When Jeff Noto is asked to reflect back on his 35 years with Verizon, he tells us that his earliest years with the company were spent scoring quick returns on investments that Verizon had made inside its fledgling wireless business.
“I always have to chuckle when I think back to how certain people thought that wireless would not be a product for very long,” comments Noto, who notes that being able to demonstrate speedy returns on investments became critical to securing future investments and for building the business case that wireless would someday soon be a viable alternative to “wire line” services.
“Now, look at things from where we sit today, when everything has been reversed and wireless now provides the main means for communication—that is, at least from the perspective of from the handset to the tower,” observes Noto, who would climb the ranks at Verizon as an FP&A executive to eventually serve in steady succession of business unit CFO roles.
Read MoreAsked why—after 35 years with other duties—2023 became the right time to step into a CFO role, Noto replies: “It was just a funny intersection where all things came together after the world had turned during my very long career with Verizon.”
For Noto, it was time to look beyond the “handset to tower” space and all of the other familiar communications pathways.
“From there, it becomes all about fiber-optics—and that’s what we do at Zayo,’ continues Noto, drawing our attention to his recent CFO appointment at the fiber-optics and network infrastructure company.
Says Noto: “I don’t know that there could have been a company other than Zayo that I would have left Verizon for—this is a great opportunity.”
No doubt this is a blush-worthy compliment, yet—coming from someone with 35 years at a single company—many of us are inclined to take Noto at his word. –Jack Sweeney
“Take the time to build relationships with all of your constituents and listen to as many perspectives as possible. Use your voice and position to create an environment in which those around you feel comfortable working on the business’s solutions. Above all else, practice ruthless transparency at every level in the organization.” –Jeff Noto, CFO, Zayo
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CFOTL: Tell us about Zayo … what does this company do, and what are its offerings today?
Noto: In my last role at Verizon, I actually interacted a fair amount with Zayo because we buy and sell services from each other. I got to know the management team. I got to know the business. I love Verizon. I bleed Verizon red. There are people there whom I’ve left behind that I miss terribly and am still in touch with, so it was very hard for me to leave Verizon after 35 years. Actually, doing it was even harder than thinking about it when I accepted the role, but the opportunity at Zayo is, to me, just massive.
Number one, they are behind the digital revolution that’s been occurring for decades now in the U.S. Bandwidth consumption by retailers, by data centers, by just you and me using our phones or our computers to search the Internet or shop or do research or whatever else all flows through fiber-optic cables. This all flows through the things that Zayo does, so I feel like there’s a very, very heavy tailwind that’s going to keep our growth going.
Read MoreI don’t see bandwidth needs dropping anytime soon. Certainly, the customers coming to us at Zayo are looking for more and more capacity. I think that Zayo is uniquely positioned. We’re an independent provider of fiber-optics, and we’re only fiber-optics. We have some of the best names in the business. We have a very extensive network of almost 140,000 route miles.
I already knew the Zayo business itself and the people with whom I had interacted, but as I met more and more of the leadership team, I really began to love the culture. I loved the fire and the passion that everyone brings to the table to solve things. Because we’re a smaller business than Verizon, we can be nimbler. We can get three or four executives in a room and make a decision after a half an hour of conversation. We may not get it right the first time, but if we don’t get it right the first time, we’ll find a way to make it right with a change or a tweak to the strategy or the decision. I’m having a blast. Zayo is a great company, and I’m so happy that I’m here.
jb
Zayo | www.zayo.com | Piscataway, NJ