Max Krakowiak stood on the pitcher’s mound, ignoring the first drops of a Seattle rain. A shout from a less-than-faithful fan filled his ears as he prepared to throw his next pitch. In this moment, he had no idea that his baseball career was about to take an unexpected turn, as a random off-the-field injury would soon end his time in the minor leagues and force him to hang up his cleats. However, what Krakowiak didn’t realize then was that his days on the mound would end up providing him with lessons that would last for years to come.
Read MoreAs he transitioned into the world of finance—initially, through GE’s Financial Leadership Program—Krakowiak began to understand that the high-pressure moments in his baseball career had indeed been not very different from those to be encountered in corporate finance. “In baseball, you can get the best hitters to fail seven out of 10 times,” he reflected. “You have to focus on what’s in your control—your preparation, your mind-set, and how you engage with your team.”
Such is the frame of mind that has proven invaluable to Krakowiak in finance, where uncontrollable market forces can instantly and otherwise dictate outcomes.
Whether on the mound or handling investor calls, Krakowiak has honed his ability to perform under pressure. “I’ve delivered some bad pitching performances in front of large crowds,” he reports, “so I’ve learned how to be a little numb to anxiety.”
This resilience—combined with the experience that he gained as a result of navigating through some tough conversations while at GE—has given Krakowiak the confidence to lead. Today, as CFO of Revvity, he tells us that he still tries to balance the benefits of preparation and the stresses of pressure in order to maximize every input that he brings to board room—just as he did on the mound. –Jack Sweeney
“Focus on winning the controlables. Throughout a career, there will always be ups and downs, which can often be driven by factors completely outside of your control. Measure and reward your employees on the execution of the controlables, which will give your company and its employees the greatest chance for sustained success.” –Max Krakowiak, CFO, Revvity
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CFOTL: Tell us about Revvity … what does this company do, and what are its offerings today?
Krakowiak: Revvity is a life sciences and diagnostics firm focused on improving human lives around the globe. We’re only about 15 months old as a brand, but we have roughly $15 billion of market cap and $3 billion in revenue. Our EBITDA margins are slightly above 30 percent and our free cash flow conversion rate is greater than 85 percent. These are some pretty nice financial numbers for such a young company.
We are really looking forward to the results of our new rebranding from our legacy origin of PerkinElmer. This is really all about reimagining—or even rebuilding—the images of the legacy brands within our organization into one name known for innovation. Because our core company has been on an acquisition journey over the past 7 years, we are now really composed mostly of entrepreneurial-type firms that have innovation at the forefront of what they do.
Read MoreRight now, the focus of our leadership team is on innovation, which is what differentiates us from our peers. We do not sell sort of “Me, too,” commoditized types of solutions but instead present offerings that are often very innovative. We are very close partners with both our clinical labs and our Pharma customers in terms of helping them to get to their next level of innovation—which really creates a “stickiness” with them. Thus, the focus of our new brand launch is really around this notion of innovation. It’s why we’ve changed not only our color scheme but also how we do presentations. We’re all about being innovative and encouraging innovation.
jb
Revvity | www.revvity.com | Waltham, MA