a finance role, where they are having a leadership position to inspire others, and you literally can see even when you're in a room, if there are other women, see another woman, they will speak more, they will, they feel more empowered. So to me, I think for sure study. But if you're a woman besides studying, you have almost the obligation of spying on other women to grow.”“Essentially a joke which I give to my boss every day is, every time when you're in a meeting and you see only men around you, you should stop the meeting and say at least one person, at least one woman needs to be here. Because if there's only men in that table, something is wrong. You can have only one point of view. You are not getting a diverse point of view. You're not enriching the opinion there. You're not getting the other backgrounds.”--------Timestamp Topics:01:30 Path to CFO and Love for Finance06:24 Perception of Finance's Role08:18 Rethinking Future Finance Principles and Roles 11:30 Solving Finance Problems15:30 Trials, Tribulations, and Tools of Technology Implementation19:30 Remote Working and Team Collaboration 23:30 Finance Functions in Different Countries26:13 Finance Team Setup29:10 Future Finance Challenges and Initiatives35:30 Advice for Being a Successful and Effective CFO39:00 Promoting Opportunities for Women and Creating Diverse Teams--------Sponsor:This show is brought to you by Soldo, the brighter way to manage business spending and expenses. With Soldo, you can control every expense, track spend in real time, automate financial reporting, and then use those insights to fuel growth. Learn more at Soldo.com--------Links :Connect with Ross on LinkedInConnect with Mariana on LinkedInThe CFO Playbook Listener Survey

This episode of the CFO Playbook features an interview with Ben Chrnelich, CFO at Symphony.com. Ben has a passion for Capital Markets Technology. He has spent his career focused on enabling trading organizations to utilize technology that drives efficiency and productivity. Always aspiring to become a CFO, Ben sees technology as a tool that can empower financial leaders to have an impact at organizations that previously was not possible because the volume of work was too much and too manual. Over the past two decades Ben has held financial and management leadership positions at Charles Schwab, Lehman Brothers, NYSE and IPC where he drove business strategy to adapt to the constantly evolving trading landscape. When not working, Ben is on the pitch, coaching soccer for NJ ODP and his daughter's teams.In this episode of the CFO Playbook, Ben talks about his appreciation for the rate of change that technology is bringing both to capital markets and the finance profession. He feels adapting to the new wave of technology applications is paramount to success, giving companies the tools needed to gather the information and data they need. Ben sees these self-serving tools as a way to create a far more dynamic, explorative, and effective type of collaboration within companies that can bring down information barriers and remove friction from daily finance functions. He also discusses his path to becoming a CFO, the importance of being a passionate and excited leader, and other traits he sees as important to being a partner and guiding finances within any organization. Take The CFO Playbook Listener Survey to help us improve the show. You'll also be entered to win your choice of the latest iPad Pro or a Samsung Galaxy S7.--------Guest Quotes“The language of business is driven by accounting and ultimately your ability to articulate numbers and align numbers to a strategy and business back to measured results has to be based on the foundation of your understanding of accounting. There are plenty of times where you see people in potential CFO roles that don't have that strong of an accounting grasp and they can struggle to understand all the elements that happen in that side of the space.”“Without a high level of technology, access, and development in financial technology applications, it'd be very difficult to provide the information to a wide group of people. At the same time, you, as a CFO, would spend all your time just talking about numbers, as opposed to creating the environment that you can distribute that information out to all the interested parties.”“Your intellectual curiosity is paramount. Eventually the numbers tell you everything, but they don't tell you everything if you don't spend time understanding how they're built, how they're generated, and what themes are coming out of the numbers. So, you really need to have that intellectual curiosity.”“Part of being a leader is you have to expose yourself. And, it's a little bit of a cliche, but you have to get comfortable with being uncomfortable. You have to put yourself out there a little bit. You have to know that if you put your head out, it might get knocked around a little. But, as long as you can keep doing that over time, you're going to be able to figure out how to lead. And people will look at that as someone that's comfortable taking a risk and pushing them forward.”“Numbers are foundational and numbers give security, but numbers don't tell all people what's actually happening in the business. They don't tell why clients are buying more of something. They don't say why something is seeing really good market penetration. They don't tell you why things aren't happening and you need to be able to, as a CFO, talk to non-financial people or really sophisticated business people who may not be into the numbers. Explain to them what's happening and why, and then support it back with the numbers. And I think when I see the CFOs that just do a phenomenal job, they can just traverse across the whole business environment, seamlessly weaving in numbers, operating metrics, product results, customer impact. It's just part of a comprehensive narrative of the business.”--------Time Stamp Topics:00:10 Career Path to CFO and Technology's Pace of Change05:00 Technology in Finance and Capital Markets06:00 Technology's Impact on Workflows and Software07:00 Development and Accessibility of Finance Systems09:00 Self-serving Technology Tools Bringing Down Information Barriers11:00 Real-Time and Relevant Insights13:45 Listening, Learning and Effort16:30 Being Effective and the Evolving Role of the CFO23:00 CFO Rules of Thumb for Leading27:00 Building the Best Team and Leadership Development30:30 Being a Reliable and Encouraging Leader33:30 Liberating Teams from Administrative Work36:30 Technologies for the Future40:00 Tips for Being a Successful CFO--------Sponsor:This show is brought to you by Soldo, the brighter way to manage business spending and expenses. With Soldo, you can control every expense, track spend in real time, automate financial reporting, and then use those insights to fuel growth. Learn more at Soldo.com--------Links Connect with Ross on LinkedInConnect with Ben on LinkedInThe CFO Playbook Listener Survey

