Spend Culture: CFOs on People, Cash, and Organizations

In this episode of Spend Culture Stories, Darrell Cox, CFO at Vena Solutions, explains how technology is bridging the gap between finance and everyone else, why self-created uncertainty can be a boost, and the importance of being a business partner as well as a numbers guy.

In this episode, Anna McGovern, the Chief Supply Chain Officer at Food Bank for New York City and procurement/supply chain influencer shares how procurement can truly have a seat at the executive table as a business partner. Procurement is often seen as a cost-cutting role, but Anna gives specific case studies and examples on how procurement can truly become a value-driver, and how it can influence innovation within organizations big and small.

Twyla Verhelst joins us to chat about how accounting leaders can adopt an entrepreneurial mindset to their work, and how to elevate themselves to become better business partners to the organizations they work for. In addition, Twyla provides some great tips to deal with change management and automation issues, and how to overcome them.

In this episode, Sam Gupta, the Principal Consultant at ElevatIQ and host of the WBS Rocks podcast joins us to discuss how growing companies can identify whether they are ready for an ERP, and also how to make the best decision on behalf of their organization. We chat about ERP implementations gone wrong, how to evaluate a solution, and getting the right stakeholders on board to make your tech stack a success.

Pamela Steer, CFO of Payments Canada and CFO of the Year™ award winner for 2019 joins us in this episode to chat about the newest developments in Payments, and also her experiences being a woman finance leader. We chat about how organizations can leverage the newest payment technology to stay competitive in 2021, and how to elevate other women in the finance and accounting sector.

In this episode, Softbank Vision Fund's CFO and Managing Partner Navneet Govil shares his insights on scaling the vision fund's finance team, how he was able to use technology to make finance strategic, and his opinions on how finance leaders can be better business partners. In addition, he gives a glimpse into how Softbank Vision Fund selects their portfolio companies and how portfolio company CFOs can benefit from being a part of the Vision Fund ecosystem.

In this episode, Evan Wells, the VP BizOps & Financial Services at Jirav shares the biggest challenges organizations face when budgeting in a remote world. We discuss how finance leaders can make accurate forecasts when we're still in a world of uncertainty, and how Jirav is also navigating the new year as an organization.

In this episode, Scott Omelianuk, Editor-in-Chief of Inc. joins us to chat about the biggest learnings business owners had from 2020, and strategies on how small-medium businesses can regain momentum for success in a new year. Scott also shares his lessons as an entrepreneur himself, and how he helped other companies pivot and scale even within a crisis.

In this episode, Pinder Sekhon, the Sr Director of Finance at Vancouver-based company Unbounce shares her experience as a people-first finance leader who made her transition from the more bureaucratic, traditional industries to the agile, fast-paced culture at Unbounce. She shares how to build a proactive spend culture using technology, and how finance leaders can balance control with trust in fast-scaling organizations.

Shouvik Roy, the CFO of Drop joined the company during the 2020 pandemic, having to adapt to a new team and environment while being completely remote. As a seasoned financial executive in the fintech sector, Shouvik discusses the challenges in tech startups during downturns, as well as the CFO's role in setting vision, strategy, and fundraising in 2021

In this episode, Jenny Bloom, the Chief Financial Officer at Zapier shares her learnings as a seasoned finance executive at multiple fast-growing tech companies. She chats with us about how to support team members during remote work, how Zapier has adapted throughout the downturn, and their plans for growth in 2021.

Wajdi Goussoub, the Director of Finance at Plooto gets honest about the changes and sacrifices made during the pandemic, and how he built a successful spend processes that empowers the individual team members within the company. Wajdi also draws to his prior experience as a VC and identifies what makes successful startups stand out from the rest.

Managing Hypergrowth and Achieving IPO in a Downturn Economy In this episode, Jim Kelliher, the CFO at Drift shares how Drift became the fastest growing tech company in Boston, and how they navigated strategic challenges during a downturn by being customer-centric, trusting the team, and investing in the right processes and people. In addition, Jim shares his advice on IPO best practices from his previous CFO roles, and what a finance executive needs to think about before going public. Speakers: Jim Kelliher, Chief Financial Officer, Drift Jim Kelliher is the Chief Financial Officer at Drift, a Boston-based tech company. Drift is a Revenue Acceleration platform that uses Conversational Marketing and Conversational Sales to help companies grow revenue and sales. He is an expert at building tech startups through escalating organizational processes and expanded systems of growth as a financial executive. Jim shares his skill set on adapting towards long term market scale and how investing in people-based training and development aligns with the strategic goals in a growing company.

Why Finance Leaders Should Stay Informed, Connected, and Humble In this episode, Kingsley Chan, Director of Finance at Finn Ai shares his insights on what makes a forward-thinking, strategic finance leader, and why being informed, connected, and humble and keys to success. In addition, he shares his remote work tips on how Finn Ai was able to adapt with agility to the downturn. Speakers: Kingsley Chan, Director of Finance, Finn Ai Kingsley Chan, CPA, CA is currently the Director of Finance at Finn AI with 14 years of work experience in a variety of company sizes and sectors. With experience in public companies to private companies, the energy sector to the technology sector, he is currently heavily involved in the Vancouver startup scene specializing in scaling companies for hyper-growth. An alumni from UBC's Sauder School of Business, he is both a mentor of CPA students and a creator looking to disrupt the information flow within the finance tech realm through Disrupt Finance, an organization he co-founded. On the side, he founded an apparel brand called The Uglies Brand, which looks to inspire self-confidence by preaching "you are safe to be who you are, we all have our inner uglies."

