Cfo Thought Leader

At Timken, it was generally known that Phil Fracassa knew he would become CFO after the company separated its steel business. But first, he tells us, the board gave him a different assignment: lead the project management office and set both resulting companies up for success.The separation followed pressure from an activist investor and extensive board consideration of strategy, stakeholder impact, operating performance, capital allocation, risk, and long-term shareholder value, according to Fracassa. Once the decision was made, his team had just under a year to carve out a business that had been part of Timken for 85 years.That meant standing up and staffing a company, capitalizing it, unwinding entanglements, separating systems, establishing processes, and developing public-company protocols. Fracassa tells us the work reached virtually every function, including legal, HR, IT, operations, finance, treasury, and tax.His own position carried a particular tension. Although Fracassa knew where he would land aft

Matt Ostrower remembers losing sleep over a decision that carried consequences for employees, lenders, and shareholders.At Site Centers, Ostrower tells us, the management team was confronting two challenges. Investor fears about the internet’s impact on retail real estate were depressing stock and bond valuations. Then Hurricane Maria struck Puerto Rico, leaving a portfolio of company assets out of commission for months.The immediate pressure was to reopen properties and navigate the crisis. But Ostrower says the team forced itself to “pull back” and consider how the company could emerge positioned for growth.Working with CEO David Lukes and capital markets leader Conor Fennerty, Ostrower says the team developed an answer that had not been executed repeatedly elsewhere: Separate the portfolio, create a liquid pool of assets for public-market investors, and establish a remaining company positioned for greater growth.Because the approach was untested, Ostrower says the team had no certainty about how investors

Andrew Korn tracks growth first. EliseAI had surpassed $200 million in annual recurring revenue when he spoke with us, and Korn tells us the company had maintained year-over-year growth above 100% throughout his four and a half years there—“correlation, not causation,” he adds.That growth gives finance a clear assignment. According to Korn, EliseAI monitors gross margins and burn while ensuring its spending remains prudent and directed toward investments capable of moving the business forward.The company operates in housing and healthcare, two industries Korn describes as representing about 40% of U.S. GDP combined. He tells us both depend heavily on labor while contending with regulation and legacy technology. The result is overwhelmed teams, administrative work, and consumers waiting too long or paying too much for essential services.EliseAI enters primarily through the communication layer. According to Korn, its technology handles communications and repetitive work around the clock while providing accurate

In April 2020, Laura Miller stepped into her first CFO role at Pampered Chef. According to Miller, she was pregnant with her second child, working with a new CEO and joining an executive team that had never worked together in the building before the pandemic sent everyone home.Demand was anything but predictable. Miller tells us that Pampered Chef’s independent consultants could hold parties online while consumers, confined to their homes, purchased kitchen equipment and looked for ways to earn money. That summer brought a business boom—and immediate pressure on working capital, supply chains and forecasting.Miller says the company quickly replaced its rolling forecast with a daily forecast. One of her first CFO assignments was determining what would happen if the warehouse could not remain open as an essential business. Finance modeled scenarios “from zero to quadruple” while weighing when to continue accepting orders, when to stop, and how to manage back orders without overwhelming the business.The professi

In the early months of Francisco Partners, Samantha Greenberg sat in a room on folding chairs with the firm’s cofounders and one other colleague, planning the business.According to Greenberg, the private equity firm was pursuing an idea that many considered impossible in the late 1990s: executing leveraged buyouts of technology companies. Greenberg tells us she was drawn to the vision because it challenged the belief that technology businesses could not be predictable or capitalized with debt.During the firm’s first year, Greenberg says, the team closed its first fund. She helped build operating processes, worked on the first transactions, and participated in fundraising—experiences that she says made her a better operator years later.That builder’s instinct eventually pulled Greenberg away from investing. After 18 years as a technology investor, she had come to appreciate the discipline of “separating signal from noise,” surfacing insights, and allocating capital. But Greenberg tells us that running her own

What happens when a company has money—but its CFO cannot reach it?Over one extraordinary weekend, finance leaders found themselves confronting a threat few had anticipated: cash locked inside a failing bank, payroll approaching, and no certainty about what Monday would bring.This episode brings together the experiences of Ben Gammell, Larry Roseman, Dan Murphy, Stacy Tumarkin, and Sarah Spoja. Their stories capture the crisis from different vantage points—from companies scrambling to protect their own liquidity to finance teams helping customers regain access to theirs.The discussion is less about the collapse of a particular bank than about how CFOs respond when ordinary financial controls suddenly prove insufficient. It explores the decisions made under pressure, the communication required to steady employees and leadership teams, and the treasury practices reconsidered afterward.The larger lesson is one CFOs understand well: resilience isn’t built during a crisis. It is built long before the crisis begins.

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 later rang the Nasdaq bell—an experience made more meaningful because his family knew the story. Long before that moment, however, he had begun ordering boxes of annual reports and reading financial statements he did not yet fully understand. He was drawn to CFOs who carried financial responsibility while dealing with Wall Street.That early interest eventually became a career defined by complex businesses and difficult financing choices. At CleanSpark, Vecchiarelli recalls confronting one such decision during a Bitcoin bear market. Debt was prohibitively expensive, and an at-the-market equity program was effectively the company’s only source of growth capital.According to Vecchiarelli, CleanSpar

What does it take for a CFO to restore credibility?Every finance leader eventually encounters a defining moment when confidence has been shaken—whether by slowing growth, a financial crisis, or years of eroding investor trust. In those moments, success depends on more than financial expertise. It requires disciplined execution, transparent leadership, and the ability to deliver on commitments when every decision is under scrutiny.In this special compilation episode of CFO Thought Leader, we revisit three conversations that reveal how credibility is earned—and, when necessary, rebuilt.Aidan Viggiano, CFO of Twilio, reflects on stepping into the role during a period of sweeping change. With growth slowing and difficult decisions ahead, she shares why rebuilding confidence began with one simple principle: do what you said you would do.Eric Brown, now CFO and COO of Cohesity, takes us back to the near-existential crisis at MicroStrategy, where he and the leadership team were forced to stabilize the business, make

Mark Khavkin often finds his best ideas somewhere near the Golden Gate Bridge.The Rula CFO tells us that he bikes from San Francisco across the bridge and into Marin County—not to compete, but to clear his mind, enjoy the view, and stop for a latte in Sausalito. “A lot of times great ideas come somewhere just before or after the bridge,” Khavkin says.That preference for space and perspective also appears in how he leads. Compared with a decade ago, Khavkin says that he has become more comfortable trusting people to reach the right result, even when their path differs from the one he might have chosen. Rather than intervening with detailed instructions, he now tries to provide context. “I’m less prescriptive than I was ten years ago,” he tells us.The shift does not mean avoiding hard decisions. At Rula, Khavkin says that new investments require clearly defined checkpoints and agreement—made in advance—about when the company will increase its commitment or stop an initiative. Once teams, careers, and expectatio

John Kinzer still remembers sitting in a closed meeting at MCI, presenting revenue results, when something unexpected caught his attention. It wasn’t the numbers he was reporting—it was the questions coming from the FP&A team. Listening to their discussion, he realized, “I also want to see that side of it,” Kinzer tells us. That moment led him from revenue reporting into business planning, where a manager helped shape the analytical skills that would define his career.Looking back, Kinzer tells us those early experiences proved invaluable. Long-distance telephone plans behaved much like today’s subscription businesses, exposing him to churn analysis, lifetime value, customer acquisition costs, and cohort analysis long before SaaS became commonplace.Equally important was another lesson from a mentor: always look 18 to 24 months ahead. If you’re no longer learning, growing, or able to see your next opportunity, it’s time to start thinking about what’s next, Kinzer tells us. That advice influenced several ca

When Shane Hostetter arrived at Chemours in 2024, he stepped into a company facing liquidity challenges while also pursuing important long-term growth opportunities. His goal was not to replace decades of institutional knowledge but to complement it. Chemours CEO Denise Dignam brought nearly forty years of experience with DuPont and Chemours, while Hostetter brought an external perspective. Combining those viewpoints, he tells us, helped create “the best of both worlds.”That approach reflects much of Hostetter’s broader leadership philosophy. Rather than viewing finance solely through the lens of reporting, he focuses on building a stronger foundation for future growth through disciplined capital allocation and balance sheet management.Hostetter tells us the company developed a three-year strategy designed to strengthen Chemours over both the near and long term. Portfolio optimization became one important pillar, including shutting down selected production lines and divesting non-core assets to improve cash f

Three accomplished CFOs. Three candid conversations. One revealing look at how finance leaders think about acquisitions before the headlines ever appear.In this special CFO Thought Leader edition, we revisit conversations with Jonathan Carr, former CFO of Armis, James Redfern, CFO of Reltio, and Toby Driver, CFO of IdeaGen. Each discusses acquisitions from a different vantage point—planning, integration, organizational readiness, and the people challenges that ultimately determine whether a transaction creates lasting value.What makes these discussions especially compelling is their timing. Carr and Redfern shared their perspectives months before their companies were acquired. ServiceNow completed its acquisition of Armis in April 2026, while SAP completed its acquisition of Reltio in May 2026. Their remarks offer an unfiltered look at how experienced CFOs approached M&A before those transactions became public realities.Driver complements those perspectives by explaining why successful acquisitions depend

Sinohe Terrero still remembers the timing. He joined Envoy in January, only to see the workplace transformed just two months later as offices around the world shut down because of COVID. The company had been building products for offices, but suddenly, almost no one was going to the office, Terrero tells us.That abrupt shift forced Envoy to rethink its future. The company quickly introduced a product called Protect to help organizations safely welcome employees and visitors back into their facilities. From there, it expanded into desk management, room scheduling, deliveries, analytics, and ultimately a broader suite of workplace security solutions.Today, that evolution has reshaped the business. Envoy now helps organizations across industries such as aerospace, defense, biopharma, and manufacturing secure their physical workplaces. Emergency notifications, visitor management, identity verification, and real-time visibility into who is inside a facility have become central capabilities, Terrero tells us.Lookin

