What's Rarely Measured Matters Most

mentorship

1096: Why Usage Beats Revenue in Video SaaS | Gillian Munson, CFO, Vimeo

When Gillian Munson pictures a Vimeo customer, she doesn’t start with a filmmaker, she imagines an insurance company executive or a corner grocery store owner uploading a training clip into Vimeo’s ever thirsty player, and hitting publish without ever surrendering control—or ad space—to a third‑party network. That simple embed workflow, she tells us, explains why “eight…
Listen to the Episode Below (0:49:23)
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The 60 Seconds That Changed the Conversation

Faced with a complex tax strategy and an overwhelmed board, Tony Jarjoura cut through dense technical jargon and distilled thousands of hours of work into two simple sentences. The clarity shifted the conversation instantly—highlighting his belief that finance leaders must translate complexity into insight that moves decisions forward. Now watch our complete episode featuring CFO […]

1084: Reading the Signals, Not Just the Statements | Brian Carolan, CFO, SailPoint

It was a late-night meeting room lit by the glow of Excel spreadsheets and cluttered with half-empty coffee cups. Brian Carolan, then a rising finance leader, looked around the table and saw not just fellow accountants and analysts but a collection of people relying on him to bridge data and strategy. In that moment, he…
Listen to the Episode Below (0:43:17)
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CFO Russ Keefe on Balancing Growth and Efficiency with Burn-to-NAR

Inside The Mentoring Round, CFO Russ Keefe highlights the metrics and tools fueling Corelight’s growth. He underscores the significance of Net Promoter Score and gross dollar retention for tracking customer expansions, and explains “burn-to-NAR,” a metric blending growth with efficiency. Keefe also details how the company integrates AI—both in product development and internal processes—emphasizing that […]

1064: Cybersecurity, AI, and the Evolving Finance Frontier | Russ Keefe, CFO, Corelight

Back in the mid 1990s–when Russ Keefe decided it was time for a career pivot–he got behind the wheel. With a Jeep packed full of his belongings, he drove from Washington, D.C., to San Francisco, father riding shotgun, to explore fresh opportunities in Silicon Valley. He had just completed a stint at the U.S. Securities…
Listen to the Episode Below (0:57:35)
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1058: Empowering Industry with SaaS-Driven Material Technologies | Brian Registe, CFO, QuesTek

It was only last October that the world witnessed SpaceX catching its super-heavy rocket booster as it emitted fiery bursts from the booster’s underside. Among those watching perhaps more attentively than ever was this episode’s CFO guest, Brian Registe, who today oversees the finance function of Questek—a company whose materials-by-design technologies are enabling SpaceX and…
Listen to the Episode Below (0:52:17)
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1047: Balancing Risk and Opportunity in a Changing Finance Landscape | John Gronen, CFO, Yooz

It was not the first time John Gronen addressed the staffing company’s board — but it was very likely the most consequential. At the time, Gronen was vice president of finance, responsible for assessing acquisitions and analyzing their outcomes. The company operated two businesses: one generating about $30 million in EBITDA, while the other incurred…
Listen to the Episode Below (0:38:48)
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1,046: Transforming Finance from Reactive to Proactive Leadership | David Eckstein, CFO, Vanta

When David Eckstein inherited a struggling business unit earlier in his career, there was little question he faced an uphill battle. The unit wasn’t one he had built, nor had he developed the frameworks or discounting policies in place. Who was responsible for the unit’s troubles? And shouldn’t this problem child belong to someone else?…
Listen to the Episode Below (0:44:49)
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1,040: Partners in Leadership: How the CFO, CEO, and CIO Shape a Successful Future | Mark Partin, CFO, BlackLine

Twenty-seven years ago, while in his late twenties, Mark Partin arrived inside the C-suite largely unprepared for the flood of challenges that would quickly breach his desk. Or so Partin tells us as he recounts the circumstances surrounding the first of five CFO appointments that have thus far punctuated his finance leadership career. “I can…
Listen to the Episode Below (1:03:48)
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772: Inside the M&A Quarry | Andy Watts, CFO, Brown & Brown

Asked to highlight his experience in mergers and acquisitions, Andy Watts doesn’t need to weigh and measure the many deals that he has helped to execute over his three-decade-long finance career. Instead, Watts quickly points to the 2000s, when, as CFO of a division of Thomson Reuters, he sold off businesses responsible for nearly half…
Listen to the Episode Below (00:46:19)
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005: Carlos Salazar, CFO, IntelliDyne, on Recreating Finance

What role should a 21st century finance organization play?  Join us as Carlos  details the initiatives that are helping to rewire the strategy and operations across IntelliDyne’s Finance, Accounting, Contracts, and Pricing Departments.  Finance Philosophy  "Finance brings the most value when we are integrated with the business. In simple terms this means being involved in the…
Listen to the Episode Below (00:28:47)
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