Inside The Mentoring Round, CFO Michael Kennedy tells us that while he had anticipated a significant workload at MDA, the reality was far beyond his initial expectations. This is a common experience for many CFOs when they transition into roles that demand organizational transformation. Leaders tell us they often underestimate the scale of the tasks […]
957: Mission-Centric Finance: MDA’s Transformation Story | Michael Kennedy, CFO, Muscular Dystrophy Association
When Michael Kennedy first stepped into the CFO office at the Muscular Dystrophy Association (MDA) in 2018, he was surprised to learn that the association was spending $8 million annually on office space across the country. “Why were we in these offices?,” asks Kennedy, voicing the question that helped to kick off the first of…
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The Mentoring Round | Zhi Li, CFO, Customer.io
Inside the Mentoring Round, CFO Zhi Li shares a lesson he learned within the first 60 days of becoming a CFO – the importance of delivering bad news promptly and transparently. He confessed that he initially focused more on the positives, but with time, he realized the significance of owning up to the negatives. This, […]
The Mentoring Round | Lauren StClair, CFO, NerdWallet
Inside The Mentoring Round, CFO Lauren StClaire reflects on her early days as a CFO and how she came to embrace the power of saying “no” or “not right now,” a skill that many new leaders find difficult to master. Despite having mentors and sponsors who shared their wisdom and experiences, CFO StClair tells us […]
954: The Job Became His for the Asking | Peter Benevides, CFO, Olo
When Peter Benevides joined Olo back in 2015, the provider of restaurant technology's CFO office was vacant—as it would remain for the next 4 years, until he ultimately got the position thanks to a nod from the firm's CEO and perhaps a sprinkling of magic dust from Olo board members and investors. Of course, things…
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At GoDaddy, CFO McCaffrey “Made a Connection” With a CEO’s Strategic Vision
When 21-year PwC veteran Mark McCaffrey decided that it was time to open his post-PwC career, he briefed the firm’s U.S leadership about his plans, diligently outlined 24 months of departure prep, and set aside an extra helping of patience. Two weeks later, he had a CFO job offer from publicly traded Internet domain […]
Trusting Your Long Term Mission | Teresa Chia, CFO Vertafore
Achieving a Shared Alignment Around Data | Sarah Spoja, CFO, Tipalti
939: Creating a Narrative for Growth | Ralph Leung, CFO, Achieve
When Ralph Leung relocated to Hong Kong from Morgan Stanley’s New York offices, he was a newlywed eager to energize the financial world as one of the bank’s senior deal makers for the Asia Pacific region. Four years later, when he accepted a call from a U. S. recruiter, he had been credited with having…
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938: The Art of the Possible | Jason Leet, CFO, Zylo
Of the different acquisitions with which Jason Leet became involved at ExactTarget of Indianapolis, Indiana, there’s little question that the seventh was the most impactful on his finance career. As it turned out, this would also be his last acquisition—or perhaps we should say his last ExactTarget acquisition, given that this time it was ExactTarget…
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The Effort to Optimize a Runway | Neha Krishnamohan, CFO, Kinnate Biopharma
937: Driving Decisions That Have Conviction | Neha Krishnamohan, CFO, Kinnate Biopharma
Roughly 20 years ago, Neha Krishnamohan arrived as a college freshman on Duke University’s Durham, N.C., campus, intent on pursuing a career that would someday grant her the agency to develop a product or therapy capable of solving a healthcare problem. Having grown up among family members with different careers in the medical field, Krishnamohan…
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