The CFO Playbook

Francis Trudeau recently took on the honor and challenge of being the first CFO at BrainBox AI, a tech startup that’s helping to fight climate change by making buildings smarter and more efficient. Coming off of a recognition at COP26 as the winner of the “Tech for Our Planet Challenge,” BrainBox is a leader in leveraging technology at scale for the greater good. Francis came to BrainBox after his first tenure as CFO at a more mature company, Logibec. For this new venture, Francis is tasked with building the operational and technical foundation for the finance department, while also acting as a strategic partner to the CEO and other areas of the business. Francis has jumped into the opportunity with passion for the mission of the company and an entrepreneurial mindset, both of which he looks for in hiring new recruits for the finance department.With valuations for tech companies at an all time high, Francis takes a measured approach as a CFO to ensure he’s able to deliver value to investors over time. With years of experience in corporate development and M&A, Francis brings this expertise to his role as CFO. For him, an integral part of sustainable growth is investing in the right technology and talent upfront.On this episode of The CFO Playbook, Francis Trudeau, CFO at BrainBox AI, talks about estimating company value in today’s hyped up market, outlines how BrainBox are fighting climate change through intelligent heating systems, and emphasizes why automation was a key mandate when starting his latest CFO role.Connect with Francis 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. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

David Harutian started working at Qualified just after they secured their Series A financing, and helped close a $51M Series B in May of this year. His background as an adviser in investment banking and corporate development helped David contribute to the diligence process and puts him in a unique position to nurture investor relationships.Like a lot of tech companies, Qualified hasn’t slowed down during the pandemic. Instead, David’s been there as they’ve tripled and quadrupled their growth. But as he’s forecasting for investors and the board, he emphasizes taking a conservative approach and making sure you’re analyzing the company’s potential while keeping in mind the macroeconomic environment. Heading into 2022, David foresees more growth for Qualified, and consolidation and marketing spend for the industry at large.David structured the finance team with proximity to data as a top priority. He stresses investing in data and analytics, technology, and data scientists early on for a hypergrowth company so you are able to accurately forecast and drive insights. Part of this investment is hiring the right talent that will be able to transform the data to move the business forward. David underlines recruiting for an entrepreneurial mindset and seeks out future employees who are problem-solvers who want to work as part of a team towards common goals.On this episode of The CFO Playbook, David Harutian, VP of Finance @ Qualified, talks about taking the leap from the advisory side to working in-house, shares lessons from Qualified’s latest financing round, and discloses the technology his team has prioritized to help scale finance on pace with the business. Connect with David 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 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Christian Lee has had the unique position of CFO in two industries that have been particularly impacted by the pandemic, real estate and supply chain. Christian left WeWork in early 2021 for Transfix, a hyper-growth startup and leading freight marketplace connecting shippers to carriers. His proximity to these industries has underscored in him the need for CFOs to pay attention to the problems the pandemic has surfaced.While 2022 is indeed a new year, Christian stresses that finance professionals shouldn’t overlook challenges in hopes of a ‘new normal.’ At Transfix, he’s taking a data-forward approach to solving the business problem of inefficiencies in the supply chain as well as leveraging automation on the finance side of the business. Christian emphasizes the importance of finance partnering with the data science team in order to best optimize and drive insights from the data gathered. He says the whole team should be on the same page by having equal access to real-time data, but it’s not enough to simply be in the know: you have to use it as a jumping off point for asking the right questions to move the business forward.On this episode of The CFO Playbook, Christian talks about disrupting the supply chain industry in the midst of a pandemic, describes why automation is in his top three priorities for 2022, and underlines why Transfix places real-time data at the center of every decision they make.Connect with Christian 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. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On this episode of The CFO Playbook, we share some of the best advice on technology and automation that we’ve received from recent guests.Lessons we cover in this episode:It’s key to build a structural foundation for finance upon automation and technology: Hyper growth companies view technology as the ‘engine room’ of growth and a critical foundation for scale. The days of thinking that automation is a “nice to have” are over. Building automation can be far more rewarding for teams than following a well-trodden playbook. Once you’ve laid the groundwork, with the right technology for your company: Be deliberate in determining which technology tools to invest in and why. Start by identifying your pain points. Automation increases efficiency and creates more time to harness strategic thinking. If done well, technology beats throwing headcount at a problem. Hiring and managing for automation is vital: Automation can be great for employee retention, but you have to hire the right employees to leverage the technology. Great managers should take advantage of the extra time automation allows to challenge and engage their finance team with creative, mission-critical problems. Over time, the skills and requirements of a finance team are shifting to meet the demands of technology-enabled businesses. The need for and benefits of automation aren’t going away anytime soon: Automation can help CFOs directly. Sharper forecasting, real-time cost controls, and fewer processes can create space for CFOs to focus on company strategy. With the CFO’s responsibilities increasing rapidly over time, automation allows for far more effective partnering with the CEO and the rest of the executive team.  Tune into the full episode to get all the best insights on leveraging technology and automation in finance.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. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Tony Russo took the helm as CFO at Imply in August of 2020 after having been a CFO or dual COO/CFO at over 10 companies in the last 25 years. With multiple successful M&A transactions under his belt, Tony takes a measured and strategic approach to evaluating opportunities, whether with the goal of benefitting the companies he works for or in determining which challenges to take on as a CFO.While assessing risk, upside, and diligence capabilities are all vital components of determining whether a new CFO opportunity is the right fit, Tony stresses the importance of making sure your values are aligned with the mission of the company and the executive team above all else. Believing in the company and getting along with your team go a long way in driving future success. For this reason, Tony also recommends prioritizing values and attitude when hiring for the finance team.  Though the right team members are key, Tony prefers to keep finance lean as the company scales. One way he accomplishes this is by leaning on technology to make a team more efficient rather than increasing headcount. It’s a delicate balance and Tony believes a good CFO keeps an eye on operations to know when new technology isn’t enough to manage workload and drive insights. On this episode of The CFO Playbook, Tony shares why company values play a pivotal role in evaluating new opportunities, emphasizes the importance of finance staying lean, and describes why operational discipline is so critical for success.Connect with Tony 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. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

