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Midmarket CFOs are pulled in so many directions, so the question of what to spend time on is often affecting. Dustin Williamson, fractional CFO and managing director of VCFOs, says that a mantra suitable for such a CFO is “delegating or deferring it if the action does not promote value.” When an owner or investor exit is looming, value creation may be the best of the mind, but otherwise more pressing concerns can blur it. Revenue is important, but the most powerful value creation may come from revealing hidden opportunities. Williamson has led many middle market companies through this terrain.…
While Nvidia’s research teams were making major, albeit quiet, moves designing processors that would be uniquely powerful for the needs of AI and deep learning, there was a new company out there looking for just that. OpenAI was founded in 2015 with the goal of advancing AI in a way that benefits humanity, and they quickly realized that the computational demands for training large AI models were immense. OpenAI, from the outset, needed highly scalable computational power to achieve its ambitious goals, and Nvidia’s GPUs were the natural choice—few alternatives could match Nvidia’s hardware capabilities for AI training. OpenAI’s AI…
In 2001, Pranav Dalal made a week of trip to India that would change his life. He landed in Mumbai, rented an office, hired five employees, and launched an office beacon before his flight to Los Angeles. Twenty-three years later, the voluntary startup has become a global staffing powerhouse of 5,500 people run in four countries. What makes Dalal's story even more remarkable? He built it completely without outside investors, maintaining only ownership, and his company quietly became one of the largest offshore staff in the world. The Redondo Beach-based CEO was unfamiliar with ambitious ventures. He previously helped incorporate…
For J.C. Watts, success in the boardroom does not begin with strategic or financial insight. It starts with the characters. At a recent board forum in Dallas, Watts offered a deep, personal and very practical reflection on what makes the supervision effective and what the board can consistently provide excellent results.Why listen to Watts? Former MPs, championship quarterbacks and veteran corporate directors who served on boards of companies such as CSX, Paycom, Dillard, and Terrax have been recognized as the top value creation directors of the past 20 years. Corporate Board Members And Alixpartners for driving shareholders will return 15.3%…
Two Vice-Presidents of the Company ask Michelle, a promising new MBA, to “examine sales forecast issues.” One of the largest producers of commercial and industrial precious metal alloys, the company has experienced losses due to lower prices, and its warehouse has excessively expensive stock. The VPS will provide Michel with a list of seven task force members selected from the Marketing, Corporate Planning and Economic Analysis departments. They say it's pointless to include one of the four marketing leaders because they're busy and historically resistant to change. Michelle and the team will have eight weeks to deliver the report. It's…
Being a CFO is more than just crunching numbers. In this episode of Secrets of Rockstar CFOs, Melissa Hurrington, CFO and VP of operations at Premier Claims, shares her insights on a holistic approach to life and leadership. She describes overcoming impostor syndrome, being a servant leader and why she’s become a passionate advocate for women in business. In addition, she describes some of the challenges facing the property insurance industry and how it makes the cash flow cycle at Premier Claims more complex. To book a demo with Planful, click here. — Listen to the Podcast here Hello, rockstars.…
Being a CFO is more than just crunching numbers. In this episode of Secrets of Rockstar CFOs, Melissa Hurrington, CFO and VP of operations at Premier Claims, shares her insights on a holistic approach to life and leadership. She describes overcoming impostor syndrome, being a servant leader and why she’s become a passionate advocate for women in business. In addition, she describes some of the challenges facing the property insurance industry and how it makes the cash flow cycle at Premier Claims more complex. To book a demo with Planful, click here. — Listen to the Podcast here Hello, rockstars.…
Imagine you are a new entry level employee in your first few months at work. You come to the office for 4 days a week per company policy and complete the assignments and your manager doesn't give you much feedback, so you feel a bit lost. When you stop thinking about it, you've actually met her one-on-one only twice since you started three months ago.Now imagine you as the manager of that entry level employee. With 20 in-person reports, I find it difficult to barely hold tabs about who is doing what and schedule regular one-on-one check-in. They have weekly…
It was a pivotal moment of activist investment when Phillips 66 shareholders made a split decision in May 2025 when they selected two Elliott Management candidates while retaining the two company's directors. The energy giant survived what the observers called the “barroom brawl” in the boardroom, and Elliott achieved something unprecedented. For Elliott, it was the first proxy vote for a US public company after more than 100 activist campaigns, proving that even the most skilled activists can face costly, uncertain battles. The Battle of Phillips 66 illustrates today's proxy landscape. There, activist campaigns continue at record levels, but businesses…
The live entertainment industry is not for the timid people. CFOs of these businesses face the need to develop whimsical consumer preferences, intrinsic operational risks, and innovative supplemental revenue streams To learn how the sector's finance chiefs manage unpredictability, we interviewed Aleksandra Szuszkiewicz, the funding manager for Salt Lake City-based Live Nite Events, an entertainment company that produces medium to large concerts and music festivals. Helped by her private equity background, Szuszkiewicz frames a sophisticated financial framework for high-risk, capital-intensive entertainment ventures with complex cash flow dynamics. She spoke to Kuener Hebert about fundraising structure, risk management frameworks and value…