With 7 years of leadership experience, Navpreet Randhawa has a passion for Enterprise SaaS businesses with focus on the financial technology sector. He found himself on the path to being a self-described “accidental CFO” by having a drive to help build companies and be successful. Navpreet has leaned into prioritizing what is best for his business through the help of using technical tools and outsourcing many traditional aspects of a company's finance department. As CFO at Minna, he strives to be as efficient and effective as possible by being a strategic finance leader that is open to any options that may help the bottom line.To be a successful CFO, Navpreet feels you need to be practical and honest with your time and responsibilities. If you are stretching yourself too thin, then you need to reassess how your role is functioning. He thinks it is important to be open to using outside resources to make your job easier and better supported, searching out the best specialists to handle tasks. This means you need to admit to what you are and are not good at to help you face and solve problems to ensure growth at your company and in your role.Navpreet believes it is important to be willing to rediscover and reinvent the wheel for how finance functions have been run in the past. He thinks you need to try avoiding feeling insecure. If you work hard and continue to educate yourself then you won't ever fail, you will just be able to learn new things and apply those to new opportunities.In this episode of The CFO Playbook, Navpreet talks about why it is important to crawl before you walk and walk before you run. He provides insight on his path from accounting to founding a company, and ultimately taking the learnings he gained from those experiences to be a forward thinking and open minded CFO. Navpreet explains the importance of prioritization, outsourcing, and why always being driven to achieve success are keys to being a great financial leader.Take The CFO Playbook Listener Survey to help us improve the show. You'll also be entered to win your choice of the latest iPad Pro or a Samsung Galaxy S7.Connect with our guest Navpreet on LinkedIn.Connect with our host Ross on LinkedIn.

Bijan Moallemi has nearly a decade of experience building and leading finance functions at companies like Qualcomm and Palantir. He knew CFOs deserved access to better tools, so he co-founded Mosaic Finance to build the next generation of finance software for CFOs and their teams. Born out of their own experiences in finance, Bijan and his co-founders have built the Mosaic platform as a resource that combines big data and machine learning to provide powerful predictive reporting capabilities.To be a successful CFO, Bijan feels you need the tools and basic technical skills to support your business now and to plan for the future, while reducing the effort required by your team to achieve your goals. He thinks CFOs have historically been underserved, and financial professionals deserve accessible tools that save time and money, while providing key insights and analytics to better your business.Bijan believes that improving workflows that are self-serving, rather than adding to your list of responsibilities, will free up your time and provide more information to make more educated decisions. He feels it is important to have an application like Mosaic that can accomplish that by providing real-time analysis and reporting, giving you perspective on your company's past, present, and future. Adding automation to data ingestion and processing can help focus your business forecasting and scenario planning to be ready for anything that may come up.In this episode of The CFO Playbook, Bijan explains why it is more important than ever to understand the financial ins and outs of a business to make sure you know exactly what's going on within your organization. He talks about how Mosaic offers a tool that can help financial professionals as they process through pain points with data and analytics, allowing for a faster and more focused financial team that can make a bigger impact on the business. Bijan also explains why he thinks communication, collaboration and culture building are keys to success, and talks about the benefits of opening up your company to a remote workforce as a way to ensure you have access to the best talent pool.Take The CFO Playbook Listener Survey to help us improve the show. You'll also be entered to win your choice of the latest iPad Pro or a Samsung Galaxy S7.Connect with our guest Bijan on LinkedIn.Connect with our host Ross on LinkedIn.

