Best Shubham Datta Podcasts (2024)

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Ep. 67: Scaling for rapid growth & hiring for decision-making vs execution w/ Julian Rowlands, VP Finance at Spruce 25:47

3y ago25:47

25:47

Julian Rowlands, VP Finance at Spruce I chat with Julian about: His career journey from a History major before going to business school at uChicago to becoming the VP Finance at Spruce. Spruce — what the company does and what it’s all about. Structuring and growing the finance function for scale at growth stage company. When Julian joined Spruce, t…

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Ep. 66: Finding the right path to go public for your company (IPOs, Direct Listings or SPACs) w/ Jeff Epstein, Operating Partner at Bessemer Venture Partners 33:27

3+ y ago33:27

33:27

Jeff Epstein, Operating Partner at Bessemer Venture Partners & Co-CEO and CFO at Apex Technology Acquisition Corp. (Nasdaq: APXT) I chat with Jeff about: His career journey from investment banking to operating, including stops at various technology and media companies to now serving as an operating partner at Bessemer Venture Partners. Apex Technol…

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Ep. 65: The right time for SMB SaaS companies to move upmarket featuring Ivan Makarov, VP Finance at Webflow 26:34

3+ y ago26:34

26:34

Ivan Makarov, VP Finance at Webflow Ivan is an experienced finance executive with over 15 years of professional experience in the internet industry building finance teams and functions inside global tech companies. He has served as a VP Finance for SmugMug and Flickr for a period of 8 years, prior to joining Webflow. At Webflow, Ivan leads all of t…

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Ep. 64: Building a financially feasible business by aligning with customer incentives feat. Sruthi Lanka, CFO at Public 26:10

3+ y ago26:10

26:10

Sruthi Lanka, CFO at Public As CFO, Sruthi oversees finance, data, and people operations. Prior to Public, she served as VP and Head of Strategic Finance at MoneyLion, the fintech startup and challenger bank. She was MoneyLion’s first finance hire in 2017 following its Series A, and built the team that forecasts and monitors the firm’s financial pe…

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Ep. 63: What it means to be a finance exec for a publicly-traded software company with Blaine Fitzgerald, EVP Finance & Incoming CFO at Kinaxis (TSX: KXS) 26:34

3+ y ago26:34

26:34

Joining me on this episode of the Backbone is Blaine Fitzgerald, EVP Finance & Incoming CFO at Kinaxis (TSX:KXS), a company that revolutionizes planning by delivering the agility you need to make fast, confident decisions in an unpredictable world. I chat with Blaine about: His career journey having started his career in accounting with stints at C…

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Ep. 62: Taking care of your people, company, & customers while navigating through a crisis with Naeem Ishaq, CFO at Checkr 38:01

3+ y ago38:01

38:01

Joining me on this episode of the Backbone is Naeem Ishaq, CFO at Checkr, the leading technology company in the background check industry. At Checkr, Naeem leads finance, facilities, and data operations teams, responsible for financial strategy and planning, corporate development, and optimizing Checkr’s financial performance for long-term growth. …

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Ep. 61: The role of momentum and velocity in propelling Blackberry's epic run from $2M to $20B in sales with Dennis Kavelman, Partner at Inovia Capital (Former CFO / COO at Blackberry) 42:49

3+ y ago42:49

42:49

Dennis Kavelman, Partner at Inovia Capital (Former CFO / COO at Blackberry) I chat with Dennis about: His 15 year run as the CFO and COO of Blackberry after joining the company when it was virtually unknown, with just 20 employees and roughly $2-million in revenue back in 1995. During this time Blackberry grew to more than 15,000 employees and sale…

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Ep. 60: IPO readiness and what it truly means to take a company public today with Curt Sigfstead, CFO at Clearbanc 31:12

3+ y ago31:12

31:12

Curt Sigfstead, CFO at Clearbanc I chat with Curt about: His career journey that led him to the CFO seat at Clearbanc. Prior to joining Clearbanc, Curt was the Head of Technology Investment Banking for the West Coast at JP Morgan. Over the last 22 years while he was there, Curt led over $200B of technology M&A transactions and over 80 technology IP…

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Ep. 59: Determining the core competencies of the finance function with Etienne St-Martin, Director of Finance at Roadmunk 24:32

3+ y ago24:32

24:32

Etienne St-Martin, Director of Finance at Roadmunk I chat with Etienne about: His career journey from Deloitte to Freshbooks to becoming the Director of Finance at Roadmunk. What Roadmunk does and what it’s all about. Building a finance function and deciding what aspects to do in-house vs outsource. How seasonality may affect pricing and packaging …

