What's Rarely Measured Matters Most

financial leadership

1213: When Constructive Tension Yields Sharper Decisions | Martin Uhrik, CFO, Third Bridge

When Martin Uhrik compared the margins of two visual-effects brands at Technicolor, one appeared far more profitable than the other. Uhrik tells us the reported difference prompted him to investigate. One brand showed project results only to the direct-margin level, rather than revealing fully absorbed profitability. Uhrik says he asked the business-unit CEO why the…
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1210: The Best Trade May Be the One You Don’t Make | Shiv Verma, CFO, Robinhood

Six weeks before Lehman Brothers went under, Shiv Verma tells us, he joined a hedge fund as the world felt like it was falling apart. After building structured-credit and CLO models at J.P. Morgan from 2006 to 2008, Verma says he helped buy back assets originated at par for five cents on the dollar. A…
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1209: Finding a Larger Voice in the Room | Ross Grainger, CFO, Nasuni

Ross Grainger remembers an early chapter of his career when finance was only one part of the job. After stepping outside a traditional finance path to own and operate a Maako auto-body franchise, Grainger tells us he learned what it meant to “act like an owner.” That sometimes meant cleaning toilets, learning to paint cars,…
Listen to the Episode Below (0:33:12)
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1201: From Bitcoin Infrastructure to the AI Power Economy | Gary Vecchiarelli, CFO, CleanSpark

In high school, Gary Vecchiarelli received day-old copies of Investor’s Business Daily from a business teacher. Stock prices still appeared in fractions, and the teacher told him that he would know he had made it when he rang the bell on Wall Street. Vecchiarelli tells us that the remark stayed with him for decades. He…
Listen to the Episode Below (0:58:09)
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1192: Building Through Disruption | Christina Spade, CFO, Catalant

Five weeks into her role as CFO of Catalant, Christina Spade is helping guide a company that she believes is positioned for a different era of consulting. Catalant was founded out of Harvard Business School in 2013 and began as an independent consultant matchmaking company, Spade tells us. Today, she describes the firm as a…
Listen to the Episode Below (0:51:39)
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1191: From Complexity to Clarity: Building Operational Maturity | David Forlizzi, CFO, Salsify

When David Forlizzi describes Salsify, he begins with a simple observation: “We all use it every day.” Unlike some of the highly technical software businesses where he previously spent his career, Salsify's value proposition is visible to anyone who shops online. Product content sits at the center of the company's platform, Forlizzi tells us. Whether…
Listen to the Episode Below (0:38:33)
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Scaling Finance for the Cloud-Native Era | David Obstler, CFO, Datadog

During post-COVID uncertainty, David Obstler spotted early signs of customer optimization and reprioritized Datadog’s investments. By pulling back selectively while sustaining rapid investment in key areas, he preserved profitability, avoided layoffs, and strengthened the company’s ability to reaccelerate growth—building long-term resilience without compromising culture. Now Watch the Complete Episode Featuring CFO David Obstler David Obstler […]

1130: Building Resilient Finance in Uncertain Times | David Obstler, CFO, Datadog

When David Obstler joined Datadog in 2018, the company’s co-founders had already built momentum with a product that observed modern cloud workloads. What struck Obstler was the alignment with a powerful long-term trend—the shift from legacy, on-premise systems to modern cloud applications. “It was a product that had a lot of product market fit in…
Listen to the Episode Below (0:43:33)
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Slow Down to Speed Up: A CFO’s Playbook | Holly Grey, CFO, Horizon3.ai

Holly Grey emphasized that inconsistent metrics signal broken foundations. Instead of adding headcount, she slowed execution to build teams, integrate systems, and define data ownership. The result: clarity and scalability that enabled the organization to accelerate sustainably—proving that sometimes you must “slow down to speed up. Now Watch the Complete Episode Featuring CFO Holly Grey […]

1126: Turning Signals into Strategy in Hypergrowth | Holly Grey, CFO Horizon3.ai

When Holly Grey first examined Horizon3.ai, she saw more than a cybersecurity startup. She saw a technology that could change the way companies safeguard themselves. Traditional pen tests, she tells us, are human-driven, vary widely by auditor, and usually happen just once a year. Horizon3.ai, by contrast, “started out as a technology alternative to pen…
Listen to the Episode Below (0:56:43)
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1069: Driving Value Through Agile Finance Leadership | Lior Maza, CFO, Priority Software

Early in his career, Lior Maza chose to immerse himself in smaller, venture-backed startups rather than large enterprises—a move that exposed him to a range of responsibilities, from fundraising and recruiting to crisis management. “When you’re in a small team,” Maza tells us, “you end up doing everything, and that’s where the agility mindset really…
Listen to the Episode Below (0:57:07)
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1067: The Power of Storytelling in Scaling Businesses | Matt Collis, CFO, PairSoft

For Matt Collis, CFO of PairSoft, storytelling is more than a skill—it’s a strategic tool for aligning teams and scaling businesses. Whether leading acquisitions or guiding cross-functional teams, Collis uses financial narratives to clarify priorities and inspire action. “Someone has to be the storyteller,” Collis tells us, emphasizing how framing financial data in relatable terms…
Listen to the Episode Below (0:48:24)
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