Anthony Rawlinson has more than 12 years of experience working in finance. He joined Papier as CFO four years ago, after serving as a consultant for the brand beforehand. Previously, Anthony worked in investment banking with Greenhill & Co. and PwC, providing generalist corporate finance advice. Since he started  as the finance leader at Papier, the team has grown to 20 people. Not only does Anthony lead the finance operations at Papier, but he also oversees Data at the company. He believes it is important to have synergy between the two functions to help better the organization.To be a successful CFO, Anthony feels you need to challenge yourself to take a holistic approach to business and be as forward thinking as possible. In business it is important to not just think about if you can do things faster, but what are the best ways to accomplish your goals and make sure you're spending your time efficiently. He stresses that however you solve challenges today, it also needs to be done in a way that helps you achieve whatever is being planned for the future. Anthony believes chemistry within your finance team and organization at large is very important. Having an alignment of mission and vision is fundamental to help you lead effectively.  With the finance team, he has adopted a hybrid decentralized approach model to how it focuses on different aspects of the company. The finance team functions as business partners with different areas within the organization to benefit accuracy and efficiency. Anthony thinks you need to go above and beyond and challenge yourself to encourage continued team engagement, being cognizant of culture and experimenting with ways to find the right balance for your team. In this episode of The CFO Playbook, Anthony talks about how his path to CFO was led by his interests and passions for the product and autonomy that comes with working for a startup. He explains the importance of having a centralized source of truth for data. This allows the company to have a standard reporting function that sets up the organization for success by focusing on insights and action. Anthony also stresses the important traits that every CFO needs to help them learn and grow personally, drive the company to prosper now and in the future, and how to maintain a content and capable support team.Take The CFO Playbook Listener Survey to help us improve the show. You'll also be entered to win your choice of the latest iPad Pro or a Samsung Galaxy S7.Connect with our guest Anthony on LinkedIn.Connect with our host Ross on LinkedIn.

Huw Slater is hugely passionate about technology that facilitates innovation and enhances both people's work and personal lives. Currently, he is COO at TravelPerk, a next-generation travel booking and management platform that is pioneering the future of corporate travel. Previously, Huw served as CFO at TravelPerk and Typeform, with a long career in finance, business, and technology. Huw has helped lead his company through the pandemic and into the new world of corporate collaboration and business travel. Through the use of strategic partnerships, TravelPerk is ensuring the future of travel is successfully supported by top-level technology. To be a successful CFO, Huw feels you need to do whatever you can to remove friction and extra effort when driving towards success. This requires that you bring in modern tools to help free up your team and employ people that can be creative and don't just follow standard processes. You need to be someone who over-indexes on being a leader, focusing on the company's goals first, and finding ways for your finance team to be as supportive as possible. Huw believes the job of any leader, and specifically the CFO, needs to be focused on gaining a return on investments. He says you need to run towards the flames and not stand back in the face of adversity. You should always strive to raise the bar, help set the direction, and ensure speed and efficiency. In this episode of The CFO Playbook, Huw talks about how over-communicating and transparency have benefited him as a leader. He explains why taking on hard tasks and surrounding yourself with great people will help you to be successful. In addition, he provides insight on his career path, navigating a company focused on travel when that was limited due to the pandemic, and how partnerships make companies strong and provide better services to customers. Take The CFO Playbook Listener Survey to help us improve the show. You'll also be entered to win your choice of the latest iPad Pro or a Samsung Galaxy S7.Connect with our guest Huw on LinkedIn.Connect with our host Ross on LinkedIn.

