Approaching Problems from a First Principles Approach

On this episode of Controllers Classified, Brex’s CAO Erik Zhou is joined by Angelina Hendraka, the CAO at Redis. The conversation begins with a recap of Angelina’s diverse experiences across financial services, biotech, and SaaS companies. Angelina notes that while KPIs shift based on business strategy & industry, the transition from one industry to another in her career has felt seamless given finance is the universal language of business. Erik and Angelina also discuss the transition from big 4 accounting firms to controllership, and the evolution of one’s approach with that transition (i.e. from being deep in technical accounting to thinking more broadly and operationally). 

The conversation then turns to recapping a recent panel discussion that Angelina participated in related to women in the workplace and fostering inclusive work environments. She shares her perspective on what it means to be an inclusive leader, and what more leaders can be doing to ensure diverse representation in finance and accounting. 

The dialogue pivots to some critical financial topics including how to make strategic and thoughtful spend decisions in the current cost containment environment, the role of a strategic procurement function in enabling smarter spend, and important financial processes for post-IPO success, including SOX readiness. 

This episode closes with Angelina’s favorite expense reporting story. Hint: no one is above travel and expense policies! 

Key Quotes

• On data integrity: “You need to get the data right in order to get the numbers right in order for you to really understand how your business is going. And.. in order for you to be able to tell the story to the street, to investors, and analysts about your growth.”
• On the current environment: “Our companies are definitely watching their spend and their cash flows. We're still making investments, but there are a lot more strategic and thoughtful discussions around what we should be spending on and what kind of return we will get from the spend.”
• On working across industries: “To me, finance is the universal language of business, right? That has worked out for me over the years because I was able to transition across industries pretty seamlessly. Now there are obviously some industry-specific nuances but it is all about measuring the state of your business using pretty much the same financial data.”
•  On engaging earlier in career team members: “I think it's very important to communicate that you want to hear their voice as well, and you want to create that psychological safety so nobody has to feel like they don't belong or have no business being there.”
• On smart spending: “ If you want to achieve what we call smart spending, i. e. spending the right amount in the right areas that will drive the business forward, you should invest in a good strategic procurement function.”

Time Stamps

• 6:26 - Transitioning from a Big 4 accounting firm to controllership
• 9:35 - Being an inclusive financial leader
• 19:52 - The importance of a strong procurement function 
• 22:02 -  Effective cost reduction and outsourcing strategies
• 28:11 - Post-IPO financial processes & considerations

Links

• Connect with Angelina
• Visit Redis
• Connect with Erik
• Check out Brex