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Ep. 58: The makings of a well-rounded finance leader with Brian Montminy, CFO at Lessonly 27:59

3+ y ago27:59

27:59

Brian Montminy, CFO at Lessonly I chat with Brian about: His career journey starting as a consultant with Accenture, followed by 5 years at JP Morgan Chase before taking the plunge into tech with Salesforce where he held various roles in the finance and strategy team. What Lessonly does and what it’s all about. Risk aversion and why finance leaders…

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Ep. 57: Lessons learned from hyper-growth & scaling to $100M+ ARR, 100k customers and raising $100M with Tim Compton, SVP of Finance at ActiveCampaign 32:44

4y ago32:44

32:44

Tim Compton, SVP of Finance at ActiveCampaign I chat with Tim about: His career journey from EY to the transition into tech including stints at Google, Groupon and Geofeedia, before taking on his current role at ActiveCampaign. What ActiveCampaign does and what it’s all about. Comparing ActiveCampaign’s hyper-growth to Groupon and what it means for…

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Ep. 56: Lessons from raising $50M during a global pandemic with Aly Khan Musani, CFO at Symend 30:26

4y ago30:26

30:26

Aly Khan Musani, CFO at Symend I chat with Aly about: His career journey starting in the energy and natural resources sector with various progressive roles in finance including serving as the CFO of CleanTek Industries, prior to joining Symend. What Symend does and what it is all about. Aly’s perspective on “data is the new oil” having worked in th…

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Ep. 55: The most important SaaS metric for a high-growth software company with Rob Froment, CFO at Clio 33:14

4y ago33:14

33:14

Rob Froment, CFO at Clio I chat with Rob about: His career journey starting in public practice at Grant Thornton before taking on various progressive finance leadership roles within tech companies and he ended up as the CFO at Clio. What Clio does and what it is all about. Clio’s fascinating pricing model which includes aspects of freemium, self-se…

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Ep. 54: Getting the most out of a finance function with Srikant Nayak, CFO at GroupBy 23:16

4y ago23:16

23:16

Srikant Nayak, CFO at GroupBy I chat with Srikant about: His career journey starting in India and holding progressive roles in various companies in India and Dubai, before taking on his current gig at GroupBy. GroupBy — what the company does and what is it all about? Since joining GroupBy, Srikant has helped the company raise over $15M in venture …

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Ep. 53: Every finance leader must become a great storyteller with Darrell Cox, CFO at Vena 40:16

4+ y ago40:16

40:16

Darrell Cox, CFO at Vena I chat with Darrell about: His path to the CFO seat at Vena, with stops as the VP Finance at Freshbooks and various finance roles within telcos such as Rogers, Virgin Mobile and WIND. Vena Solutions — what the company does and what its all about. As a company, Vena helps finance leaders in organizations plan for the future…

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Ep. 52: Why the tradeoff of balancing profitability and sustainability is a false dichotomy with David Reid, CFO & COO of Boll & Branch 32:16

4+ y ago32:16

32:16

David Reid, CFO & COO of Boll & Branch It’s the first quarter of the new decade and as you know, we are in unprecedented times. The world continues to fight the COVID-19 pandemic. We all have a part to play to flatten the curve and slow the spread of this virus. I couldn’t think of a more appropriate guest and company to feature during this time. J…

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Ep. 51: The art of value-based pricing models with Karthik Srinivasan, Director of Finance at Chargebee 19:53

4+ y ago19:53

19:53

Karthik Srinivasan, Director of Finance at Chargebee I chat with Karthik about: His career journey starting at Tata Consultancy Services after getting your CA in India, to becoming the Director of Finance at Chargebee. Chargebee — what the company does and what its all about. The benefits and challenges to offering customers various local currencie…

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Ep. 50: Behind the 7-year journey of scaling WIND Mobile to $500M in revenue and $1.6B sale w/ Brice Scheschuk, Managing Partner at Globalive Capital 41:38

4+ y ago41:38

41:38

Brice Scheschuk, Managing Partner at Globalive Capital I chat with Brice about: His career journey from PwC to entrepreneurship to being a part of the founding team at WIND Mobile, where he served as the CFO, and now Globalive. His focus area at Globalive. The biggest takeaways and learnings as a finance leader and entrepreneur that he’s now levera…

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Ep. 49: Fiscally responsible growth vs growth at all costs with Johnathan Mirian, VP Finance at Justworks 24:11

