How do you balance growth with discipline as CFO?

Tom Steer

Chief Financial Officer · Sokin

Scalable systems, disciplined capital

Tom Steer says his priority is implementing scalable systems that work today and in 12 months, automating processes so they hold up as work doubles, while investing capital in the most effective way and keeping capital on hand to seize market opportunities.

Allan Shaw

CFO & CBO · CREATE Medicines

Manage runway

Allan Shaw says the balance comes down to runway management: he treats runway as a negotiating asset to protect, since more cash gives leverage and a more thoughtful process with investors.

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Jack Gordon, MBA

Chief Financial Officer · Harri

Hedge risks and build contingency plans

Jack Gordon says he hedges against risks and builds contingency plans, because a CFO must be a backstop who can manage both highs and lows.

Patrick Villanova

Chief Financial Officer · Blackline

With guardrails

Patrick Villanova says growth should come with guardrails, doing things safely and responsibly, and frames the task as creating enough governance to protect the organization without governing away the entrepreneurial spirit.

The answer starts at 10:36.

Jamie Schroeder

Chief Financial Officer · Premium Guard Inc. (Pgi)

Quantify risk and create a playbook

Jamie Schroeder says the approach is to quantify the risk and build a playbook for reacting if it materializes, because he doesn't want to avoid risk.

Claire Bramley

Chief Financial Officer · Xero

Optimize cash flow

Claire Bramley says CFOs focus on using data to help the company make the best decisions to accelerate growth, expand margins, and optimize cash flow, since they have the information and experience to do so.

Andrew Korn

Chief Financial Officer · Eliseai

Do more with less

Andrew Korn says he keeps trying to grow over 100% a year while doing more with less—being more efficient as a finance team—to drive positive outcomes, and ensuring the business is properly funded for investments.

Samantha Greenberg

Chief Financial Officer · AlphaSense

Allocate capital to highest ROI

Samantha Greenberg says she balances growth against profitability by allocating capital to the highest ROI, a practice she says she lived and breathed as an investor and uses daily as a CFO.

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Srinivas Phatak

Chief Financial Officer · Unilever

Growth, profit, cash

Srinivas Phatak says the three outcomes his company focuses on are volume-led growth, gross margin-led profit expansion, and cash—summarized as growth, profit, and cash.