Inside the Mentoring Round, CFO Eric Emans emphasizes the importance of overcoming the fear of failure early in one’s career, as learning often comes from making mistakes. He fosters an expectation-based culture where finance professionals are encouraged to engage with the business, challenge assumptions, and drive insights. Emans believes this approach distinguishes great organizations from […]
1,017: Two Hands, One Vision: A Balanced Approach to Finance | Eric Emans, CFO, Nintex
Eric Emans, CFO of Nintex, tells us that his career has been built upon learning from mistakes and driving an expectations-based culture in finance: "I see the fear of failure as being so detrimental to so many people early in their career. In their mind, failing is often outsized, but most of the time, the…
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The Mentoring Round | Sandeep Aujla, CFO, Intuit
Inside the Mentoring Round, CFO Sandeep Aujla explains why his eight-year investment at Intuit was driven by the continuous learning opportunities and professional growth the company offered. Although he could have become a CFO sooner elsewhere, Aujla tells us chose to stay at Intuit to deepen his expertise, gain more diverse experience to better prepare […]
1,016: When Career Years Are Investment Years | Sandeep Aujla, CFO, Intuit
By the time Sandeep Aujla arrived at Intuit in 2015, he had already invested 7 career-building years as a senior finance executive at Visa, so his path to the CFO office was presumably getting shorter and shorter. Still, it would be another 8 years before he would be appointed Intuit CFO. While there's little question…
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1,014: Passion and Purpose: Building a Vibrant Finance Culture | Karen Williams, CFO, American Express Global Business Travel
Karen Williams's journey to becoming a successful CFO began with a crucial lesson learned early in her career at the UK headquarters of candy giant Mars. As a young professional, she tells us, she had failed to grasp the importance of relationship-building and expressing her passion for the business. At times, this void had kept…
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Ep 36: Standardize, Streamline & Scale
On the latest episode of Planning Aces three dynamic CFOs—Robert Cornella (RNDC), Karen Williams (American Express Global Business Travel), and Tony Querciagrossa (Pinstripes)—share a menu of FP&A insights and experiences. Robert Cornella emphasized the importance of understanding value chain economics and achieving operational harmony within complex mergers. His experience at Coca-Cola highlighted the necessity of…
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1,013: The Curious CFO: Crafting the Future of Space | Muhammad Shahzad, CFO, Relativity Space
Mo Shahzad is not one for trivial conversations. At Relativity Space, he’s known for a deep curiosity that is often manifested by his engagement with team members in discussions about their interests and passions. This intellectual curiosity is not just a personal trait—it’s a vital tool toward empowering his role as CFO. Shahzad's ability to…
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The Mentoring Round | John Lutz, CFO, Sellars
Inside The Mentoring Round, CFO John Lutz of Sellars highlights the company’s innovative use of recycled paper technology, providing a unique market advantage. His current priorities include enhancing IT systems and customer interaction platforms, along with further automating processes to leverage data effectively. Separately, Lutz reflects on his days at Charter Steel, where he identified […]
1,011: Balancing Agility and Structure for Strategic Growth | Carol Lee, CFO, LogicMonitor
Beginning her career as an analyst, Carol Lee honed her technical skills both in pre-revenue start-ups and a multinational corporation with over $10 billion in revenue. These contrasting environments, she tells us, equipped her with a unique perspective on what it takes to be both scrappy and scalable. CFOTL: Tell us about LogicMonitor … what…
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1,010: When SaaS Became His Native Language | Michael O’Grady, CFO, Permutive
Michael O'Grady's finance strategic moment occurred in 2014 at higher-ed tech company Ellucian. Faced with transitioning from a traditional perpetual license model to a SaaS one, he identified the need for a unified approach across all business functions. Recognizing that the company's executives had differing visions, he proposed skipping the annual budget process to focus…
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The Mentoring Round | Tony Querciagrossa, CFO, Pinstripes
Inside The Mentoring Round, CFO Tony Querciagrossa discusses a strategic moment of insight he experienced earlier in his career at Medline Industries, where he collaborated with a commercial leader to address recruitment and organizational challenges, leading to the creation of the commercial finance function. Looking forward, CFO Querciagrossa identifies several key priorities for the upcoming […]
1,009: From GE Conference Rooms to Pinstripes Boardroom | Tony Querciagrossa, CFO, Pinstripes
Two-and-a-half years ago, CFO Tony Querciagrossa began a discussion with Dale Schwartz, founder of Pinstripes, that would eventually lead to Querciagrossa joining the experiential dining up-and-comer as CFO. Turn back the clock a little, and you would see that Pinstripes, aiming for a traditional IPO, had engaged Goldman Sachs to solidify its path toward benefiting…
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