In this episode, Dana Small, the Senior Category Manager, Head of Global Commercial Strategic Sourcing at BioMarin Pharmaceuticals, and procurement blogger join us to chat about how women in procurement can thrive in the profession and the category management must-knows for biotech procurement leaders. Speaker: Dana Small, Senior Category Manager at BioMarin Pharmaceuticals & Blogger at Ms. Category Management Dana Small is the current Senior Category Manager, Head of Global Commercial Strategic Sourcing at BioMarin Pharmaceuticals. Dana has over 13 years of experience in finance, with 10 supporting the sales and marketing function including FP&A and Global Category Management Procurement/Sourcing, and over 17 years of experience within the Pharmaceutical / Biotech (BioPharma) Industry. Also known as “Ms. Category Management” on LinkedIn, Dana is also a blogger and public speaker who is passionate about sharing her learnings with the audience. Please visit her on her website at - https://mscategorymanagement.com/

In this episode, John Tabis, the Founder of The Bouqs Company shares his thoughts on why building a long-lasting brand is the best investment against a downturn, and his fundraising journeys through Shark Tank and beyond. In addition, he shares why a vision-driven CFO is the best business partner a CEO can get, and what traits to look for in a CFO hire. Speaker: John Tabis, Founder and Chairman of The Bouqs Company John is a proven brand builder and entrepreneur with deep experience in innovative media ventures and consumer products, John Tabis is the Founder and Chairman of The Bouqs Company. In 2012, along with co-founder Juan Pablo Montúfar, Tabis launched the Marina del Rey, California-based company, now an industry leader in the online floral space that delivers flowers and plants fresh from eco-friendly, sustainable farms around the world to doorsteps nationwide. Prior to launching Bouqs, Tabis worked in corporate brand strategy for Disney and ShoeDazzle and advised Fortune 100 clients at Bain & Company.

In this episode of Spend Culture Stories, Karthik Rama joins us to chat about how procurement can find alignment with finance and work together as business partners, and how procurement leaders can successfully lead a cross-departmental digital transformation project. Speakers: Karthik Rama, Procurement Doctor Karthik is all about Procurement Transformations, with over 16+ years of experience in helping organizations from varied industries, from all over the world. He is inquisitive to understand the subtle differences in industries and regions and has a complete grasp of the Source to Pay cycle. Karthik has worn multiple hats over the years, right from being the Procurement guy to the IT guy deploying the Procurement System - this gives him an edge when speaking the language of technology to the IT teams and Procurement to the Procurement teams.

In this episode of Spend Culture Stories, Daniel Barnes chats with us on procurement and contract management horror stories he's seen throughout the years, and how to combat the biggest blockers to procurement efficiency. In addition, we chat about how procurement leaders can build a personal brand, and how to communicate the value of procurement in organizations. Speakers: Daniel Barnes, Founder of The World of Procurement Daniel Barnes is an independent commercial, procurement, and supply chain consultant that specializes in driving cost savings and adding value to your business. He is also the producer & host of the World of Procurement podcast - talking about all things procurement, supply chain, and contract management. His website, World of Procurement also provides procurement and supply chain content, tips, and thought leadership for the procurement profession.

In this episode of Spend Culture Stories, Cynthia Del'Aria shares the challenges of launching a startup as a tech CEO, and how to determine the product-market fit for your organization and to validate an idea before seeking investment capital. Cynthia also shares her thoughts on making the right strategic calls on investment to truly build a sustainable business that lasts even during recessions. Speakers: Cynthia Del'Aria, CEO/COO of Raika Technologies Cynthia is the CEO & COO of Raika Technologies, a company that works with small business owners to turn their tech ideas into higher profits and higher margins for their business. She is passionate about helping new app and tech entrepreneurs spend as little time and money as possible evaluating their idea, helping them get to a go-no-go decision quickly and efficiently.

How to Fundraise and Use Your Startup Capital for Growth In this episode, Roy Stein, the CEO and Co-Founder of Babelbark shares how to set a healthy foundational spend culture for early-stage startups, and how to secure your first stage of VC funding - and spend it wisely to grow effectively and efficiently. Speakers: Roy Stein, CEO & Founder, Babelbark Roy Stein is the founder and CEO of Babelbark - BabelBark is a comprehensive software platform with mobile applications, intelligent cloud analytics, and marketing tools that connects owners, their dogs, veterinarians, and vendors in a comprehensive and completely integrated solution. Roy is a serial entrepreneur and former executive in companies ranging in size from public corporations with thousands of employees to idea & seed-stage startups, with a proven track record in building businesses and turning a problem or company around.