This article was originally published on Forbes.com Inside the realm of corporate finance it’s safe to say that the year 2020 has been unlike any that preceded it, and, as more employees occupied remote work spaces, growing numbers of finance chiefs told us they are more carefully monitoring the financial and cultural levers that influence […]
IAC CFO Likes To Dig Deep Beneath The Deal-Making Buzz
This article was originally published on Forbes.com Like many of his finance leader peers, Glenn Schiffman, CFO of Internet holding company IAC, views the week that precedes quarterly earnings announcements as sacrosanct. “Because you have the backdrop of earnings, everyone takes your call and is ready within 10 seconds to produce analysis for you,” says Schiffman, […]
In Praise Of Public Markets: A CFO All-Star Pursues A Remedy For Wall Street’s IPO Blues
This article was originally published on Forbes.com “It’s not cheap to go public,” concedes CFO Steve Cakebread, echoing the oft-repeated refrain that founders and CFOs confront when considering the prospect of selling shares in their companies to the public. Concessions aside, it will come as little surprise to Wall Street and private investors alike that Cakebread—a […]
639: Thriving in the Deep End | Catherine Birkett, CFO, GoCardless
Back in the early 2000s, Catherine Birkett found herself being pulled into confidential meetings where her company’s senior management was discussing restructuring plans with the company’s largest investor. The company—a fiber optics telecom firm known as Interoute—was not yet 6 years old, but its days appeared to be numbered as the company sought to weather…
Listen to the Episode Below (00:38:46)
CFO Says Savings Strategy Is Helping Ingredion Thwart Recession’s Bite
This article was originally published on Forbes.com It’s the type of business restructuring capable of striking envy in the hearts of many a company board member—and particularly those known to favor one oft-repeated bit of business wisdom: Never waste a recession. At food ingredient maker Ingredion, where the recession’s bite is directly linked to the eating habits […]
Opening Customer Doors with a “Work from Home” Mind-Set | Steven Springsteel, CFO, Betterworks
As more businesses become accustomed to having their employees work at home, software developers specializing in applications designed to help companies better manage their workforces that include far-flung employees are finding talent management a growing concern for their customers. Or so Steven Springsteel, CFO of Betterworks in Redwood City, Calif., tells us in an upcoming […]
Freshly Says It’s Time for Lunch | Matt Hagel, CFO, Freshly
As the pandemic last spring bore down on different U.S. geographies, Freshly was enjoying a profitable quarter—a trend that the online prepared meals company was determined to repeat. “I’m proud to say that for 2020, we have year-to-date profitability, and we expect that trend to continue,” explains Freshly CFO Matt Hagel, who entered 2020 keen […]
When Speed Thwarts Uncertainty | Alyssa Filter, CFO, Clari
When applications developer Clari decided to overhaul its operating plan earlier this year, “speed” became a governing principle for its finance team, enabling board members to sign off on a new plan only 3 weeks after the initiative to replan had been put into motion. For Clari’s CFO, Alyssa Filter, the drive to replan […]
As Invasive COVID Spreads, Freshly Ripens On The Vine
This article was originally published on Forbes.com It’s a story that Matt Hagel likes to share as he networks with fellow finance executives and accounting types. Back in 2017—only days after stepping into a finance leadership role at the online prepared meals company Freshly—Hagel was reviewing the company’s chart of accounts when he asked himself: “Why […]
Taking on the Fight Against COVID-Induced ARDS | Ivor Macleod, CFO, Athersys
Finance leader Ivor Macleod has over three decades of finance experience across all aspects of the life sciences. Along the way, he has held senior finance leadership positions at Merck & Co., F. Hoffmann–La Roche, and Boehringer Mannheim Therapeutics. Prior to joining Athersys last January, he was chief financial officer and chief compliance officer at Eisai […]
When COVID Is an Accelerant | Jeff Epstein, Operating Partner, Bessemer Venture Partners
While COVID-19 and shelter-in-place ordinances continue to upend the go-to market strategies and sales projections of most companies, not all industries are being adversely affected. We recently asked Jeff Epstein, former CFO of Oracle and DoubleClick and currently an operating partner of Bessemer Venture Partners, whether certain industries will recover more quickly than others from […]
As The Pandemic Roars, CFOs Reveal Their Economic Scar Tissue
This article was originally published on Forbes.com In many ways, the economic ups and downs of the past two decades have played something of a supporting role in the careers of chief financial officers, who frequently enter office with at least 20 years of career-building behind them. In fact, many of today’s CFOs are able to […]