Culture is the core of every company, but keeping it consistent isn’t always easy, especially in an increasingly remote-first world. On this episode of The Modern CFO, Tim Brown shares how Dakota prioritizes culture-building and why CFOs should think about the more permanent changes brought on by the pandemic. Show Links Check out Dakota Connect with Tim Brown on LinkedIn Check out Nth Round Connect with Andrew Seski on LinkedIn Key Takeaways 5:54 – The pandemic caused a shift in business practi...
Mar 22, 2022•25 min•Ep. 18
Jared Shaw didn’t take the traditional path to the financial world. When his classmates were starting prestigious internships, he joined the military and gained valuable leadership skills. Today, Jared is focused on solving problems: specifically, solving the distribution problem in the world of cryptocurrency. As the Head Of Finance at Gemini, Jared is deeply embedded in the frontier of crypto and digital assets. Gemini’s goal is simple yet ambitious: create a platform so secure and accessible ...
Dec 10, 2021•31 min•Ep. 17
In 2012, Woodie Neiss was a CFO and entrepreneur who was seeking to change the rules of the investment game. When President Obama signed his crowdfunding bill later that year, it opened a whole new world for individuals to participate in the private capital markets. Today, the crowdfunding industry has surpassed $1 billion in funding and takes place almost entirely online. Woodie continues to empower entrepreneurs through his latest venture, GUARDD, where he automates the process of ensuring aud...
Nov 09, 2021•37 min•Ep. 16
With an abundance of capital chasing a limited number of opportunities, one unique entry point for investors is in secondary direct investments. Secondary opportunities consist of buying shares in private, pre-IPO companies directly from employees and investors versus the traditional route of participating in the next round of fundraising. Andrea Walne is at the center of this world at Manhattan Venture Partners (MVP), where 80% of their investments are in late-stage companies by buying secondar...
Oct 21, 2021•41 min•Ep. 15
Jeremy Baksht has a rich history in finance, from banking at J.P. Morgan to several entrepreneurial ventures. His specialty is data and FinTech, and his newest company is DataFrame Ventures. Over the years, Jeremy has learned that he has a good eye for investing and generating LP interest in his niche. In this episode, he talks about the importance of generating interest, curating a funnel, and deciding what type of CFO you want to be in today's ever-changing environment. Show Links Check out Da...
Oct 05, 2021•44 min•Ep. 14
Invest in people. Easy, right? While more money than ever is being deployed around the world into new ventures, Oslene Carrington is leveraging her own entrepreneurial experience to ensure entrepreneurs in Guyana and the Caribbean have access to financing as well. Oslene is not one to wait around for change to occur. She decided she would create her own community of angel investors. By expertly explaining the risks of financing innovation abroad, especially at the angel stage, some of that risk ...
Jul 14, 2021•37 min•Ep. 13
Realized returns on investments for venture capital funds used to happen within three to seven years. Now, the biggest companies are extending funds to 15+ years—and investors are getting impatient. This could dampen venture capital as an asset class, but not if Aman Verjee can help it. On this episode of The Modern CFO , Aman discusses how Practical Venture Capital is creating a secondary market from VC funds, how faster liquidity will keep VC relevant, and how his experiences at PayPal, eBay, ...
Jun 29, 2021•43 min•Ep. 12
The heyday of Main Street is over. The spotlight now shines on Digital Street. Curt Sigfstead has been long drawn to the power of entrepreneurs and the opportunity they present to transform the world. After leading the prominent West Coast technology investing division at JP Morgan, Curt joined Clearco. Clearco is at the forefront of digital growth, where they are busy building out the capital infrastructure for the internet in the realm of embedded finance. Working with digital founders, softwa...
Jun 15, 2021•32 min•Ep. 11
Looking for a long-term view of what it means to be a good CFO? Brian Hughes is a retired partner of KPMG and an experienced advisor to public VC- and PE-backed portfolio companies. His perspective spans an entire career of public and private market transactions, overseeing multiple market cycles--like the dot-com bubble and the 2008 recession--and becoming acquainted with the needs of companies through different life cycles. He is uniquely positioned to deliver a holistic picture of our current...
May 25, 2021•40 min•Ep. 10
What do Microsoft and a dental care marketplace have in common? Plenty, if you look at it from the inside-out. Dave Monahan, CEO of Kleer, got his entrepreneurial training at Microsoft, where he learned how to focus on solutions, build transparency, and innovate faster. Today, Dave is building a pandemic-proof culture at Kleer, a dental care marketplace aiming to replace inefficient insurance plans. In this episode of The Modern CFO podcast, Dave and host Andrew Seski talk about the benefits of ...
