In her first CFO role, Amanda Whalen revamped cost accounting, restructured sales incentives, and overhauled P&L reporting—driving a 10% profit increase in one year. The experience revealed finance’s power to align teams, influence decisions, and shape business outcomes—ultimately convincing her to pursue finance leadership as her long-term path. [ssp-player] Now Watch our Complete Episode Featuring […]
1110: When Leadership Mattered | Amanda Whalen, CFO, Klaviyo
Amanda Whalen’s first CFO role began with a question. “You’re not a finance technical person,” her company’s president told her, “but you’re the strongest leader on my team. Will you be willing to be the CFO and help me transform the finance function?” She accepted. Over the following year, Whalen tells us, her team tackled…
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Forecasting Without the Illusion of Precision | Rene Ho, CFO, SAP Taulia
During a high-pressure period at Visa following a restatement, Rene Ho shifted forecasting away from false precision. He required teams to present scenario ranges with clear reasoning, holding them accountable for understanding—not just outcomes. The result: deeper business insight and a forecasting culture grounded in strategic awareness, not guesswork. Now Watch the Complete Episode Featuring […]
1105: The Steady Climb: Scaling with Purpose in FinTech | Rene Ho, CFO, SAP Taulia
It’s not uncommon for CFOs to exit soon after a major acquisition—especially when a larger enterprise takes the reins. But Rene Ho stayed. Ho had been CFO of Taulia, a working capital fintech, when it was still an independent company. After helping lead the firm through its acquisition by SAP, he chose to stay on,…
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From Product To Ownership Ecosystem | Tom Egan, CFO, Hometap
A Finance Strategic Moment Amid 2020’s Covid uncertainty, Tom Egan drew on his Lehman‑era lesson that contracts follow relationships. He immediately called Hometap’s two banks, shared worst‑case projections and asked for covenant flexibility. The transparency earned rapid waivers, safeguarded liquidity and proved that trust, not paperwork, is the true collateral when markets fracture. Now Watch the […]
1101: Turning Home Equity into a Platform, Not a Product | Tom Egan, CFO, Hometap
When Tom Egan walks a homeowner through the math—“If your house is worth a million dollars and you owe five hundred thousand,” he says—the traditional options surface quickly: load the balance sheet with a costly home‑equity loan or sell and hope you can find somewhere new to live. That binary choice, he explains, is exactly what…
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Capital Discipline Over Technology Spend | Kevin Ingram, CFO, FM
A Finance Strategic Moment Realizing most people view insurance as abstract, Kevin Ingram reframed FM’s ‘product’ as the capacity its capital and reinsurance provide. He crafted plain‑spoken explanations of balance‑sheet strength, trained teammates to use them, and demystified insurance for clients—sharpening differentiation and empowering every account manager to sell FM’s capital story daily. Now Watch the […]
1097: The Mutual Advantage in a Cyclical Market | Kevin Ingram, CFO, FM
For nearly ten years, Kevin Ingram knocked on S&P’s door, arguing that FM’s A‑plus rating undervalued its balance sheet. Other agencies, such as Fitch, already had the mutual insurer at AA. Each visit, Ingram presented fresh data; each time, the agency hesitated, wary of revising a long‑standing mark. Last summer, six months after FM dropped “Global”…
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Embedding AI Into Finance Workflows | Gillian Munson, CFO, Vimeo
A Finance Strategic Moment One week into a CFO post, Munson was air‑dropped into a foreign audit room and told to fix a complex tax exposure outside her expertise. She mobilized auditors, tapped her network, and resolved it quickly. The baptism fortified her “learn‑fast, call‑everyone” playbook, sharpening courage and pattern recognition for future unknowns. Now […]
1096: Why Usage Beats Revenue in Video SaaS | Gillian Munson, CFO, Vimeo
When Gillian Munson pictures a Vimeo customer, she doesn’t start with a filmmaker, she imagines an insurance company executive or a corner grocery store owner uploading a training clip into Vimeo’s ever thirsty player, and hitting publish without ever surrendering control—or ad space—to a third‑party network. That simple embed workflow, she tells us, explains why “eight…
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Unified pricing positions brand for sustainable margins | Steven Miller, CFO, Warby Parker
A Finance Strategic Moment On Friday the 13 of March 2020, Steven Miller closed Warby Parker’s 280 stores, scrapped the freshly approved budget, and launched PAR—Pause, Adjust, Redeploy. The framework shifted cash to safety and booming e-commerce (up 100 % YoY), granting leadership daily visibility and preserving liquidity until stores reopened two months later. Now […]
1092: Balancing Mission, Margin, and Market Share | Steven Miller, CFO, Warby Parker
It was Friday the 13, in March 2020, and Steven Miller was staring at a suddenly irrelevant budget. Hours earlier Warby Parker had shuttered every one of its 280 stores to protect employees and customers. “Remember that plan we just approved?” he asked the leadership team. “Forget it.” In its place he introduced PAR—Pause, Adjust,…
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