What's Rarely Measured Matters Most

CFO Premieres

1184: From Deal Sheets to Operating Seats | Rick Hasselman, CFO, Salesloft

Rick Hasselman recently boarded “a moving train,” describing his arrival at a newly merged SalesLoft and Clari business as both complex and energizing. Just a month and a half into the role, he is already immersed in integrating a $300 million-plus revenue company, he tells us. That early moment captures a defining pattern across Hasselman’s…
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1183: Enter the Blockchain CFO Reshaping Capital Markets | Macrina Kgil, CFO, Figure

Macrina Kgil recalls a moment when she first encountered blockchain technology and “could not grasp whatever it was trying to do,” she tells us. Even with an engineering background, the concept felt distant and unclear. Yet that early confusion would later become a defining thread in her career. Years later, when the opportunity arose to…
Listen to the Episode Below (0:46:10)
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1182: From Cockpit Decisions to Capital Decisions | Andre Mancl, CFO, Nium

Andre Mancl recalls sitting only a few months into his first CFO role when a senior technology executive arrived with an urgent warning: engineers were leaving for Google and Facebook, and the company needed an immediate across-the-board compensation increase of 30% to 40%. It would have been a major financial commitment. But Mancl hesitated. Drawing…
Listen to the Episode Below (0:46:38)
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1181: What AI Means for the Future of Finance Leadership | Yuval Atsmon, CFO & Sr Partner, McKinsey & Company

In the desert during military officer training, Yuval Atsmon entered one wrong number into a GPS device. Instead of reaching the intended destination, he and his team ended up in the wrong location, and the simulated mission failed. The mistake cost him the chance to finish at the top of his class, he tells us.…
Listen to the Episode Below (1:03:40)
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1180: Where Finance Meets the Real World | Scott Thorell, CFO, Benetrends

Before his career became closely tied to middle-market businesses, Scott Thorell built his foundation in larger arenas. He began at Ernst & Young in New York, auditing financial services firms, then moved to Campbell Soup Company, where financial and operational audit assignments took him to Australia, Hong Kong, Europe, and locations across the United States,…
Listen to the Episode Below (0:52:18)
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Special Episode: Why Oracle Chose Hilary Maxson Now

In this special episode, we revisit a past conversation with Hilary Maxson and explore why her appointment as CFO of Oracle Corporation comes at such a consequential moment. As Oracle accelerates investments in AI infrastructure and cloud capacity, the finance role now extends well beyond stewardship into capital allocation, operational discipline, and long-term value creation.…
Listen to the Episode Below (0:46:41)
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1179: Why Trust Can Outperform Price | Thomas Baumgartner, CFO, voestalpine Metsec

As a child in Austria, Thomas Baumgartner bundled unwanted toys into mystery bags and sold them to classmates. Buyers could not see what was inside—they simply paid and took their chances. He cleared out old toys and earned spending money, he tells us. The story is lighthearted, but it reveals something enduring: an instinct to…
Listen to the Episode Below (0:53:01)
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1178: From Numbers to Narrative: Seeing the Business End-to-End | David Larson, CFO, Feedzai

David Larson still recalls the moment he challenged conventional thinking inside Thomson Reuters. A shared services team in Hyderabad, long viewed as transactional, held untapped potential. Rather than accept the status quo, Larson pushed to integrate the team into the broader finance function—despite resistance tied to time zones and skepticism. The effort required planning, persuasion,…
Listen to the Episode Below (0:54:46)
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1177: Navigating an Acquisition at the Edge of Change | Tom DiDesidero, CFO, SmartRecruiters

Tom DiDesidero describes a period when SmartRecruiters was actively taking customers from a much larger competitor. It wasn’t just momentum—it was proof. “We were stealing a lot of their customers,” DiDesidero tells us, describing how that traction became a defining signal of value. At the same time, SmartRecruiters was moving quickly on a new front.…
Listen to the Episode Below (0:46:59)
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1176: From Signatures to Systems of Value | Blake Grayson, CFO, Docusign

Within his first 90 days at Docusign, Blake Grayson recognized the company needed to make difficult efficiency decisions following a post-COVID slowdown. Acting quickly, he partnered with leadership to address the issue, noting that “making the hard decision faster is way better than waiting,” Grayson tells us. That moment set the tone for how he…
Listen to the Episode Below (0:54:49)
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1175: Inside the C-Suite: Where Judgment Outranks Data | Amy Wang, CFO, Procurify

Late one night in Calgary, Amy Wang was running final checks on a billion-dollar transaction when something didn’t sit right. “My immediate instinct…was to dismiss it,” she tells us. After all, multiple teams and advisors had already vetted the deal. But she couldn’t let it go. Instead, she challenged the work—carefully, respectfully—and was right. The…
Listen to the Episode Below (0:53:07)
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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…
Listen to the Episode Below (0:44:10)
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