At Ceres, Manu Diwakar recognized that scaling an expensive dry-land farming product lacked economic logic. With capital scarce, he urged the CEO to walk away from the misaligned business line and refocus on higher-value specialty crops—prioritizing sustainable unit economics over growth for growth’s sake. Now Watch the Complete Episode Featuring CFO Manu Diwakar of Virta […]
Capital Allocation With Investor Precision | Alex Melamud, CFO, Engine
Alex Melamud’s strategic insight: capital is built on trust, not timing. As an investor, he saw investment committees scrutinize relationship depth and forecast consistency. His advice—start building investor conviction 6–12 months before raising capital. The impact: stronger alignment, higher credibility, and long-term partners who add value beyond the check. Now Watch the Complete Episode Featuring […]
Focused Growth in a PE-Backed World | Sue Vestri, CFO, CRIO
CFO Sue Vestri describes leaving institutional stability for a smaller, unproven environment, deliberately choosing exposure over security and framing the move as catalytic rather than risky. The decision is supported by visible recalibration—researching the new space, sequencing career moves, and linking each transition to future positioning rather than immediate comfort. Now Watch our Complete Episode […]
How Data Rewrote Capital Allocation | Guillermo Lopez, CFO, dLocal
At American Express, Guillermo Lopez overhauled a historically allocated $700M annual investment budget by building a data-driven ROI model that merged financial, platform, and customer data. The reallocation redirected capital to higher-return markets, generating an estimated $30M in incremental annual revenue—compounding year over year. Now Watch the Complete Episode Featuring CFO Guillermo Lopez of DLocal […]
Why Judgment Still Beats the Algorithm
Steve Shimizu’s finance strategic moment came during VMware’s acquisition by Broadcom, where he observed Broadcom’s disciplined, division-by-division decision making. Transitioning the EUC unit into a standalone company revealed how tightly every function interconnects—teaching him that finance leadership means orchestrating the whole system, not just managing numbers. Now Watch the Complete Episode Featuring CFO Steve Shimizu […]
Shrink to Grow: The Hardest Call in Finance | Burt Chao, CFO, Nintex
Facing tighter capital and slower growth, Burt Chao led “shrink-to-grow” decisions—redirecting investment away from still-profitable product lines toward higher-ROI priorities. The shift required redefining asset allocation discipline while aligning stakeholders around long-term value creation in a constrained environment. Now Watch the Complete Episode Featuring CFO Burt Chao of Nintex In his first months at Nintex, […]
From Speed to Systems | Razzak Jallow, CFO, FloQast
During Looker’s acquisition by Google, Razzak Jallow watched the accounting team deliver exceptional work despite knowing their roles were temporary. Operating in deal limbo, Razzak tells us they chose professionalism and pride over incentives. The experience reinforced his belief that enduring finance leadership is built on character, accountability, and commitment to the work itself. Now […]
Why Growth Demands Smaller “Chunks” of Accountability | Toby Driver, CFO, Ideagen
As Ideagen scaled from roughly £50M ARR to five times that size, complexity threatened accountability. Driver helped lead a shift to a regional operating model, breaking the business into three clear regions with defined ownership. Finance redesigned reporting and management information, restoring focus, accountability, and execution discipline—leaving the company stronger and more scalable. Now Watch […]
Scaling Responsibly in an AI-Driven World | Kevin Rubin, CFO, Zscaler
When Kevin Rubin joined Alteryx, the company shifted from expensive, limited licenses to broad distribution. He led deep cohort and customer-journey analysis to engineer a predictable land-and-expand go-to-market model. The result: sustained top-tier net expansion and growth from under $100M to $500M in revenue. We speak to Kevin Rubin, CFO of Zscaler, about scaling finance […]
From Performance Metrics to Innovation Zones | Bruce Schuman, CFO, Universal Technical Institute
Bruce Schuman describes a strategic pivot from selling discrete data center components to delivering end-to-end solutions. As memory, storage, and connectivity became as critical as CPUs, finance helped reframe the business model around customer problems, aligning investment and execution to support integrated, solutions-led growth. Now Watch the Complete Episode Featuring CFO Bruce Schuman of Universal […]
When Planning Impacts Company Morale | Drew Laxton, CFO, Outreach
Drew Laxton explains how clearly communicating strategy to sales teams—especially around setting a minimum deal size aligned with the company’s ICP—helped improve performance and morale. By grounding decisions in product fit and disciplined planning, finance drove positive quarterly results and strengthened company-wide confidence. Now Watch our Complete Episode Featuring CFO Drew Laxton of Outreach In […]
Freedom to Succeed: Empowerment as an Operating System
At Diageo Mexico, Jorge Pliego helped lead a six-month, cross-functional strategy to triple the business. Finance moved beyond accounting to partner with sales, marketing, and operations, framing risk and investment clearly. By empowering teams through a “freedom to succeed” mindset, the strategy came to life—driving aggressive growth and market expansion. Now Watch the Complete Episode […]