What does it take to lead and grow a company in today’s fast-changing world? In this episode, three top finance leaders share the defining moments that shaped their careers and the bold decisions that drove business success. This Episode:🔹 Michael Sumruld reveals why stepping outside your comfort zone is key to leadership, sharing his experiences […]
1068: The CFO Advantage in the Boardroom: Strategy, M&A, and IPO Readiness | Bill Korn, Strategic Board Member & CFO-Emeritus
Bill Korn approaches board leadership with the same strategic, forward-thinking mindset that defined his CFO career. He believes a board member's role extends beyond governance to actively supporting company growth, shaping financial discipline, and guiding leadership teams through inflection points. Bill prioritizes long-term value creation over short-term gains, leveraging his M&A expertise, IPO experience, and…
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CFO Russ Keefe on Balancing Growth and Efficiency with Burn-to-NAR
Inside The Mentoring Round, CFO Russ Keefe highlights the metrics and tools fueling Corelight’s growth. He underscores the significance of Net Promoter Score and gross dollar retention for tracking customer expansions, and explains “burn-to-NAR,” a metric blending growth with efficiency. Keefe also details how the company integrates AI—both in product development and internal processes—emphasizing that […]
1064: Cybersecurity, AI, and the Evolving Finance Frontier | Russ Keefe, CFO, Corelight
Back in the mid 1990s–when Russ Keefe decided it was time for a career pivot–he got behind the wheel. With a Jeep packed full of his belongings, he drove from Washington, D.C., to San Francisco, father riding shotgun, to explore fresh opportunities in Silicon Valley. He had just completed a stint at the U.S. Securities…
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Unicorn Strategy: CFO on Non-Traditional Funding
Inside the Mentoring Round, Emma Seymour of Deputy shares how shifting from traditional VC funding to strategic customer investments propelled the company to unicorn status. By partnering with major customers like ExpressPros and Xero, Deputy secured $50M in strategic investments, unlocking new distribution channels and fostering deeper customer relationships.
1060: Reaching Unicorn Status Through Innovation | Emma Seymour, CFO, Deputy
When Emma Seymour arrived at Deputy in early 2022, she became focused on strengthening the company’s financial foundation. In the three years since, Deputy has achieved a historic milestone—reaching unicorn status through strategic partnerships with major customers who not only become clients but also invest capital, thereby opening new distribution channels and co-creating additional value.…
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Achieving Efficiency, AI, and Growth in One Framework
Inside The Mentoring Round Eliran Glazer, CFO at Monday.com, emphasizes the importance of balancing growth with efficiency by using clear KPIs and metrics to measure business health and ROI from online marketing campaigns. He advocates for a streamlined dashboard approach to data analysis, using their BI system “big brain” to monitor four product lines. Glazer […]
1059: Future-Proofing Finance: Essential CFO Priorities for 2025 | Eliran Glazer, CFO, Monday.com
Monday.com CFO Eliran Glazer highlights three vital priorities for 2025. First, he stresses that long-term efficiency must guide strategy. Instead of focusing solely on near-term investor demands, CFOs must structure financial planning like a marathon—mapping out sustainable growth through transparent scenario planning that accounts for macro uncertainties. Second, Glazer emphasized that CFOs need to become…
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ZeroAvia’s CFO on Hydrogen-Electric Engines & Predictive Maintenance Breakthroughs
Inside The Mentoring Round, CFO Georgy Egorov discusses ZeroAvia’s drive to pioneer zero-emission aviation by 2026, highlighting their hydrogen-electric engines as a scalable solution. He explains how AI is lowering hydrogen production costs by around 20% and improving operational efficiency. Over time, ZeroAvia’s technology extended beyond hydrogen-electric engines, offering versatile component parts for battery-electric aircraft, […]
1053: Strategic Financial Alignment for Enhanced Transparency and Growth | Cyrus Lam, CFO Orion Innovation
For Cyrus Lam, the aspect of the CFO role that sets it apart from all others is the weight of non-negotiable priorities. Despite years spent closely collaborating with CFOs as an investment banker, Lam tells us he quickly discovered a new lesvel of accountability in the role. Managing cash flow and ensuring payroll, he says,…
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1052: How Mobileye’s Capital Journey Shaped, Tested, and Advanced Its Future CFO | Moran Shemesh, CFO, Mobileye
By all accounts, when Moran Shemesh joined Mobileye in 2016 as Corporate Controller, the drama of its IPO was behind it. The Israeli autonomous vehicle technology company had gone public two years earlier, and Shemesh saw the opportunity to grow within an innovative tech company. “I was stepping into a fast-growing organization, that was already publicly…
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1050: Harnessing the Power of Three: Dynatrace’s Layered AI Strategy | Jim Benson, CFO, Dynatrace
One of the key lessons that helped advance Jim Benson down the CFO path was one in clarity and focus during his tenure as FP&A leader for the customer service division of Compaq, freshly acquired by Hewlett-Packard. Eager to influence how the division’s performance was presented, Benson dedicated himself to crafting detailed reports and narratives.…
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