FP&A Today May the FP&A Be with you: a hero’s journey from Pixar, Lucasfilm, and LinkedIn (with Craig Barry)
Apr 17, 2025
Craig Barry, a seasoned finance consultant with a rich background at companies like Pixar and LinkedIn, shares insights from his incredible journey in strategic finance. He details his unique path from environmental studies to key FP&A roles, emphasizing the importance of revenue growth in creative industries. Barry discusses the intricacies of mergers and acquisitions, and the process of building FP&A from scratch at BioRender. He also touches on the evolution of financial practices in startups and the transformative role of AI in Excel.
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Non-Traditional Path to Finance
- Craig Barry's path to finance was non-traditional, starting with environmental studies and teaching English abroad.
- He shifted to accounting, got an offer from Deloitte, but chose a junior FP&A role at Electronic Arts.
First FP&A Role at EA
- At Electronic Arts (EA), Barry's first FP&A role, he was surprised they hired him with no experience.
- He learned on the job and found the math in FP&A "way cooler than accounting."
FP&A Salaries vs. Accounting
- FP&A roles offer competitive salaries, often exceeding entry-level accounting positions.
- This attracts individuals who might have otherwise pursued accounting careers.