With over 30 years of finance and operations experience, Mark Nasiff has seen the role of CFO evolve over time from one focused on financial reporting and analysis to one that’s not afraid to take strategic risks. As both CFO and COO of Lookout, Mark showcases the keen ability to step back and understand the business operations as a whole, as well as to prioritize digging into the data to drive meaningful insights.According to Mark, data is at the core of all decision making done by the finance team at Lookout - whether it’s used to measure risk, acquired by speaking to members of the sales or engineering departments, or the catalyst for asking better questions.For this reason, Mark is always seeking ways to leverage more data through automation. When assessing the need for a tool, he asks two simple questions: Will it help the finance team be more efficient? And, will automation help us understand the business better? In his experience, efficiencies open up room for critical thinking, which helps the finance team act as a strategic partner to the business.Above all else, Mark views insatiable curiosity as a vital quality for any aspiring CFO. As he looks back at his own career, one of the constants is that he has never stopped learning. In doing so, he’s able to apply that cumulative knowledge to ask better questions and make data actionable.On this episode of The CFO Playbook, Mark explains why finance should always be selling, emphasizes why CFOs today are expected to shape company strategy, and underlines the key roles of data in directing decision making.Connect with Mark 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. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

With a 100% CAGR year over year since 2016, Jim Buckle has seen incredible growth during his time at the helm as CFO of Gousto. And with plans to double headcount for the second year in a row, there’s no slowdown in sight. While some might think that in order to maintain this rapid growth, you have to sacrifice sustainability in terms of people and planet, Jim’s leadership and insights prove this isn’t the case. In fact, Jim would say that businesses need to act fast to “do the right thing” socially and environmentally, or they’ll be left behind by both consumers and investors. Consumers are holding businesses to a high standard, and acting with their dollars. Investors are following suit because they know the market demands it. In his role as CFO, Jim prioritizes forward-thinking so both the company and the finance team thrives for the long term, all while practicing a sustainability mindset. While Gousto has experienced rapid growth that has only picked up speed during the pandemic, Jim stresses that as part of the leadership team, he’s helped structure the business in a way that maintains the flexibility and nimbleness of a startup. When it comes to growing a finance team, Jim emphasizes the importance of personal growth and hiring those that are as future-focused as he is. He believes the role of finance isn’t just to support the business, it’s to drive the business forward and be a key part of what makes the business successful.   On this episode of The CFO Playbook, Jim discusses the value of sustainability for consumers, investors and businesses alike, how to scale your team while maintaining the nimbleness of a startup, and his considerations when embracing automation.Connect with Jim 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. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

During her tenure as CFO, Jeannie De Guzman has seen 1Password grow from 180 employees to over 520. That organizational growth has meant large-scale changes for the finance team. And it still means leaders have the ability to have extensive influence across the company. HR, for example, falls under Jeannie’s banner, and it’s helped her learn a lot about the value of soft skills and clear communication. Whether it’s partnering closely with HR or making strategic leadership decisions, Jeannie believes finance’s role is to be a business partner, serving the rest of the organization with a customer service mindset. Viewing her team through this lens means Jeannie values technical, analytical, and soft skills in her team members. She believes finance professionals should embrace opportunities to wear multiple hats and become well-rounded in their financial expertise. She also values clear, concise communication, especially when it comes to budget, and champions the idea that if you can’t explain something simply, you don’t understand it well enough. In addition to being a business partner to the rest of the org, Jeannie also understands the complexities of managing a remote team and cultivating an employee-first culture. She believes that implementing as much technology and automation as possible minimizes repetitive, menial tasks and helps people do more impactful, meaningful work.On this episode of The CFO Playbook, Jeannie discusses the importance of finance as a business partner, the balance of soft skills vs. technical skills, and the value of being a well-rounded finance professional.Connect with Jeannie 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. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Lena Loiberg joined Melio as Head of Finance in February 2020, just before the Covid-19 pandemic changed everything. Lena arrived with a background in finance at companies like PwC, Mobileye, and Jelly Button, ready to build out a team and help lead Melio into its next phase of growth. Within weeks, however, she was forced to adjust every plan she had for the business to account for the external circumstances changing the world as we knew it. During her tenure, Melio’s B2B payments processing platform has increased its monthly processing volumes by 5,000% and she has spearheaded four separate funding rounds totaling more than $480M and culminating in a $4B valuation.Lena is extremely passionate about finance, and she derives a tangible joy from being in the unique position of working for the finance department within a hyper-growth FinTech company. She believes firmly in the value of data, automation, and integration of tools for finance teams, and invests heavily in technology and people to help Melio continue its upward trajectory. Tune into this episode of The CFO Playbook to hear Lena discuss how Melio has matured its finance processes, where she’s finding opportunities to integrate and automate her processes, which tech tools she’s investing in, and the advice she has for aspiring finance executives.Connect with Lena 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. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Since Anup Singh was hired to his first CFO job in 2006, he’s seen the role evolve from strictly financial-focused to what he calls “GM of the business.” (That’s general manager, non-sports fans.)The CFO’s main role used to be crunching the numbers, publishing reports, building the budget, and controlling spending. They’re still doing all that, but they’re also expected to be more involved in setting business goals, and helping orchestrate growth. One point on which Anup has never wavered is his commitment to building a culture of trust and transparency. That includes among the people he works with closely. Every quarter he gives someone in the finance department his CFO Excellence Award, for going the extra mile to achieve one of the company’s business objectives. Anup also makes himself available to people working In the rest of the business, through an “Ask Me Anything” Slack channel, and small Q&A sessions he calls The Bottom Line.On this episode of The CFO Playbook, Anup explains why he takes the time to explain Illumio’s finances to his non-finance colleagues, what he hopes to use artificial intelligence (AI) for, and why he relies on KPIs to guide business decisions.Connect with Anup 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. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices