Show Notes
"Rise Above The Numbers" by FP&HEY We sat down with Cube Software’s CFO Ed Bush in this episode. Ed’s path to CFO has been more philosophical than most. Here are some things he’s done so far: * Started as a philosophy major * Sang in Johnny Legend’s acapella group * Finance hire #3 at WeWork * Became CFO of an FP&A software tool called Cube He’s also a husband, dad, and avid marathon runner. Takeaways from Ed’s Interview * Having a philosophy background is SUPER helpful as your career progresses, especially as a people manager and business leader. * Most of the ideas people have aren’t their own, rather they are a repackaging of other people’s ideas that they came across at some point in their career. * What makes you successful as an FP&A analyst differs from what makes you successful as an FP&A manager—the same goes for every level up to CFO. 🔥TIP: Here’s a guide to navigating the FP&A career levels from Analyst to CFO. * Grit, fortitude, and the willingness to take on projects you have no experience with will help you accelerate your career more than any degree or certificate. * Balance looking ahead at predictable skill growth without being too rigid—be open to completely different experiences that will widen your skillset. * Every twist and turn of your career can serve you well, no matter how scary—it’s all about having the right mindset. * Carving out time when you are actively not trying to be productive is a great productivity hack—running is one way to do this. * Be active in communities and ask silly questions—you’ll be surprised at how willing people are to share their own experiences. * If you want to rise in your career you need to do things outside of your comfort zone. * Book recommendation, How to Do Nothing by Jenny Odell. * When presenting to a large audience DO NOT convey too much information—people will remember 1, maybe 2 things that you say max. 🔥TIP: Here’s how to present financial information. Show Notes * 00:46 – Ed opened for John Legend—yep this is not a typo🎤 * 02:50 – The path from individual contributor to CFO is NOT straight * 03:45 – Consulting was a good entry point for a liberal arts background grad * 05:03 – Surround yourself with smart, motivated people * 05:49 – From philosophy major to being finance hire #3 at WeWork * 06:50 – Take 1 question and think about the 100 questions behind that question * 08:13 – Want to be CFO? Remind yourself to think less and less about finance * 09:36 – High-potential candidates have experience operating in a world with constraints * 12:12 – Entering and leaving college without knowing what you want to do happens * 13:30 – OPPORTUNITY ALERT—CFO asks you to start a data team from scratch * 16:27 – CFOs take their knocks too—the key is to learn from them * 18:50 – Start measuring your impact on your company, not the number of hours you work * 21:09 – Ask stupid questions all the time—it’s how you learn * 23:11 – Remind yourself to do things outside of your normal day-to-day * 25:36 – Not everyone wants to be a manager or CFO—there are many career paths to take * 27:22 – Saving time in spreadsheets = productivity, that’s why I work for and love using Cube * 28:56 – If you can spend time together in person with your team just do it—they will be remembered Conclusion Ed is comfortable being uncomfortable. Taking leaps across career paths and disciplines has stretched him into the CFO he is today. Building relationships in communities, always asking questions, and actively taking time away from spreadsheets have all had a BIG influence on who he is as a leader today. You can find Ed on LinkedIn. And given the twists and turns in his career, you may also find him at your local concert venue jamming out with a legend (like Johnny). THANK YOU Ed for sharing your career story with us. Resources ▪️ Follow us on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/fpandhey ▪️ Email us your burning FP&A questions at info [at] fpandhey.com This is a public episode. If you would lik
More from Rise Above The Numbers
"Rise Above The Numbers" by FP&HEY Stories tell how a business performed in the past and the future. These stories can be fun to tell (crush revenue, generate more cash, hire like crazy). Or not so fun to tell (missing budget by a lot, making cuts, no end in sight). Regardless of the story’s outcome, you can help your business tell AND influence it 🫵 By connecting the story to everyday operations where the doers live. Show Notes * 01:30 – AI is powerful when you have good thinking frameworks in place * 00:55 – Shout out to quality and practical FP&A content * 01:35 – IR (aka Investor Relations) is the story of your business Shout out to Secret CFO post on IR and operations, keep the great content coming * 02:35 – Talk is cheap, get your hands dirty in the operations, and help improve them * 04:25 – Your business’s story should be about what it does today, and what it wants to do in the future * 05:30 – Customer counts, customer segmentation—all metrics that help you manage your business 🔥TIP: Here’s how to analyze customers * 06:25 – We respectfully disagree with Secret CFO’s take on IR; the (IR) story helps enable operational improvement * 08:20 – Stories provide clarity, especially when numbers (aka metrics) support it 🔥Tip: Here’s how to create KPIs (and metrics) * 09:52 – Do investor relations reports matter? Heck ya they do—especially the transcript * 11:05 – Learn from the best business communicators, like Warren Buffett (hint: he always keeps messaging insanely simple and created a not-so-small company in the process) Check out Warren Buffett’s insanely simple shareholder letters on an insanely simple website * 13:01 – Big finish—keep writing great content Secret CFO, it’s interesting and practical 👊 Conclusion: Tell a story everyone can relate to Figure out what your company’s goals are. Put numbers to them (revenue, profit, cash). Drill one level down to find a number that teams can relate to. And tell a simple story connecting what teams do to the ultimate goal. A practical way to do this is during your budget process (DO NOT leave operational groups out of this exercise). That’s storytelling that drives future business results. Go IR 👊 Resources ▪️ Follow us on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/fpandhey ▪️ Email us your burning FP&A questions at info [at] fpandhey.com This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit fpandhey.substack.com Disclaimer: This content is not investment advice or financial advice. The views expressed and stories told are our own. We may be investors in the companies discussed. Do your due diligence when considering applying what you learn.
