CFO Cristina Kim’s second week brought a pivotal shift: she caught herself stress-testing the company’s aggressive targets like an outside investor, then realized her role had changed. As CFO, her job wasn’t to score the plan but to help build it—guiding the team toward ambitious goals with discipline and shared ownership.
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Now Listen to our Complete Episode Featuring CFO Cristina Kim of Octaura
In this episode, CFO Cristina Kim reflects on shifting from investor to operator as she steps into her first CFO role at Octaura. She explains how years of stress-testing companies from the outside now inform how she helps set and achieve ambitious three-year targets from the inside. Kim describes balancing discipline and growth, pushing for granular, operational data that serves decision-making rather than just reporting. She also emphasizes that modern CFOs are not expected to have all the answers, but to ask sharper questions, use experience broadly, and help their leadership teams navigate uncertainty with clarity. Experience becomes her advantage.
| CFO’s Strategy Playbook |
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| • Translate investor discipline into operator decisions. |
| • Balance ambitious growth with controlled risk. |
| • Demand granular data to guide strategy. |