This episode features insights and commentary from three finance leaders: CFO Michael Linford of Affirm, CFO Ana Chadwick of Pitney Bowse, and CFO Jason Leet of Zylo.
Planning Ace’s Cohost Jack Sweeney points out that all three of this episode’s finance leaders have noteworthy M&A backgrounds, including Michael Linford’s role as the first CFO after HP’s split from Hewett Packard Enterprise, Ana Chadwick’s involvement in GE Capital’s divestiture chapter, and Jason Leet’s involvement with as many as 40 different acquisitions at Salesforce.
Key Themes and Learnings: The discussion emphasizes the importance of understanding core metrics that transcend organizational changes and priorities. It highlights the significance of unit economics, internal metrics like labor and transportation costs, and external indicators that predict market changes and competitive advantage.
Adaptability and Agile Planning: The Planning Aces stress the need for an agile planning approach, focusing on growth, customer retention, and responsible investment. They discuss the importance of aligning around critical metrics and having support from the board and executive committee.
Global Business Dynamics: The conversation touches on the unpredictable nature of the global business environment, with a focus on how geopolitical events impact different regions, leading to varying business responses, particularly in Asia and North America.
OUR COHOST BRETT KNOWLES | Brett Knowles is a long-time thought leader in the performance measurement space. His clients have been profiled in Harvard Business Review, Fortune, and Forbes. There are over 20 business school cases covering the success of his clients. Share a comment or two with our resident thought leader. Brett@pm2consulting.com
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