The Growth-Minded CFO

Here's the version for Spotify and Apple Podcasts: An S-1 is written for investors. But for CFOs at any stage, it can be one of the best playbooks available for learning what good looks like. In this episode of The Growth-Minded CFO, Alex Louisy and Lauren Pearl sit down with CJ Gustafson, former tech CFO and the writer behind Mostly Metrics, to unpack what finance leaders can learn from compa...

For three seasons, Alex Louisy has sat on one side of the mic, asking CFOs about the decisions that shaped their careers. In this episode, he switches seats. Lauren Pearl interviews her own co-host about the company behind The Growth-Minded CFO, and why Upflow spent nearly a decade walking away from the category it set out to build. In this episode, Alex shares the origin story that started with a...

Most CFOs can see the final sales numbers. Far fewer have a clear view of what is happening inside the pipeline before those numbers land. As CFO of Sigma Computing, Christina Liu works closely with sales to create greater visibility, accountability and confidence around commercial decisions. By bringing CRM data, customer conversations, product usage and other signals together, her team has moved...

Martino Cadoni has had a front-row seat to some extraordinary moments throughout his career so far. At GE Capital, he was selected to help transform a business with more than $100 billion in assets, working across M&A, strategic sales and IPOs. At Klarna, he was involved in fundraising, IPO readiness and major transactions. Today, he is CFO of DeepL. So, what has that journey taught him about...

What does it take to be a truly great CFO today? It’s not just about balancing the books—it’s about driving strategy, managing risks, and telling the financial story in a way that inspires confidence. In this re-released episode, first published in March 2025, Carla Cooper, CFO of Contentful, shares her journey from Wall Street equity analyst to CFO, discussing her role in scaling Contentful, navi...

AI is no longer just an experiment. For many companies, it is quickly becoming an expectation. But rolling it out across a business is a very different challenge from giving a few people access to a few tools. So what does AI adoption actually look like when it is done at scale? In this episode of The Growth-Minded CFO, Alex Louisy and Lauren Pearl sit down with Ryan Roccon, CFO at Zapier, to unpa...

In this episode, hosts Lauren and Alex sit down with Chris Ortega, the CEO and founder of Fresh FP&A. Chris shares his inspiring career journey, from his early passion for finance to roles at Ernst & Young and leadership positions in fast growing software and pharmaceutical companies. He discusses the foundation and philosophy behind Fresh FP&A, highlighting its focus on being Financia...

Most CFOs don’t think about personal brand until they need something: a new role, a board seat, a stronger network, or a way to stand out. But by then, it might already be too late. In this episode of The Growth-Minded CFO , we speak with Wassia Kamon, CFO of Access to Capital for Entrepreneurs and host of The Diary of a CFO podcast, about why finance leaders can no longer afford to stay invisible...

If your role as CFO stops at the numbers, you’re already behind. Ilana Esterrich, CFO at Planned Parenthood, breaks down what it actually means to lead in today’s environment—from building resilient teams to operating in constant uncertainty. With a background in the military, Ilana brings a unique perspective on leadership, discipline, and adaptability—showing how finance leaders can step into a...

In this special re-release of The Growth-Minded CFO , Alex and Lauren revisit the very first episode of the podcast - featuring Rita Kale, now CFO at Valo Health. At the time, we didn’t know what this show would become. Since then, we’ve spoken to some of the best finance operators in the world. But looking back, this conversation set the tone for everything that followed. Rita brings a rare combi...

How does someone go from jazz musician to CFO of a $1B marketplace? In this episode of The Growth-Minded CFO, Alex Louisy and Lauren Pearl speak with Kevin Drost, former CFO of Reverb — the musical instrument marketplace acquired by Etsy — about his unconventional path into finance and what it taught him about the role. Kevin didn’t start in finance. He started by running a business. From founding...

When is the right time to hire your first CFO? And what actually separates a great one from an expensive mistake? In this re-released standout episode of The Growth-Minded CFO , we revisit our conversation with Dav Masaon, Co-Founder of executive search firm Zanda, to unpack one of the most high-stakes decisions founders make: hiring a CFO who can truly scale with the business. This isn’t a checkl...

What can nonprofit finance teach CFOs about decision-making In this episode of The Growth-Minded CFO, Alex Louisy and Lauren Pearl speak with Darien Wright, CFO and COO of the National Geographic Society. After a 30-year career spanning public accounting, consulting, telecommunications, hospitality, and private equity - including roles at PwC, Accenture, Sprint, Marriott, and Brookfield - Darien m...

