FP&A Today

How to win at FP&A with Psychology, Strategy and Tradeoffs

Dec 26, 2023

Taylor Otstot, VP of Finance at Dashlane, shares insights on the worst budget experience, the importance of tradeoffs in finance conversations, managing an FP&A team, psychology learnings in finance, and decision frameworks. He also talks about the secrets to building a high performing team and the big sales comp revelation. The podcast covers leveraging technology, challenging safe choices, implementing tools, improving team meetings, and the benefits of using name ranges in Excel functions.

45:17

Creator website

Episode guests

Taylor Otstot

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Episode notes

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Quick takeaways

Building a strong FP&A team requires delegation, camaraderie, and clear expectations.

Leveraging technology in finance roles helps streamline processes and improve efficiency.

Decision frameworks provide perspective, break free from default choices, and challenge the safety of decisions in finance.

Deep dives

Building a High-Performing Team

Building a strong team in FP&A requires delegation, fostering camaraderie, and setting clear expectations of what 'great' looks like.

Introduction

3min

Leveraging Technology in the Workplace

21min

The Importance of Challenging the Safe Choice

2min

Implementing Tools, Going Against the Grain, and Team Building

5min

Improving Team Meetings and Employee Morale

5min

Drawing, Walt Disney, and AI in Finance

3min

The Benefits of Using Name Ranges in Excel Functions and Formulas

6min

Taylor Otstot is VP of Finance at Dashlane, and former Senior Director of Finance at GoDaddy. He joined GoDaddy a year before their IPO and was there for eight years as the domain registrar and web hosting company scaled from $1.5 billion to $4 billion revenue. “By the time I left I was supporting about a billion and a half of that revenue and I was running a team of about 14", Taylor says. "So not only was I part of a business that was going through a lot of growth, but personally had to go through a lot of growth.”

In this episode Taylor reveals the psychological skills and strategy he uses to win in his career.

Insights from this episode:

Printing Excel files (aka the worst budget he has ever experienced)
Why every conversation in finance is really a conversation about tradeoffs.
Letting go of what “made you great” when managing an FP&A Team
Psychology learnings that have transformed my finance career and how you can apply them to your career
Eight Lessons Learned the Hard Way, Reflection from Eight Years at GoDaddy.
How a hard experience showed him that in finance “ titles unlock doors, but that doesn’t mean you’ll be invited in”
Why I am a big fan of decision frameworks and breaking out of your “normal default positions”
Burritos vs tacos and finance decision-making (with lessons for business reviews and business partnerships)
Why the “safe choice” isn’t normally the right choice in finance
Secrets to building a high performing team
The big Sales comp revelation

Notes
https://taylorotstot.com/

Follow Taylor on Linkedin https://www.linkedin.com/in/taylorotstot/

Creativity Inc, Ed Catmull

Thinking, Fast and Slow, Daniel Kahneman

Reflections from 8 Years at GoDaddy