4+ y ago24:11

24:11

Johnathan Mirian, VP Finance at Justworks I chat with Johnathan about: His career journey from investment banking at Morgan Stanley to product management before taking on a finance operator role at Justworks when the company was just 20 people. JustWorks — what the company does and what is it all about. How he evolved as a finance leader from the f…

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Ep. 48: Setting the right foundation in the first 100 days to scale the finance function for hyper growth with Khoi Le, VP Finance at Hopper 33:24

4+ y ago33:24

33:24

Khoi Le, VP Finance at Hopper I chat with Khoi about: His journey from RSM Richter in Montreal to progressive finance and operating roles at real estate and distribution companies, before making the plunge into tech at Hopper. Hopper — what company does and what its all about. His transition into his first finance operating role at a tech company a…

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Ep. 47: A framework for managing M&A as a CFO with Saeideh Fard, Chief Financial Officer at Tulip 31:15

4+ y ago31:15

31:15

Saeideh Fard, Chief Financial Officer at Tulip I chat with Saei about: Her journey into tech starting at PwC with stops at Sysomos, MarketWired, and Travel Edge prior to joining Tulip. Tulip — what the company does and what it’s all about. Tulip’s sales process the most indicative KPIs and metrics of the business. Best practises from a systems inte…

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Ep. 46: Pushing company-wide transformation of a craft brewer through technology with Trevor Young, Chief Financial Officer at Steam Whistle Brewing 25:35

4+ y ago25:35

25:35

Trevor Young, Chief Financial Officer at Steam Whistle Brewing I chat with Trevor about: His journey from competing for a spot on the National rowing team for the Beijing Olympics to the Canadian Armed Forces to Management Consulting at McKinsey before making the jump into the CFO seat at Steam Whistle. Steam Whistle Brewing — what the company does…

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Ep. 45: Driving growth through an omnichannel approach at an established wellness brand with Michelle Armstrong, Chief Operating Officer at Saje Natural Wellness 24:44

5y ago24:44

24:44

Michelle Armstrong, Chief Operating Officer at Saje Natural Wellness I chat with Michelle about: Her journey from PwC to 10+ years at Lululemon in FP&A and merchandising roles prior to becoming the COO at Saje Natural Wellness. Saje — what the company does and what its all about. How she made the transition from a finance operating role to now bein…

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Ep. 44: Striking the balance of growth and profitability as a bootstrapped company with Jessica Katz, Director of Finance at Format 22:48

5y ago22:48

22:48

Jessica Katz, Director of Finance at Format I chat with Jessica about: Her journey into tech and finance from EY to Wave and DHX Media before taking on her current role at Format as the Director of Finance. Format — what the company does and what is it all about. The challenges and opportunities faced as a finance leader in a 100% bootstrapped comp…

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Ep. 43: A framework for growing and scaling finance functions with Mustafa Nafar, VP Finance at Modsy 25:02

5y ago25:02

25:02

Mustafa Nafar, VP Finance at Modsy I chat with Mustafa about: His journey into tech and finance from the start of Mustafa’s career with Deloitte in India to progressive finance roles with Best Buy to Zynga, Sunrun and most recently Doordash before joining as the VP of Finance at Modsy. Modsy — what the company does and what it’s all about. His tran…

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Ep. 42: What investors really care about from a CFO turned VC & the top metrics for direct-to-consumer businesses with Amy Wu, Partner at Lightspeed Venture Partners 33:27

5y ago33:27

33:27

Amy Wu, Partner at Lightspeed Venture Partners I chat with Amy about: Her journey into tech starting as Associate at Insight Venture Partners, and then operating as the SVP of Finance and Operations at NewsCred to the CFO seat at Discovery Inc, where she spent the last 2 years prior to making the jump back to the venture side as a Partner at Lights…

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Ep. 41: The key differences between marketing-driven SaaS companies to sales-driven ones with Amar Shrivastava, VP Finance at Clubhouse 25:26

5y ago25:26

25:26

Amar Shrivastava, VP Finance at Clubhouse I chat with Amar about: His 15+ year journey within tech and finance. Clubhouse Software — what the company does and what is it all about. The key metrics and differences between a sales-driven SaaS company vs a marketing-driven SaaS company from a finance leader’s perspective. The biggest learnings from sc…

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Ep. 40: Mejuri's data-driven approach to managing inventory as an omnichannel, emerging direct-to-consumer brand with Katie Sellers, Director of Finance at Mejuri 31:54

