What's Rarely Measured Matters Most

CFO Premieres

1174: How a Hard Reset Reignited Momentum | Aidan Viggiano, CFO Twilio

In 2023, stepping into the CFO role at Twilio, Aidan Viggiano faced a defining reality: “the first hard call was a layoff,” she tells us. The company had surged during the pandemic as digital communications accelerated, but by mid-2022, growth slowed while profitability lagged. “We can’t be slowing in growth and not be profitable and…
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1173: The CFO at the Crossroads of Code, Capital, and Clarity | Rich Schmidt, CFO, Inmar Intelligence

Early in his career, Rich Schmidt recalls presenting an analysis of an operational challenge to leadership—only to be told, “we want you to go fix it.” The assignment marked a turning point. What began as financial analysis quickly became ownership, execution, and accountability across the business. That moment would come to define Schmidt’s future career…
Listen to the Episode Below (0:55:49)
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1172: Finance Isn’t the Brake—It’s the Steering Wheel for Growth | Tony MacDonald, CFO, Sama

Tony MacDonald prefers a different image of the CFO role—one that replaces restraint with direction. “I would like to be considered as one of the people on the stagecoach that helps hold the reins,” he tells us, describing sales as “the horses that I want galloping always full speed ahead.” That mindset was shaped during…
Listen to the Episode Below (0:51:15)
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1171: How CFOs Rise by Learning Sideways First | Marc Mehlman, CFO, Ascensus

Marc Mehlman still recalls the moment a senior leader pulled him aside and told him he was “in such a rush” and needed to “enjoy the journey,” he tells us. At the time, Mehlman was part of a leadership program filled with high achievers eager to move quickly into senior roles. Instead, he took a…
Listen to the Episode Below (0:45:32)
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1170: How the ‘SaaS-pocalypse’ is Changing the CFO Conversation | Michael Perica, CFO, Rimini Street

Michael Perica had been discussing the market implications of AI with investors for a number of years, but the market didn’t fully react—until one particular moment. In late January and early February, a wave of announcements around enterprise-focused AI models and workflow plugins triggered what has become widely known as the “SaaS-pocalypse.” In a single…
Listen to the Episode Below (0:47:14)
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1169: Thinking Bigger on the Road to the CFO Role | Andrew Bender, CFO, BNI Global

Andrew Bender still remembers a moment from high school football practice when a coach challenged him with a simple question: “Do you want to be all conference or all state?” The comment surprised him. At the time, Bender tells us he wasn’t even sure he had the potential to reach the lower bar. Yet the…
Listen to the Episode Below (0:46:13)
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1168: How Smart Finance Looks Before It Leaps | Alistair Gurney, CFO, Lucanet

Early in Lucanet’s expansion, two Chinese employees working in Germany had a moment of insight. Seeing how configurable the consolidation software was, they believed it could succeed in their home market. Acting on that conviction, they traveled from Berlin back to China and built what would become Lucanet’s Chinese business. The story illustrates how a…
Listen to the Episode Below (0:53:49)
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1167: CFO Leadership at Venture Inflection Points | Intekhab Nazeer, CFO, Lineaje

Early in his career, Intekhab Nazeer found himself sitting in go-to-market meetings rather than finance reviews. A CFO mentor had pushed him beyond traditional accounting responsibilities, exposing him to pipeline discussions and sales forecasting. That experience changed how he viewed finance leadership. Instead of simply reporting financial results, he began understanding “how pipeline is generated,…
Listen to the Episode Below (0:46:38)
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1166: Building Equity Value in a Capital-Intensive World | Derek Doyle, CFO, C Spire

Fiber is “a lot of investment up front for that stream of cash flow in the future,” Derek Doyle tells us. At C Spire, that reality defines nearly every strategic decision. The advanced technology and communications company has been reinventing itself for more than 70 years, Doyle tells us. Today, it is the largest privately…
Listen to the Episode Below (0:52:49)
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Ep 52: Foundations Before Acceleration

In this episode of Planning Aces, hosts Jack Sweeney and Glenn Hopper lead a focused discussion spotlighting the thinking of CFO Kevin Rubin of Zscaler, CFO Bruce Schuman of Universal Technical Institute, and CFO Razzak Jallow of FloQast on how disciplined FP&A leadership is shaping AI adoption. Rubin frames AI as a capital allocation decision,…
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1165: Building a Business That Stands on Its Own | Manu Diwakar, CFO, Virta Health

Nearly 90% of Americans suffer from metabolic disease, Manu Diwakar tells us, citing a recent McKinsey & Company study. For Diwakar, CFO of Virta Health, that statistic defines both the scale of the challenge and the clarity of the mission. Metabolic disease, he explains, includes type 2 diabetes, obesity, liver disease, kidney disease, heart disease,…
Listen to the Episode Below (0:49:20)
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1164: From Boardroom Lens to Operator Reality | Alex Melamud, CFO, Engine

Before his first cup of coffee, Alex Melamud opens Slack—not to scan revenue charts first, but to read customer feedback. “The first one that may surprise you as a CFO that I look at is actually NPS,” he tells us. At Engine, every survey drops into a shared channel so “every executive can see” what…
Listen to the Episode Below (0:56:25)
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