Mark Khavkin tells us that from the very beginning of his career journey—a 2008 role as an investment professional with a European private equity firm—he was able to gain experience in board strategy, investor relations, and entrepreneurial exploration. This foundation allowed him to read boardroom dynamics from very early on and prepared him to anticipate a variety of operational perspectives that would set the stage for his path forward.
Read MoreTransitioning to Silicon Valley, Khavkin joined eBay’s corporate development team, where he learned to align acquisition opportunities with the strategic goals of business units and technology leaders—experience that deepened his understanding of operational management and strategic planning.
A pivotal moment came when a former eBay divisional CFO who had served as a mentor invited Khavkin to join oDesk (later Upwork) as FP&A lead. This role allowed him to influence company culture and drive change from within the finance function. At Upwork, Khavkin tells us he sharpened his ability to integrate investor narratives with internal strategies, from marketing to product development. His ability to present a cohesive story from market opportunities to long-term strategy proved instrumental during the early milestones of Upwork’s IPO journey.
Throughout his career, Khavkin has come to pursue experiences that would require a unique blend of investment acumen, strategic insight, and leadership impact. His journey highlights the importance of understanding both investor perspectives and operational realities, while crafting a narrative that demonstrates insight into both.
“Ditch the silo! Get in the habit of spending time with customers, partners, and—critically—your own sales team. Talk their talk, grasp their motivators, grok their processes, learn who your customers are, and bridge the gap between the ocean of data and the real world.” –Mark Khavkin, CFO, MinIO
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CFOTL: Tell us about MinIO … what does this company do, and what are its offerings today?
Khavkin: MinIO is a software company that provides data infrastructure for exceptionally large AI workflows—specifically, it’s software-defined object storage that’s AI-ready and can work at exoscale values. It’s cloud-native, compatible with major cloud technologies, and highly performant, which allows our customers to run big AI workloads on huge volumes of proprietary data in a highly efficient and cost-conscious manner.
Read MoreOur last funding round was in early 2022, when we raised over $100 million on a valuation of over $1 billion. This was the major turning point in company history and an obvious validation of the addressable market and of the product and business strategy that the company is pursuing.
MinIO was able to attract phenomenal investors, including strategics and financial investors, who have remained highly engaged to this day and are very helpful to us. We were founded only a few years earlier, so it’s exciting to look ahead from this phenomenal inflection point in an industry where we’ve captured such a leadership position.
jb
MinIO | www.min.io | Redwood City, CA