Tiziana Figliolia has more than 25 years experience in the technology industry leading a wide range of strategic, financial, and operational functions at billion-dollar global publicly traded companies. Currently, she is CFO at Hootsuite, the global leader in social media management. Having a passion for advancing diversity and inclusion initiatives in the workplace and in the community, she is also the co-founder of Full STEAM Forward, a non-profit whose mission is to tackle inequalities in education. To be a successful CFO, Tiziana believes you need to focus on having a growth mindset. To do this, she feels you need to be customer obsessed, provide the best employee experience, and always build for the long term financial sustainability of the company. Tiziana feels strongly that you need to look at the opportunities that you have in front of you and double down on the investments you have with your customers and partners. To help your organization become world-class as a CFO, you need to get your processes, policies, and systems right. You can help achieve this by supporting your employees, whether it be through building relationships, paying attention to health and wellness, ensuring equality, or providing opportunities for them to improve and grow. It's also important that, as a CFO, you have a strong relationship with the CEO, with a cooperative commitment to each other to support long term financial success and create equity opportunities for your company. In this episode of The CFO Playbook, Tiziana talks about her experience working internationally in China and how it has prepared her to take on the tasks of running finance at Hootsuite, which impacts people and companies across the globe. She discusses the importance of relationships and partnerships within your company and with your customers, as well as the importance of implementing diversity, equity, and inclusion practices in any corporate environment. Tiziana also speaks about digital transformation and why it is important to push yourself to take on new challenges throughout your career.Take The CFO Playbook Listener Survey to help us improve the show. You'll also be entered to win your choice of the latest iPad Pro or a Samsung Galaxy S7.Connect with our guest Tiziana on LinkedIn.Connect with our host Ross on LinkedIn.

Chris Roling has 35 years of commercial and private equity experience, having served in board, CEO, COO, and CFO positions with a number of global public and private companies. Currently he is CFO at Coinme, a crypto financial services and blockchain technology company that is dedicated to helping the world gain access to virtual currency. A self proclaimed, ‘global nomad,' Chris has worked across the world for many different companies and verticals. His vast experience in nearly every functional area of finance, and mindset of taking the path less traveled, has allowed Chris to successfully guide and help Coinme prosper as it scales quickly in an expanding industry.To be a successful CFO, Chris believes you need to take chances and get out of your comfort zone. At the same time, he encourages a philosophy of keeping it simple and not over-complicating things. He sees the role of a CFO as someone who provides a common sense approach to their company. Chris feels strongly that variety, networking, and international experiences are keys to learning and success for CFOs. He also views the CEO and CFO partnership as absolutely instrumental to a company's success, requiring collaboration to focus on the success of the customer, investors, and overall company strategy. In this episode of The CFO Playbook, Chris talks about his vast experiences working with companies around the world. He provides insight into the state of the cryptocurrency and blockchain industry, and how the technology is connecting people and companies throughout the world. As Coinme quickly scales as the crypto industry grows, Chris discusses his approach to working as a CFO with a startup and how to ensure success through a new and emerging market. Take The CFO Playbook Listener Survey to help us improve the show. You'll also be entered to win your choice of the latest iPad Pro or a Samsung Galaxy S7.Connect with our guest Chris on LinkedIn.Connect with our host Ross on LinkedIn.

Paul Sheriff, CFO at NewDay has over 25 years of experience in financial services organizations spanning banking, asset management and insurance. Paul is currently working as Chief Financial Officer for NewDay, a private equity backed consumer finance business providing branded and co-branded credit cards, including Amazon's credit card in the UK. His specialities include, finance, operations, financial services, and change management. Paul's vast experience with large corporations and smaller companies across the world have helped provide insight and expertise to have success in his role today.To be a successful CFO, Paul strongly believes that you need to take opportunities as they arise. He recommends that in doing so you always look forward and be one step ahead so you set up your company and leadership to always look good and be prepared. While technical abilities are very important, how you interact and communicate with others helps you to gain trust and confidence in your team, leadership, and clients.Paul believes that being a good CFO requires you to be level headed in moments of stress and crisis. Having broad access to the technical, business, and commercial sides will help you to build that comfort to lead through knowledge and experiences.In this episode of The CFO Playbook, Paul Sheriff, CFO at NewDay shares his vast experience across different companies and countries. He provides insight on how to approach your first 100 days as a CFO in a new job. Paul also talks about the impact of data and his philosophy on financial forecasting, technology, and progressive approaches to being a CFO.Take The CFO Playbook Listener Survey to help us improve the show. You'll also be entered to win your choice of the latest iPad Pro or a Samsung Galaxy S7.Connect with our guest Paul on LinkedIn.Connect with our host Ross on LinkedIn.

Charly Kevers, CFO at Carta, has more than 20 years of experience holding various roles in finance and strategy, including investor relations and corporate development in multiple countries across North America, Europe, and Asia. While he didn't take a straight path to his current role, his breadth of experience in consulting and the financial world has given him great exposure to different businesses and executives to help prepare him to be a leader at Carta. To be a successful CFO, Charly strongly believes in trying out different roles and opportunities, including learning about mergers and acquisitions and investor relations. This will help you as a CFO to gain an understanding of how investors approach their investments, and how to better communicate with them. Carta takes a unique and transparent approach to their business, being open with employees and investors. While at first, this was a bit jarring for Charly, he has embraced how being open and honest about the business can greatly improve a company's culture and be a driver for growth. Charly believes that being a good CFO requires you to be as objective as possible and try to not be defensive, no matter if you're dealing with good or bad situations. It is important to be very clear in explaining your thoughts and processes, reinforcing that you're trying things in an effort to grow and prosper. He feels that if you aren't constantly trying new things, then you won't be able to properly build and expand your business.  In this episode of The CFO Playbook, Charly Kevers, CFO at Carta shares his thoughts on how transparency can build trust and confidence with your employees and investors. He explains why it is important to take risks and try new things. Charly also talks about the importance of embracing technology and how he approaches recruiting and retention for his team.Take The CFO Playbook Listener Survey to help us improve the show. You'll also be entered to win your choice of the latest iPad Pro or a Samsung Galaxy S7.Connect with our guest Charly on LinkedIn.Connect with our host Ross on LinkedIn.If you want a better way to track and control your team's spend, check out Soldo.com

Nitesh Sharan, CFO at SoundHound, is a strategic finance executive with experience fueling growth and profitability in firms across the consumer, technology and industrial sectors. His diverse background working in many different verticals across multiple industries allows Nitesh to be a great fit for the evolving and expanding role of CFO in today's business world. He also has a passion for development, diversity, inclusivity, and sustainability for his company and team. Anchored by a variety of experiences in industries throughout the world, Nitesh's desire to grow and try new things is an asset to SoundHound; an organization that believes every brand should have a voice and every person should be able to interact naturally with the products around them, by simply talking. Nitesh sees the role of a CFO as one that is constantly changing and adapting to a new world of business. He thinks today's CFO needs to be in tune and involved with many parts of their company. That includes as an advisor to the CEO, encouraging stakeholder success, having a vision for the company's long term success and near term sustainability, as well as being open to innovation, and helping to set a strong culture within the organization. An important part of supporting that is building a diverse, agile, and innovative team with a range of knowledge and diverse perspectives that have a drive to continually learn and grow. In this episode of The CFO Playbook, Nitesh Sharan, CFO at SoundHound, shares why you can't stay stale and need to continually innovate and update the way your company does business. This ranges in everything from organizational goals and a willingness to utilize new technologies, to being open to who your workforce is, how to encourage their success, and to allow for flexibility in where they accomplish their work. Take The CFO Playbook Listener Survey to help us improve the show. You'll also be entered to win your choice of the latest iPad Pro or a Samsung Galaxy S7.Connect with our guest Nitesh on LinkedIn.Connect with our host Ross on LinkedIn.If you want a better way to track and control your team's spend, check out Soldo.com.

Dynshaw Italia, CFO at Soldo, brings 20 years of experience working and developing fast growing consumer brands to navigate change and growth. At Soldo, he is using his ability as an adaptable leader to help their mission of lighting a brighter way for businesses to pay for advertising, software, travel expenses, online procurement, and more. Soldo believes businesses deserve better than painful, slow, and costly spending, and is providing a solution that is smarter, faster, and more connected to build an entirely new financial architecture for them.When Dynshaw joined Soldo, he brought with him years of experience working in various disciplines and companies of all sizes. He is using that experience as an asset to help drive financial stability and success for the company. He believes that a CFO should never stand still to be successful - need to have a desire to improve and a willingness to adapt to whatever situations come about. A key to that is pushing for more efficiency and encouraging a mindset of betterment towards profitability within the organization. Attracted to companies with a common thread of entrepreneurial goals, Dynshaw has brought his strategic agility, desire to continually improve, love of technology, and emphasis on building trust amongst his leadership team and employees to provide a vision and roadmap to continued financial success and growth. Dynshaw believes being successful requires a CFO to be involved and understand all areas of the business, serving as a visionary that helps prepare the company for varying competitive environments. He says, “if you fail, fail fast, and move on.” That way, you can quickly define success up front and move on towards improvement. In this episode of The CFO Playbook, Dynshaw Italia, CFO at Soldo, shares that trust and accountability is the most important mindset to start with when developing a cohesive, supportive, and successful culture. Flexibility and openness to financial transformations and a willingness to adopt new tools is inherent to improving oneself and the company as a whole.Take The CFO Playbook Listener Survey to help us improve the show. You'll also be entered to win your choice of the latest iPad Pro or a Samsung Galaxy S7.Connect with our guest Dynshaw on LinkedIn.Connect with our host Ross on LinkedIn.If you want a better way to track and control your team's spend, check out Soldo.com

On this episode of The CFO Playbook, we share some of the best advice for hiring and retaining top-tier talent that we've received from finance leaders who have been guests on the show.Lessons we cover in this episode:The trends don't lie: What CFOs are looking for from their candidates (and vice versa).CFOs are looking for technical fluency more than ever, and want candidates that have an understanding of multiple aspects both within the finance domain and beyond. The days of siloed roles are coming to an end.  Talent benefits from an empathetic leader who will provide a clear career path for the finance team member, and this is increasingly becoming a requirement for CFOs.Hiring tips to build a dynamic team of business partners, risk-takers, and those looking for a challenge. EQ is key when you're hiring a finance team member who will engage with and partner with other lines of business. Be transparent and observant throughout the hiring process to ensure the candidate is a good fit.Expand your talent pool if your company is set up for remote work.Hire a mix of experienced finance experts and green talent with potential.As CFO it's important to have a balanced team of talent you can nurture and talent that can help you fill in the gaps of your knowledge base.Regardless of experience level, you need to show up as a mentor and leader for your team to help them reach their full potential.Hire for technologyTechnology literacy is as important as technical finance skills.Hiring for automation has the downstream impact of opening up opportunities for your team and making them happier at their jobs.Once you've built your team, incentivize them to stick around.Cultivate an employee-first work culture.Make sure your company goals are clear, and that you've laid out identifiable career paths for your finance team members so they know what they're working towards.Tune in to the full episode to get all the best insights on hiring and retention.Take The CFO Playbook Listener Survey to help us improve the show. You'll also be entered to win your choice of the latest iPad Pro or a Samsung Galaxy S7.Connect with our host Ross on LinkedIn.If you want a better way to track and control your team's spend, check out Soldo.com 

In his role of CFO at Enable, Nick Rose is carrying forward what he enjoyed most working on business transformation projects at Travis Perkins, and is driven by the change he's able to make happen at a small but quickly growing company.When Nick first joined Enable, he went from having 24,000 colleagues to 70. But headcount is rising fast, and Nick describes the company's evolution as “a constant state of change” as Enable has gone through two rounds of funding and expanded to three different countries since he arrived. Nick credits his experience in business transformation to help him to shift to a fast moving environment; in fact, he embraces the change that's necessary to achieve Enable's ambitious goals.Whether evaluating automation opportunities to layer on top of Enable's ERP system, or assessing whether a prospective hire is the right fit for his team, Nick takes a forward-thinking approach to his decision making. To help guide these decisions in the present, he and his team rely on measuring objectives and key results (OKRs) on a quarterly basis. As a result, Nick is confident that the finance department and beyond are aligned on the overarching goals of the company and how they'll work together to achieve them.On this episode of The CFO Playbook, Nick Rose, CFO at Enable, shares how he brings a transformation mindset to his role, describes the ways in which he's building a team that runs towards business challenges, and illustrates why adaptability is such an important quality in a CFO.Take The CFO Playbook Listener Survey to help us improve the show. You'll also be entered to win your choice of the latest iPad Pro or a Samsung Galaxy S7.Connect with our guest Nick on LinkedIn.Connect with our host Ross on LinkedIn.If you want a better way to track and control your team's spend, check out Soldo.com.

Ross Tennenbaum loved working in investment banking, so it took the right opportunity for him to make the jump into his first role as CFO at Avalara, a SAAS company building cloud-based tax compliance solutions to handle every transaction in the world.While in investment banking, Ross learned not only about capital markets and mergers and acquisitions, but about the strategy of the companies he advised on. Ross brought that mindset to Avalara, asking all kinds of questions to drive Avalara's business forward.Ross is laying the groundwork at Avalara to help match the fast growth of today, as well as tomorrow. He's doing this by investing in the right technology to help optimize finance operations, and hiring finance team members who have experience implementing automation. As he builds out the finance team in a competitive environment, he's intentional about facilitating a fulfilling work environment with clear paths of success for the company as well as individual team members. On this episode of The CFO Playbook, Ross Tennenbaum, CFO at Avalara, describes why he left investment banking for the lure of CFO, outlines the key components of a high performing finance team, and shares the automation priorities he's focused on for the year ahead.Take The CFO Playbook Listener Survey to help us improve the show. You'll also be entered to win your choice of the latest iPad Pro or a Samsung Galaxy S7.Connect with our guest Ross on LinkedIn.Connect with our host Ross on LinkedIn.If you want a better way to track and control your team's spend, check out Soldo.com.