"Rise Above The Numbers" by FP&HEY AI is something everyone talks about. But it isn’t something everyone uses…yet. There was a time when no one used computers. There was a time when no one used the internet. There was a time when Excel only had ~65k rows per tab. And years from now, you’ll be saying there was a time when no one used AI. Start using it, listen up to hear how. Show Notes * 00:40 – heard of AI? You will after this podcast Here’s an article we wrote for CFO Dive on AI back in 2023 * 01:30 – AI is powerful when you have good thinking frameworks in place Check out this LinkedIn post on practical AI in FP&A from prior podcast guest Carl * 02:40 – AI can make your life easier (personally and professionally) * 04:35 – FP&A’s job is to think, use AI to brainstorm and ideate more effectively * 05:10 – learn how to present financial information, then leverage AI to speed up that process * 07:00 – AI can help you get people’s attention, then drive home a clear point, saving you from back-and-forth debates * 08:45 – information is only as good as the actions it helps people take 💪 * 09:30 – researching new job responsibilities now requires asking people, searching the internet, and asking AI * 10:35 – the internet and search sped up our ability to learn vs going to the library, AI can speed up internet search * 12:40 – question everything, challenge processes, and be curious… that’s the best way to crush FP&A—and AI can help you figure out what questions to ask 🔥TIP: Here’s how to crush your first 6 months in FP&A. * 14:05 – AI can even give Valentine’s Day advice—proceed with caution on that one Resources ▪️ Follow us on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/fpandhey ▪️ Email us your burning FP&A questions at info [at] fpandhey.com This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit fpandhey.substack.com
"Rise Above The Numbers" by FP&HEY Who here likes to fail? No, this isn’t an April Fool’s joke. Failing leads to serious learning. It can also lead to serious reputation hits. And not just for you, but your team too. Fail responsibly, by failing small and setting you and your team up for controlled failure. Show Notes * 00:26 – doing bicep curls while recording a podcast is one way to stay in shape * 01:01 – controlled failure = allowing your team to take risks and fail while minimizing the consequences * 02:20 – new hires will fail a lot—help them do that while helping them grow a positive reputation * 03:45 – create a space that feels like the big game—there’s no experience like game day experience * 04:50 – don’t expect people to hit the ground running—make it your mission to improve their chances of success * 05:45 – bridge new analysis with old analysis to help you and your boss understand what changed and why it changed to get buy-in * 07:50 – confidence compounds over time—make it your mission to instill confidence in your team early and often * 09:15 – great football players (even Tom Brady) need teams to succeed—you as an FP&A leader are no different * 09:55 – invest in leveling up your team and retaining top talent * 10:30 – great ideas are out there to do things better—pay attention and ferociously learn about them * 11:15 – challenge yourself to learn one new thing each day—that learning will compound over time * 11:55 – wrapping things up—practice controlled failure to build skills, build confidence, build high-performing teams that consistently improve Resources ▪️ Follow us on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/fpandhey ▪️ Email us your burning FP&A questions at info [at] fpandhey.com This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit fpandhey.substack.com Disclaimer: This content is not investment advice or financial advice. The views expressed and stories told are our own. We may be investors in the companies discussed. Do your due diligence when considering applying what you learn.
