Inside The Mentoring Round, CFO Scott Blackley emphasizes the transformative role of AI in healthcare, noting that Oscar Health continuously evolves AI capabilities to streamline operations, enhance customer experiences, and reduce costs. He underscores AI’s potential in automating tasks like call center operations and financial processes, allowing the finance team to focus on insights rather […]
Ep 38: Strategic Relationship Building in FP&A
In this episode of Planning Aces, Jack Sweeney and Brett Knowles discuss the evolving role of FP&A professionals, emphasizing the importance of relationship-building and strategic collaboration within organizations. As summer ends and fall approaches, Brett predicts a surge in business activity, particularly as companies rush to meet year-end objectives. The conversation highlights the decline in […]
1,021: A Taste for Professional Growth: How the U.S. Coast Guard Granted Larry White an Expansive Finance Career
The year 1986 was a pivotal one for Larry White’s career in the U.S. Coast Guard. After entering the Coast Guard Academy in 1976 and graduating in 1980, White advanced through a series of operational roles before deciding to pursue an MBA at Columbia University. The Coast Guard agreed to underwrite this move, enhancing his…
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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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989: The Homecoming: A Tale of Growth, Leadership, and Return | Jeremy Johnson, CFO, Dayforce
Back in September 2021, Jeremy Johnson, senior vice president of finance at Ceridian (now Dayforce), decided that it was time to test his mettle—a step that would lead him to returning from a long personal journey with a leadership perspective somewhat different from what he had expected might be the case. Determined to challenge himself…
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981: Bridging Continents: A Finance Leader’s Journey | Jakson Peters, CFO, TourRadar
Jakson Peters's journey from humble beginnings to becoming a global CFO is a tale adaptability, and continuous learning. Born in Brazil, he had initial career expectations far removed from the finance world that had their roots in the start of his working life as part of the family's milk delivery business. This early experience, so…
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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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The Mentoring Round | David Snyder, CFO, Coya Therapeutics
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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909: Get It Done | Rex Jackson, CFO, ChargePoint
We often like to ask our CFO guests if they remember the first time that they presented to a board of directors. For many, this happened earlier than you might expect—but few of our interviewees have exposed the benefits of “early access” for us better than Rex Jackson. “I grew up in boardrooms,” comments Jackson, who…
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904: Becoming a Catalyst for Growth | Dayton Kellenberger, CFO, Vendavo
Even today, Dayton Kellenberger marvels at his good fortune in having landed inside the corporate finance department of Coleman Company. Of course, like a lot of career success stories, this tale had timing as a large contributor, especially inasmuch as a little more than 10 years ago, Coleman was experiencing declining gross margins across its…
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903: Making the Data Matter | Ryan Lockwood, CFO, CarParts.com
While April 2020 may forever bring to mind corporate corridors newly silenced by COVID 19’s arrival in the United States, CarParts.com CFO Ryan Lockwood will likely always remember it as the month when opportunity knocked. Having spent the previous 10 years in investment management, Lockwood, a portfolio manager for a Southern California investment house, was…
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