Craig Foster not only has over 25 years of management experience in finance, he's also worked on 35 different IPOs over the course of his career. He brings that expertise and more to his role today as CFO at Picsart. Early in his career, Craig was working in an advisory role at a Big 4 public accounting firm when he was approached by one of their rapid-scale clients, LoudCloud, to come in house. The leaders of the company, Marc Andreessen and Ben Horowitz, were key players in the dot com boom and took a hands-on approach to leadership training. The “school” of LoudCloud was formative to how Craig would approach his management positions going forward. Being both a mentor and a mentee is important to Craig. Whether working in house or during his time as an adviser, he's built a network to help increase his learning. When Craig made the decision to transition to CFO for his first tenure at Ubiquiti Networks in 2013, that network helped him stay supported. And today at Picsart, Craig mentors his finance team with a forward-thinking approach and is always looking for ways to maximize their potential through technology.On this episode of The CFO Playbook, Craig Foster, CFO at Picsart, talks about coming up under Marc Andreessen and Ben Horowitz during the dot com boom, shares his philosophy on mentoring future CFOs, and outlines how he is always on the lookout for the right technology to execute finance goals.Take The CFO Playbook Listener Survey to help us improve the show. You'll also be entered to win your choice of the latest iPad Pro or a Samsung Galaxy S7.Connect with Craig on LinkedIn.Connect with our host Ross on LinkedIn.If you want a better way to track and control your team's spend, check out Soldo.com.

As the Global & US leader for Deloitte's CFO Program, Steve Gallucci's job is to understand all the pressing issues facing CFOs today. He brings over 30 years of experience at Deloitte in an advisory and assurance capacity to the role.Deloitte's CFO Program delivers forward thinking insights for every stage of a CFO's career through data-driven research and cutting edge resources. It was developed to offer CFOs and aspiring CFOs a comprehensive “go-to” resource for personal career success as the CFO role continues to evolve to meet the needs of the modern company.Here on The CFO Playbook, we're dedicated to understanding the needs of and demands on the modern CFO. Steve walks us through the 4Q CFO Signals Survey, which includes the latest insights from 124 CFO respondents. On the whole, they're predicting tempered expectations for growth, emphasizing the need to prioritize talent/labor, and citing opportunities for embedding technologies and automation into their organizations' operations. On this episode of The CFO Playbook, Steve Gallucci, Global & US CFO Program Leader at Deloitte, shares his view on how to build a successful transition plan as a new CFO, explains how talent is top of the agenda for many CFOs today, and emphasizes why being both a strategist and a catalyst is critical for any successful finance leader.Connect with Steve on LinkedIn.Connect with Steve on Twitter.Connect with our host Ross on LinkedIn.If you want a better way to track and control your team's spend, check out Soldo.com.

Back in 2015, Jared was being groomed as CFO at DSW and was 8 months into a 3-5 year program when there was an unexpected CEO change and the sitting CFO of Designer Brands decided to exit. All of a sudden, he was thrown into the role of CFO. It was a high-pressure situation, but one which taught Jared many lessons that he's carried forward to today.It was the future CEO of Designer Brands who recruited Jared to work with him there, and Jared stresses how it's key to nurture the CEO/CFO relationship. He says that it should be one of trust because it's the foundation on which strategic decisions are made. And that's been especially true in the past two years.Retail has gone through big changes over the course of Jared's career, from the financial crisis of 2008 to the global pandemic in 2020. Whether navigating the bumpy terrain of these challenges or jumping into the role of CFO, Jared underlines the importance of staying calm, being intentional, emphasizing communication, and taking ownership of all that your role entails.On this episode of The CFO Playbook, Jared Poff, Executive Vice President & CFO at Designer Brands, talks about jumping into the CFO role unexpectedly early, how he navigated turbulence in the retail sector through the pandemic, and why he's optimistic as we look ahead to 2022.Connect with Jared on LinkedIn.Connect with our host Ross on LinkedIn.If you want a better way to track and control your team's spend, check out Soldo.com.