CFO Eric Bouchard spent four years preparing Atrium Innovations for an exit, inside The Mentoring Round, Bouchard reflects on the transformation from a smaller organization to a more mature company capable of rewarding the company’s investors. Reflecting on his early days in the CFO role, CFO Bouchard emphasizes the importance of staying true to one’s […]
980: A New Era for Legal Services | Eric Bouchard, CFO, Axiom
Perhaps no single experience better reveals the breadth of challenges that regularly test even the most stoic of finance career-builders than that which confronted Eric Bouchard a little more than a decade ago at Bombardier, Inc. Tasked by management with negotiating the establishment of a new aerospace facility, Bouchard navigated through complex discussions with the…
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979: The Changing Stripes of Finance Leadership | Chermaine Hu, CFO, Episode Six
At the very beginning of our talk with CFO Chermaine Hu, she revealed an irony about the CFO title that we rarely get to expose. To wit: The very title toward which any executive has invested so many illustrious career years conveys ownership of what might seem to be a less than illustrious role—or at…
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978: From Silicon Roots to Global Routes | Jeff Woolard, CFO, Velocity Global
Looking back at his 26 years at Intel Corp., Jeff Woolard has more than a few moments of important discernment from which to choose when we ask for a single finance strategic moment. Nevertheless, without hesitation, he takes us back in time to when the giant chipmaker was experiencing a recurring mismatch between the products…
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The Mentoring Round | David Freeman, CFO, Starburst
Inside The Mentoring Round, CFO David Freeman recounts the challenges faced during the financial crisis, highlighting the tension between investor advice to retrench and the company’s growth trajectory. Freeman reflects on the gaps in his expertise, particularly in taxation, emphasizing the need for finance leaders to recognize their limitations and bring in experts early on. […]
977: Unlocking Rep Performance for Sales Success in Tech | David Freeman, CFO, Starburst
Joining Intel Corp. in 1999 as a recent college graduate, David Freeman began his finance career as part of the tech giant’s plus-size finance team that supported various business groups. Looking back, Freeman finds that few aspects of the tech giant’s business were more influential in shaping his early career years than the company’s direct…
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Ep 32: Operating IN and ON the Business
Planning Aces co-hosts Brett Knowles and Jack Sweeney discuss the strategic efforts of two CFOs leading organizational turnarounds, and a third CFO, who offers key organizational insights from an earlier career chapter. Emphasizing simplification, strategic focus, and leveraging both human insight and technology, Marc Suidan of The Beachbody Company, Emma Brown of Medius and David…
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976: A Troubleshooter’s Guide to Financial Leadership | Craig Wert, CFO, Jobber
Lessons from Craig Wert's finance career reveal the power of adaptability, problem-solving skills, and the ability to seize opportunities in unexpected places. Having started his career without a clear road map to the future, Wert later found that his liberal arts background and early experiences in investment banking had laid a good foundation for a…
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The Mentoring Round | Marc Suidan, CFO, The Beachbody Company
Inside The Mentoring Round, CFO Marc Suidan reflects on (1) his decision to join McKinsey & Company following business school, (2) a unique approach to stimulating demand in the semiconductor memory business, (3) and why after 17 years with PwC, he decided to join The Beachbody Company during a pivotal time of turnaround and transformation. […]
975: Turning the Tide at Beachbody | Marc Suidan, CFO, The Beachbody Company
When PwC partner and relentless champion of shareholder value Marc Suidan stepped into the CFO office at The Beachbody Company in April 2022, intrigue was bound to follow. Certainly, a struggling fitness and health company may not be viewed by many as the optimal door-of-entry to the operations side of things. However, for Suidan—a 17-year…
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The Mentoring Round | Eric Jenny, CFO, SOCi
Inside The Mentoring Round, CFO Eric Jenny recalls his strategic decision to shift focus from mid-market to enterprise clients based on data analysis. CFO Jenny tells us he aspires to a finance leadership mind-set that focuses on creating a supportive company culture, where the team is encouraged to think big and innovate.
974: Crafting Strategy in a Data-Driven World | Eric Jenny, CFO, SOCi
It's the type of story that we can't resist repeating, and one that without question underscores Eric Jenny's entrepreneurial spirit. Still, the entertainment value of his tale of zapping wasp nests with a homemade rubber band gun for a dollar a pop was at risk of eclipsing the more traditional milestones that populate a career…
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