👋Hey there, Thousands of people read this newsletter and listen to this podcast. Some work in FP&A for the biggest companies in the world. And some are the only Finance, Accounting, HR, and Legal person at their small company (so many hats to wear) 🎩 So what’s better, working for big or small companies? Our insanely vague answer is…it depends. Each job presents unique learning and networking opportunities. And the order in which you take them in your career doesn’t matter either. This episode is about our experience working at the biggest companies in the world. AND some of the smallest companies in the world. Listen on * Apple * Spotify * Substack Experience Comes in All Shapes and Sizes Big, small, public, private, well-known, and completely under the radar. These words best describe all the companies we’ve worked for and with. There was no perfect size or type of experience. Each company offered unique learnings that set us up for the next thing. Here’s the order we went in and what we learned along the way. Show Notes * 00:30 – all it takes is a blow-up swimming pool to make kids (and adults) happy * 00:55 – FP&A can be a very different animal in large vs small companies * 02:00 – starting at large companies, like GE or P&G, gives you role rotation options 🔥TIP: read this to learn why role rotation can be a career accelerator * 02:40 – journal entries help you understand business drivers, which help you drive results * 04:15 – large and mid-size companies offer business partner roles (think Sales, Marketing, R&D, Operations) * 04:55 – FP&A is planning for the future while understanding today and using the past as a history lesson * 05:50 – the smaller the company, the bigger the scope of work * 07:01 – small company CFOs have to make decisions that can make or break their company every day * 09:30 – small businesses require focus – and cash is most important because it pays the bills * 09:55 – doing an IPO and working in larger companies can grow your network exponentially * 10:55 – like we always say, jump on sales calls to learn about your business * 12:20 – advice we received early in our career—walk the production floor * 13:20 – the big finish—no one career path is the same, so keep learning and do what fits your life situation We Started at Very Big Companies GE (General Electric) and P&G (Procter and Gamble) are giant companies. The odds are that you use many of their products daily. Big companies did something for both of us early in our careers that accelerated our learning and promotional track. Role rotation. Role rotation required us to take a job for a year and then take a different job the next. Each job had a very specific scope. For example: * Start as a Plant Accounting Co-op/Intern * Transition to systems implementation project team * Then become the Regional Profit Forecaster of a brand * And finally, become a Global Profit Forecaster, forecasting a collection of brands All of the above in 6 years. We’re exhausted just thinking back to those years. We worked long hours and connected with a lot of people. Which eventually helped us leave our big company jobs and test out the mid-size company waters. Then Dove into Mid-Size Companies Mid-size companies offer a bit more variety when it comes to scope. Our experience was with fast-growing companies that were hiring rapidly. What’s the most important thing we offered when we splashed down at our cube for the first time? Connecting financial results to everyday business activities. Without that connection, financial performance becomes disconnected from the goals of the company. And all that hiring and spending can start to drift away from achieving the actual goals of the company. This is where business partnering roles come into play. Consider them mini-CFOs who own: * Collecting info * Understanding what it means * And providing recommendations All to ensure the goals of the company are achieved. The skill set to be a business partner is clear communication
"Rise Above The Numbers" by FP&HEY How much free time do you have? Many have little if any. That’s why focusing on saving time now is so important. 🔥TIP: Excel shortcuts will save you hours each week. Because at some point an opportunity will present itself. It may look like someone: * Leaving the company unexpectedly and you fill that gap * Being promoted and you take on their job * Asking for help and you step in to support All of the above has happened to us. And many of these opportunities were unplanned. Show Notes * 00:30 – doing other people’s jobs will happen, it will be unplanned, and you can get through it * 01:11 – only take on the challenge if you can handle it – assess your situation * 01:45 – we’ve gone from solo contributor to doing the jobs of 5 people * 03:30 – you’re only as good as your team and support structure – plan and communicate your approach * 04:35 – the silver lining of people leaving – you learn💡 * 05:00 – the growth mindset helps to get through taking on more than your original scope of work * 06:10 – stepping up to take on more can lead to future opportunities like working with leadership * 06:50 – sometimes your manager will leave and the opportunity to lead is in front of you 🔥TIP: Here’s how to crush your first 6 months as an FP&A manager. * 08:25 – you will get beat up and you will experience failure – all lead to learnings * 10:10 – stepping up and taking on more may or may not make sense depending on what your goals are Conclusion: Opportunities Make or Break Your Reputation You will get opportunities in your career. How you take them on will feed your reputation. Reputation takes a lifetime to build up. And as you build your reputation, the number of opportunities you get goes up📈 Become an opportunity magnet, and over time be selective in the ones you take on. Resources ▪️ Follow us on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/fpandhey ▪️ Email us your burning FP&A questions at info [at] fpandhey.com This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit fpandhey.substack.com