Which career move best deepened strategic finance leadership?

Tom Steer

Chief Financial Officer · Sokin

WorldRemit Corporate Development

Tom Steer names WorldRemit corporate development: he says he launched the corporate development and strategy function there and gained deal-making and strategic finance exposure.

The answer starts at 6:22.

Erica Dorfman

Chief Financial Officer · Brex

Product and GM Role

Erica Dorfman says her product and general manager role was really helpful, because it gave her an understanding of the dynamic nature of how something goes from an idea to an actual revenue stream.

Guy Zeltser

Chief Financial Officer · Hippo Insurance

McKinsey Experience

Guy Zeltser says his McKinsey experience was career-changing, because it involved solving problems for different businesses and learning to move executives to action, which prepared him for his current job.

Brittany Cerwin

Chief Financial Officer · The Middleby Corporation

Corporate Controller Role

Brittany Cerwin says moving into a corporate controller role was where she got to step into the strategic part of the role, managing the audit relationship, cross-department initiatives, the annual budget process and interactions with the audit committee and board.

Shiv Verma

Chief Financial Officer · Robinhood

Joining a Hedge Fund

Shiv Verma cites joining a hedge fund in 2008, where a CEO and CIO mentored him on buy-side investing and taught him that the best trade is often the one you don't make.

Jessica Somers

Chief Financial Officer · Aledade, Inc.

CFO of Business Unit

Jessica Somers points to becoming CFO of the business unit after leading an acquisition's diligence, saying the operating role helped shape how she approaches her role today because it showed her how little she had understood as a deal maker.

JM

Jack Gordon, MBA

Chief Financial Officer · Harri

Series B Fundraise

Jack Gordon says the Series B fundraise he was thrust into a week after joining—which failed and he restarted in a tough market—was the experience that deepened his strategic leadership in finance.

JM

Jack Gordon, MBA

Chief Financial Officer · Harri

RBS Divestiture and M&A

Jack Gordon cites the RBS divestiture work and the M&A experience it led him to pursue, saying RBS taught him financial services and capital allocation and involved assessing and pricing a business unit for divestment.

Dan Barzily

Chief Financial Officer · Tipalti

Becoming CFO

Dan Barzily says becoming CFO was his strategic moment: the role brought a go-to-market transformation that changed the company's working capital profile and added new priorities to his list.

Jamie Schroeder

Chief Financial Officer · Premium Guard Inc. (Pgi)

Owning a P&L at Scotts

Jamie Schroeder cites owning a P&L for a division at Scotts as the move, since at Ford that direct influence was about 10 years away and he felt ready to be a business partner driving a division.

Philip D. Fracassa

EVP & Chief Financial Officer · Magna International

Head of Tax at Timken

Philip D. Fracassa says moving to Timken as head of tax was the move that broadened him, because the CEO and CFO promised opportunities to expand his horizons if he did well.

Barbara Larson

Chief Financial Officer · Workiva

Earnings and Board Prep

Barbara Larson says that by week two at Workiva she was already deep in earnings and board prep, strategizing on capital allocation, and that the quiet window to sit back and observe was much shorter than she expected.

Claire Bramley

Chief Financial Officer · Xero

Hiring a New CISO

Claire Bramley says one thing she had to do early on was hire a new CISO, spending time meeting many people to pick someone with deep experience who complemented her rather than pretending to be a cybersecurity expert.

Matthew Ostrower

Chief Financial Officer · Link Logistics

Early Investment Banking

Matthew Ostrower cites early investment banking, saying the basic training he got there was unbelievable and taught him a lot while exposing him to senior people.

Samantha Greenberg

Chief Financial Officer · AlphaSense

Joining Francisco Partners

Samantha Greenberg cites joining Francisco Partners, saying she helped build operating processes, work on first transactions and fundraise, which made her a better operator.