5y ago31:54

31:54

Katie Sellers, Director of Finance at Mejuri I chat with Katie about: Her journey into tech after starting her career at EY and then you working on HP’s separation into 2 public companies in the Bay Area. From there Katie’s move back to Toronto to join Coinsquare as the Director of FP&A, before taking on her current role as the finance leader at Me…

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Ep. 39: Balancing short term expectations of investors with longer term strategic roadmap decisions as a public company tech CFO with Shouvik Roy, CFO at Versapay 22:56

5y ago22:56

22:56

Shouvik Roy, Chief Financial Officer at Versapay (TSXV: VPY)On this episode of The Backbone, I chat with Shouvik about: His journey into tech after starting his career at EY. From there, Shouvik held various finance roles within retailers including Home Depot and Nike to automative companies like Linamar before taking the plunge into tech as the Di…

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Ep. 38: The Consumerization of the Enterprise & Key Differences Between a Strategic and Financial Acquirer with Alok Pandey, VP Finance & Corporate Development at AnchorFree 34:28

5y ago34:28

34:28

Alok Pandey, VP Finance & Corporate Development at AnchorFree On this episode of The Backbone, I chat with Alok about: His journey into tech after starting his career at JP Morgan as an Investment Banker, and then moving into growth stage investing at TCV to private equity firm Vector Capital. About AnchorFree — what company does and what is it all…

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Ep. 37: An Inside Look at Salesforce's $689M Acquisition of Buddy Media & Lessons Learned from Raising $150M+ with Oliver Bell, CFO at Springbot 25:05

5+ y ago25:05

25:05

Oliver Bell, CFO at Springbot On this episode of The Backbone, I chat with Oliver about: His your journey into tech and finance over 15 years ago, with stints in companies like Google to Buddy Media, (acquired by Salesforce) to the SVP of Finance and Operations at Braze, prior to Oliver’s current gig as the CFO at SpringBot. SpringBot — what the co…

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Ep. 36: Key Considerations + Metrics for Expanding a Localized Marketplace with Corey Noyek, Finance Manager at Platterz 20:42

5+ y ago20:42

20:42

Corey Noyek, Finance Manager at Platterz On this episode of The Backbone, I chat with Corey about: His transition into tech and what made him decide to join the Platterz, from Deloitte. Platterz — what the company does and what is it all about. What metrics and KPIs are most important to running a localized marketplace across 10 different cities in…

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Ep. 35: Getting Dirt Underneath Your Fingers as an Operator with Tom Finn, VP Finance at Solstice 22:59

5+ y ago22:59

22:59

Tom Finn, VP Finance at Solstice On this episode of The Backbone, I chat with Tom about: His 20+ year journey within tech and finance from Ireland. Solstice — what the company does and what is it all about. What it means for an operator to get dirt underneath their fingers. The contrasting priorities of your first 100 days as a finance leader varie…

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Ep. 34: An Inside Look into Lightspeed's $275M+ IPO & Scaling a Global Organization 24:59

5+ y ago24:59

24:59

Brandon Nussey, Chief Financial Officer at Lightspeed POS At Lightspeed, Brandon oversees Finance, Legal, HR, IT and Payment Operations. He recently led Lightspeed’s $240M (CDN) IPO on the TSX, one of the largest in last 10 years on the TSX. Prior to Lightspeed, Brandon has held many senior finance positions, serving as the CFO of Desire2Learn, Tsa…

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Ep. 33: Behind the Scenes of SnapTravel's $21m Slam Dunk Series A from Steph Curry with Ankur Bansal, Head of Finance + Business Development 26:13

5+ y ago26:13

26:13

Ankur Bansal, Head of Finance and Business Development at SnapTravel On this episode of The Backbone, I chat with Ankur about: His journey into tech after completing the trifecta of management consulting, investment banking and private equity, as well as being a co-founder with an exit to Groupon. SnapTravel — what the company does and what is it a…

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Ep. 32: A CFO Must Master Being a Capital Allocator with Sujeet Kini, CFO at Solium Capital 37:58

5+ y ago37:58

37:58

Sujeet Kini, CFO at Solium Capital On this episode of The Backbone, I chat with Sujeet about: His 20+ years of experience in finance within tech serving as the Chief Accounting Officer at OpenText and the Chief Financial Officer at Hootsuite, prior to his current role. Solium Capital — what the company does and what is it all about. Changes in tech…