Taking a Company Public: What CFOs KnowWhat does it really take to prepare a company for life as a public company?In this special CFO Thought Leader compilation, we revisit three conversations with finance leaders who helped guide some of the technology industry's most recognizable companies through the IPO journey. Rather than focusing on the transaction itself, these CFOs share what happened behind the scenes—the operational changes, leadership decisions, and financial discipline required long before the opening bell rang.John Kinzer, former CFO of HubSpot, explains how preparing for an IPO required transforming finance from a back-office function into a strategic business partner. He discusses the importance of balancing growth with profitability and creating the operational discipline expected of a public company.Kelly Steckelberg, former CFO of Zoom Video Communications, reflects on building the people, processes, forecasting capabilities, and financial infrastructure necessary to support a successful tr

When Martino Cadoni joined DeepL, he arrived with an unusual perspective—he already knew the company’s product firsthand. Earlier in his career at Klarna, he had helped introduce DeepL as a translation solution, making the transition from customer to CFO especially meaningful. Today, DeepL is backed by investors including HV Capital, Benchmark, Index Ventures, ICONIQ, and Atomico, Cadoni tells us. Working alongside those firms, he says, continually pushes him “out of the comfort zone.”That mindset mirrors the company’s trajectory. DeepL supports “almost 50 percent of the Fortune 500 companies,” Cadoni tells us, while continuing to grow and mature for its next stage of development.Rather than viewing language translation as a commodity, Cadoni emphasizes its strategic importance in critical business workflows. Pharmaceutical companies, for example, rely on accurate translation of regulatory documentation before commercializing new drugs, he tells us. Legal firms, airlines, manufacturers, and multinational orga

When Jean Compeau joined Sonar as CFO in March 2025, AI coding was not yet dominating industry conversations. By the summer and fall that followed, however, the landscape had shifted dramatically. Today, AI agents are producing software code at a pace that humans cannot easily verify, creating both opportunity and risk.That shift sits at the center of Sonar’s mission. The company is the global leader in AI code verification and governance in what it calls the agentic-centric development lifecycle, or “ACDC, just like the band,” Compeau tells us. The scale is significant. Sonar is trusted by 7 million developers, processes 750 billion lines of code daily, serves 25,000 paying customers, and counts 75 percent of the Fortune 100 among its customers, Compeau tells us.For Compeau, growth is measured through both financial and operational signals. ARR, NRR, GRR, and EBITDA remain core metrics, she tells us. But she also watches utilization, adoption, lead generation, pipeline activity, and free-to-paid conversion r

Each day, Stacey Jenkins watches a different set of indicators than the quarterly financial results that eventually appear on a report. Candidate applications, recruiter activity, and other throughput measures help tell the story of where Aerotek’s business may be headed. Financial results are “the lagging indicator,” Jenkins tells us.That perspective reflects how she views both finance and leadership. While Aerotek remains focused on helping clients solve talent challenges and build flexible, specialized workforces, the company has steadily expanded its approach. Today, it is helping clients rethink how work gets done through workforce solutions, data insights, and new delivery models. Aerotek is also building capabilities in fully outsourced industrial services, Jenkins tells us.The common thread is a willingness to look beyond traditional definitions of the business. Jenkins says she remains proud of the organization’s ability to help clients grow while helping people build their careers.The same mindset a

When Jesse Waldron describes Thyme Care’s work, he begins with the patient experience. Cancer patients, he explains, are often thrust into a healthcare system that can feel overwhelming both financially and emotionally.That reality sits at the center of Thyme Care’s mission. As an oncology care navigation company, Thyme Care helps patients move through their cancer journey while also partnering with health plans and oncology providers. The company works at the intersection of those relationships, helping coordinate care and improve outcomes.Waldron tells us that Thyme Care partners first with health plans, which identify members undergoing active cancer treatment. From there, the company works directly with patients and collaborates with oncology practices and health systems delivering care. The goal is to help patients navigate treatment while helping health plans manage rising oncology costs.A key part of that model is Thyme Care’s virtual care team. The organization employs approximately 550 nurses, social

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 “Consulting 2.0” business built around agile, fit-for-purpose consulting designed to help organizations solve problems and create value more quickly.The company’s evolution mirrors broader changes in the consulting industry. Independent consultants were often viewed skeptically a decade ago, Spade tells us. But as organizations sought greater efficiency during and after COVID, many finance leaders began looking for more flexible ways to access expertise.That shift helped Catalant move beyond matching individual consultants with projects. The company now works with Fortune 500 organizations, assembling teams of experts tailored to specific business challenges, Spade tells us. Technology and

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 consumers are browsing a brand website, Amazon, or another online retailer, they rely on product descriptions, photos, videos, and specifications to make purchasing decisions. When that information is inconsistent or incomplete across channels, it can undermine confidence and influence buying behavior.Salsify helps brands manage and distribute that content across major retailers and commerce platforms, Forlizzi tells us. By serving as a central hub for product experience management, the company enables brands to deliver a consistent message while helping retailers improve conversion rates through stronger product information.As CFO, Forlizzi sees continuity in the