Inside The Mentoring Round, CFO David Snyder of Coya Therapeutics stresses that biotech companies must not get sidetracked by short-term valuations or minor gains but should focus on the bigger picture of achieving substantial market capitalization. This perspective is grounded in the understanding that success in biotech often hinges on the ability to finance a […]
968: From the Investor’s Point of View | David Snyder, CFO, Coya Therapeutics
It was the type of introduction that any MBA student would envy, and one at which David Snyder, 35 years later, still marvels. Back in the late 1980s, a business school classmate introduced him to notable investor and billionaire tycoon Sam Zell, who subsequently offered Snyder a job. Without hesitation, Snyder accepted Zell's offer and…
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967: Leading With a Customer Mind-Set | Karen Walker, CFO, Sysdig
Like many of her CFO peers, Karen Walker had an early career that was guided by abundant opportunities surrounding finance-driven decision-making within organizations. It was a path that often led Walker to engage more closely with sales and operations, as was the case at CNET Networks, where she tells us that she recognized the limitations…
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965: Removing Complexity for Strategic Success | Emma Brown, CFO, Medius
For Emma Brown, it was as though she had just removed the sword from the fabled stone, a moment that would challenge the inclination to persistently question her own judgment when it came to business. As is often the case, Brown’s moment of insight occurred in a high-pressure situation. Faced with poor financial visibility and…
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947: Finding Pathways to Innovation | Teresa Chia, CFO, Vertafore
Among the different career phases that Teresa Chia credits with having helped to advance her down the CFO path, there is little question that Phase 2 was the most formative. Still, how she came to enter this phase had little to do with career ambitions—or at least her own career ambitions. The second phase of…
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945: Achieving a Management Rapport | Doug Lindroth, CFO, Tealium
Doug Lindroth tells us that he is not likely to forget the day that Google filed its S-1 registration statement simply because it was on the same one that semiconductor distributor Memec filed its own S-1. Back in June 2004, Lindroth was CFO of Memec when the firm’s management opted to file a registration statement…
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Finance Transformation, Metrics, Networking | Ana Chadwick, CFO, Pitney Bowes
944: Building Your Network | Ana M. Chadwick, CFO, Pitney Bowes
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…
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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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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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933: When Transparency Drives Profits | Charly Kevers, CFO, Carta
When Charly Kevers took his mentor’s advice and swapped a corporate development role at Hewlett-Packard for a tour of duty as a director of HP’s investor relations arm, he looked forward to tackling a variety of IR requisites, including crafting the messaging that follows a change at the top. Two years and four HP CEOs…
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930: Where Leaders Are Made | Tony Boor, CFO, Blackbaud
While the leadership journeys of many of our CFO guests began on an upper floor of a glass-and-steel skyscraper affording a wide-angle view of a cosmopolitan metropolis, that of Blackbaud CFO Tony Boor started at street level in Las Cruces, New Mexico, on the edge of the Chihuahuan Desert. Less than an hour's drive north…
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