Back in 2020, the call that longtime General Electric veteran Ana Chadwick accepted from a recruiter would prove to be the one solicitation in a career’s worth of such outreaches that would ultimately result in an executive search fee. Still, while Chadwick would be a prize placement for any headhunter, it is clear that this […]
Ep 28: How Planning Aces Are Made
This episode features insights and commentary from three finance leaders: CFO Michael Linford of Affirm, CFO Ana Chadwick of Pitney Bowse, and CFO Jason Leet of Zylo. Planning Ace's Cohost Jack Sweeney points out that all three of this episode's finance leaders have noteworthy M&A backgrounds, including Michael Linford's role as the first CFO after…
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Roles & Responsibilities in Finance | Doug Lindroth, CFO, Tealium
943: Finding the Path Forward | Donald McClure, CFO, Identity Digital
Back in 2017, Donald McClure had only recently been appointed vice president of FP&A at Brinks Home Security when the company’s CFO at the time decided that it was the right time for retirement. Unbeknownst to McClure—and perhaps even to the firm’s subsequent new CFO hire—a transformative chapter was about to get under way at…
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How Workforce Connection Remedied A Crisis | Melissa Watson, CFO, Vena
940: All the Moving Parts | Michael Linford, CFO, Affirm
For those executives residing inside the private equity and investment banking realms who aspire to someday occupy the CFO office, it’s not uncommon to seek out an “operator’s role”—one that allows recruiters “to check the box” and confidently present a leadership candidate (operations credentials intact) to a company’s management team or board members. “Inspect your…
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938: The Art of the Possible | Jason Leet, CFO, Zylo
Of the different acquisitions with which Jason Leet became involved at ExactTarget of Indianapolis, Indiana, there’s little question that the seventh was the most impactful on his finance career. As it turned out, this would also be his last acquisition—or perhaps we should say his last ExactTarget acquisition, given that this time it was ExactTarget…
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937: Driving Decisions That Have Conviction | Neha Krishnamohan, CFO, Kinnate Biopharma
Roughly 20 years ago, Neha Krishnamohan arrived as a college freshman on Duke University’s Durham, N.C., campus, intent on pursuing a career that would someday grant her the agency to develop a product or therapy capable of solving a healthcare problem. Having grown up among family members with different careers in the medical field, Krishnamohan…
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936: Where the Puck Is Headed | Michelle Hook, CFO, Portillo’s
It was late 2020 when Michelle Hook ended 17 years of fruitful career-building at Domino's to accept a CFO appointment at fast casual restaurant chain Portillo’s. “The two things that I was looking for were to be passionate about a new brand and to feel a culture fit,” recalls Hook, who adds that she…
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The Case for Transparency | Charly Kevers, CFO, Carta
932: Finance’s Leadership Paradox | Jeff Coulter, CFO, Cognite
Looking back, Jeff Coulter is not exactly certain how he landed a spot on a team tasked with designing and implementing the first-ever budgeting and reporting processes responsible for tracking Procter & Gamble’s marketing dollars on a single worldwide system. “P&G had hundreds of disparate setups that we had to bring into one system globally,”…
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