Inside The Mentoring Round, CFO Tony Querciagrossa discusses a strategic moment of insight he experienced earlier in his career at Medline Industries, where he collaborated with a commercial leader to address recruitment and organizational challenges, leading to the creation of the commercial finance function. Looking forward, CFO Querciagrossa identifies several key priorities for the upcoming […]
1,009: From GE Conference Rooms to Pinstripes Boardroom | Tony Querciagrossa, CFO, Pinstripes
Two-and-a-half years ago, CFO Tony Querciagrossa began a discussion with Dale Schwartz, founder of Pinstripes, that would eventually lead to Querciagrossa joining the experiential dining up-and-comer as CFO. Turn back the clock a little, and you would see that Pinstripes, aiming for a traditional IPO, had engaged Goldman Sachs to solidify its path toward benefiting…
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808: Trading Up to a Macro-Driven Career | Komal Misra, CFO, Starry, Inc.
When Komal Misra, a software engineer turned asset manager, decided that it was time once again to make a career change, she found herself staring at a computer screen filled with stocks from various portfolios that were being traded based not on business fundamentals but larger macro-driven trends. “It got me to thinking: Here I…
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756: Start-Ups, SPACs, and Street Fights | Michael Levine, CFO, Payoneer
"The key to success is to build your team with people who have equal amounts of experience, intelligence, and passion, and the rest will take care of itself." –Michael Levine, CFO, Payoneer Start early, stay late, be prepared, and don’t shy away from the street-fight environments surrounding start-up companies. These methods have helped Michael Levine…
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742: When a SPAC Unlocks Quantum Possibilities | Thomas Kramer, CFO, IonQ
"Recognize that accounting, numbers, and financial statements are tools, not goals. The goal of the CFO is to make the organization better. We do this by serving our customers, which is really everybody—internally and externally." –Thomas Kramer, CFO, IonQ When Thomas Kramer recalls his decision to leave his job with a prestigious consulting firm to…
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723: When the Crisis Is a Catalyst | Gregg Clevenger, CFO, LiveVox
"Remember that no one arrives in the CFO seat fully prepared for everything that will be expected of them. Surround yourself with people who know more than you and don’t be afraid to seek their advice and counsel. Ask questions, listen to what you hear, and then lead." –CFO Gregg Clevenger of LiveVox The Asian…
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709: Investor, Advisor, Operator | Mark Shifke, CFO, Billtrust
Billtrust CFO Mark Shifke likes to label himself an “accidental CFO”—a tag that a number of our guests have appropriated from time to time when faced with explaining a past filled with less-than-traditional career experience. However, in the case of Shifke, the term arguably has little to do with career experience, for Billtrust’s CFO spent…
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697: A SPAC Puts Leafy Greens on the Menu | Guy Blanchard, CFO, AeroFarms
Back in 2014—when Guy Blanchard first entered the CFO office at AeroFarms—the indoor vertical farming company had roughly 20 employees and a commercial farm prototype under construction. Seven years and four rounds of private funding later, AeroFarms has recently broken ground on its third commercial farm in Danville, Virginia, and a research farm in Abu…
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692: Unlocking Capital for Growth | Tim Murphy, CFO, REPAY
In 2008, as the subprime mortgage crisis began turning the Street’s brash dealmakers into a squeamish clan of risk-averse bankers, Tim Murphy, an associate at Credit Suisse, decided that it was time to try some slots. Lots of them. “I took a gamble in the casino space—it was probably one of the best decisions that…
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668: Investors Make Room for a Streaming SPAC | Jason Eustace, CFO, CuriosityStream
It was roughly 12 months ago that Jason Eustace was named CFO of CuriosityStream, an upstart streaming media company launched in 2015 by Discovery Channel founder John Hendricks. For Eustace, CuriosityStream represents something of a flashback career chapter, arguably having more in common with the first 10 years of his finance career than the past…
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