May 11, 2021•39 min•Ep. 9
As a serial entrepreneur, Matt Wensing is no stranger to managing the day-to-day operations and growing pains of new businesses. However, he was surprised that his dependency on the same, stale spreadsheets hadn’t waned by his third venture. In 2019, Matt launched Summit to accelerate financial intelligence by replacing idiosyncratic, disparate spreadsheets with a collaborative modeling platform. His goal is simple: to create a forecasting platform that anyone, from CFOs to start-up founders, ca...
May 06, 2021•35 min•Ep. 8
Public practice accountant Martin Chee knows: no one likes wasting time on tedious data entry of the same numbers over and over again. That’s the gap he uncovered in the financial accounting industry — and the gap that his company Amaka fills seamlessly. Their accounting integrations software lets businesses capture their financial data and use it across all their systems, so there’s no double work. Martin talks with Andrew Seski of the Modern CFO podcast about the importance of data accessibili...
Apr 20, 2021•44 min•Ep. 7
Cameron Hyzer is the CFO of ZoomInfo, a B2B database seeking to revolutionize the sales & marketing process. With over 2 decades of experience, Cameron is expanding the role (and importance) of CFOs in growing companies. Cameron joined me to talk about the evolution of today’s CFO, the best mentalities for success, and how ZoomInfo is changing go-to-market motions for good….even during a global pandemic. Show Links Check out ZoomInfo Follow ZoomInfo on LinkedIn or Twitter Connect with Camero...
Apr 06, 2021•31 min•Ep. 6
CFO Mandeep Basra joined RentMoola right as COVID-19 was declared a worldwide pandemic. Little did he know that the company would be quickly pivoting to help landlords and tenants by offering remote payment options and micro-lending assistance. This digital innovation is just what Mandeep thinks the world needs in order to serve sophisticated digital customers as well as support under-banked populations around the world. Show Links Check out RentMoola Follow RentMoola on LinkedIn Connect with Ma...
Apr 01, 2021•29 min•Ep. 5
In 2013 Luc Jodet first heard of Bitcoin, and dismissed it as uninteresting. Fast forward to 2018 and Luc found himself co-founding Arianee, a company that is quickly becoming one of the most successful businesses in the blockchain world. Today, Arianee helps provide luxury brands with non-fungible tokens, or digital passports certifying the authenticity and ownership of high-value, one-of-a-kind products. We chatted about Luc’s journey to the blockchain world, how the technology works, and the ...
Mar 16, 2021•34 min•Ep. 4
John Collins is the CFO at LivePerson and the very definition of a modern CFO in every way. His career journey spans a job at the New York stock exchange, grad school at MIT, inventing a fully automated trading platform that he wrote from scratch, managing the portfolio for a 10 billion AUM fund, co-founding his own company, and joining LivePerson. As CFO at LivePerson, John is passionate about the role of data in the CFO world, the possibilities of “conversational commerce,” and the vision of c...
Mar 08, 2021•36 min•Ep. 3
Kevin Appleby helps run GrowCFO, a community and development resource for finance professionals. A PwC alum-turned instructor, Kevin realized that what CFOs really needed was a support system. He joined me on The Modern CFO podcast to talk about the challenges facing CFOs today, the importance of seeking out mentors, and how to embrace imposter syndrome by conducting thoughtful self-assessment. Check out GrowCFO Follow GrowCFO on LinkedIn Connect with Kevin on LinkedIn Connect with Andrew on Lin...
Mar 03, 2021•54 min•Ep. 2
Rob Masson is the CFO at Hypertherm, a 50-year-old company that is a leader in industrial cutting systems. He’s also a former Naval aviator who learned critical leadership skills firsthand. Rob joined us on the Modern CFO Podcast to share his unique perspective on management and the ways in which empowered, confident employees helped Hypertherm weather the COVID-19 crisis. Visit Hypertherm Connect with Rob on LinkedIn Key Takeaways Weathering COVID-19 The pandemic took an early toll on Hyperther...
Feb 26, 2021•34 min•Ep. 1
Hello and welcome to the Modern CFO podcast. I'm your host Andrew Seski. Join me as I go behind the scenes with top CFO's to share the stories of how this pivotal role is changing in today's business climate. The full show notes and every new episode can be found at nthround.com/podcast .
Feb 24, 2021•57 sec