What does it really take to scale finance through the stages that break most teams? In this re-released standout episode, we revisit our conversation with Charly Kevers, CFO of Carta - who helped guide the company from Series B to Series G over seven years of hypergrowth, complexity, and rising investor expectations. This isn’t a theoretical discussion about what CFOs should do. It’s a practical l...

What should a CFO prioritize when stepping into a business already under pressure? In this episode of The Growth-Minded CFO, Alex Louisy and Lauren Pearl speak with Niels Boon, CFO of Cint, a Stockholm-Nasdaq listed tech company and the world’s largest survey exchange. Niels joined Cint as the sixth CFO in four years, at a time of leadership change, debt pressure, public market scrutiny, and an un...

In creative businesses, the art drives the upside — but the numbers determine whether the art can exist at all. In this episode of The Growth-Minded CFO, hosts Alex Louisy and Lauren Pearl sit down with Diya Sagar, CFO of AWA Studios, a young media company that publishes original graphic novels and brings them to life in film and television. Diya leads finance in this truly hit-driven business. Th...

This week on The Growth-Minded CFO, we’re sharing a special podswap with our friends at the FP&A Unlocked podcast (formerly FP&A Tomorrow). Host Paul Barnhurst sits down with two finance leaders who’ve shaped how modern FP&A operates: Jim Cook (former CFO of Mozilla, with leadership roles at Netflix and Intuit) and Winnie Aoieong (VP of Business Finance at PowerSchool). Together, they...

Every finance team wants a seat at the table - but too often, their message gets lost once they’re there. In this episode of The Growth-Minded CFO, we sit down with Anders Liu-Lindberg - Partner at the Business Partnering Institute, co-author of the book 'Communicating Financials to Executives', and one of the most followed finance voices on LinkedIn - to unpack how finance leaders can mov...

What happens when a CFO stops acting as a financial steward and starts leading as an orchestrator - aligning rhythm, trust, and strategy across the entire business? In this episode of The Growth-Minded CFO , hosts Alex Louisy and Lauren Pearl speak with Xavier Castellana , former CFO of Typeform, TravelPerk, and Amenitiz, and now Managing Partner at LeaderNess. Xavi shares lessons from scaling som...

What happens when a finance leader who learned discipline in the consumer goods industry steps into the fast, unpredictable worlds of SaaS and AI? In this episode of The Growth-Minded CFO, hosts Alex Louisy and Lauren Pearl speak with Cameron Kinloch, an advisor to boards, CFOs and CEOs through her company True Vantage Partners. Cameron shares lessons from her journey — from Wall Street to Silicon...

Hosts Alex Louisy (CEO, Upflow) and Lauren Pearl (Fractional CFO) unpack the sharpest insights from Season 2 of The Growth-Minded CFO - from AI (without the hype) and executional finance to storytelling, EQ, and when to hire fractional vs. full-time. It’s your highlight reel to operate smarter, lead better, and move faster. What you’ll learn 1. Clean data before clever AI — hygiene first; tools an...

In this episode of The Growth-Minded CFO, we sit down with Jeff Fidelman—Founder and Managing Partner at Fidelman & Co.—to talk about how startup fundraising has shifted, what VCs actually want to hear, and why today’s CFOs need more than spreadsheets to lead. Chapters: 02:00 - Why Fidelman & Co. Was Born from a Market Gap 06:00 - Broken Incentives in Startup Fundraising 09:00 - How the Fu...

Startups don’t need spreadsheet CFOs—they need operators who can think like owners. That’s the core message in this episode of The Growth-Minded CFO as hosts Alex Louisy (CEO, Upflow) and Lauren Pearl sit down with Jon Gross, CFO of RepeatMD. In this conversation you’ll learn: 👉 “Three-level CFO” playbook – how Jon shifts from board-level strategy to ground-floor execution without missing a beat....

Finance is evolving—and so is the CFO. In this episode of The Growth-Minded CFO, Rillet CEO Nicolas Kopp joins hosts Alex Louisy and Lauren Pearl to talk about what’s next for finance leaders. Fresh off a $25M Series A, Nicolas shares why Rillet is rebuilding the general ledger from the ground up with AI at the core. 00:19 Meet Nicolas Kopp: CEO of Rillet 01:23 The Vision Behind Rillet 03:19 Chall...

Being great with numbers may open the door—but it’s your emotional intelligence that keeps you in the room. In this episode, Erik Nakamura—CFO of Journal Technologies—joins hosts Lauren Pearl and Alex Louisy to explore how emotional intelligence (EQ) is transforming the modern CFO role from number cruncher to strategic business partner. With 25+ years of experience across startups, public companie...