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Ep. 31: A Former Banker + Growth Investor Turned Operator on the Consequences of Raising Too Much Capital with Steve Isom, VP Finance at Flywheel 34:10

5+ y ago34:10

34:10

On this episode of The Backbone, I chat with Steve about: His journey into tech with stints in investment banking at Lazard, TD and Jeffries, buyside at North Bridge Growth Equity prior to making the jump to the operating side. Flywheel and what it’s all about. Transitioning between a sell side investment banker, to the buyside investing in growth …

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Ep. 30: Customer + Revenue Churn at a SaaS Company with Recurring + Services Revenue w/ Cory Michalyshyn, CFO/COO at Solink 28:06

5+ y ago28:06

28:06

On this episode of The Backbone, I chat with Cory about: His journey into tech from audit at Deloitte to a Controller at Optelian, before making the switch to his current role at Solink. Solink and what its all about. Thinking through both revenue and customer churn at a company that generates revenue based on the number of locations; and if servic…

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Ep. 29: The First 100 Days as a Finance Leader of a Venture-Backed Startup w/ Bryn Knox @ BenchSci 26:47

5+ y ago26:47

26:47

On this episode of The Backbone, I chat with Bryn about: His journey into tech including stints at Walt Disney Studios, Century Fox and Wave Financial, prior to his current role at BenchSci. Benchsci and what is it all about. His first 100 days and what he prioritized as a set up the finance function as the first finance hire at BenchSci, after the…

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#28: Scaling a Finance Function of a High Growth Company with Strategic & Institutional Investors 21:25

5+ y ago21:25

21:25

featuring Tiffany Hsiao, VP Finance at Rubikloud. On this episode of The Backbone, I chat with Tiffany about: Her time with PwC Vancouver and Melbourne where she worked on mining, real estate, infrastructure and manufacturing clients, prior to taking the plunge into tech at Rubikloud and what that transition was like for her. Rubikloud and what it’…

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Ep. 27: Raising a $27M Financing Round & Managing the Ever-Changing Priorities as CFO w/ Dave Pooley 34:34

5+ y ago34:34

34:34

On this episode of The Backbone, I chat with Dave about: His journey into technology with stints at Miovision, Fibernetrics and Kitchener-Waterloo based accelerator, Communitech, prior to joining Axonify. Axonify and what its all about. Serving the enterprise market and what that means what considerations the finance leader has to make, including t…

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Special: Exploring a Revolutionary Revenue Model for Education w/ Austen Allred, CEO @ Lambda School 18:42

5+ y ago18:42

18:42

Joining me on this special episode of the Backbone is Austen Allred, Co-Founder and CEO of Lambda School - a training program specializing in coding, computer science, and web development, with a revolutionary tuition model that asks graduates to pay once they land a successful job.I chat with Austen about:1. His journey so far and how it was instr…

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Ep. 26: Raising a $32M Growth Round + the Symbiotic Relationship Between Finance & Operations 24:07

5+ y ago24:07

24:07

On this episode of The Backbone, I chat with Samiksha about:- Her path into technology and comparing working in large companies with fast-growing tech companies. We also chat about her international experiences in Melbourne and Auckland.- Uberflip and what it's all about.- Lessons learned from Uberflip's $32M growth financing round led by Updata Pa…

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Ep. 25: Correlating Non-Financial Metrics into Financial Outcomes + More w/ Trisha Egberts @ Figure1 21:12

6y ago21:12

21:12

On this episode of The Backbone, I chat with Trisha about:- Her path into health and technology after starting her career at PwC, and moving to CAMH - the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health before jumping into tech and at her current role as Finance Manager at Figure1.- Figure1 and what it's all about.- The most important metrics to track for t…

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Episode 24: Learnings from Starting and Shutting Down a Startup + Balancing Multiple Product Stakeholders with Mark Jarvie, VP Finance at Drop 27:02

6y ago27:02

27:02

On this episode of The Backbone, I chat with Mark about:His journey into tech after being an auditor and investment banker at EY, then moving leading finance at Shomi, prior to joining Drop;What Drop is all about;Balancing Drop's various stakeholders including consumers and brands and how Mark thinks about those that generate revenue for Drop (bran…

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Episode 23: Learnings from Raising/Exiting $700M+ in Deal Value for Software + Hardware and the Importance of a People-First Approach in Finance with David Brennan, Chief Financial Officer at Ecobee 30:02

6y ago30:02

30:02

On this episode of The Backbone, I chat with David about:What he attributes to being a part of many technology success stories and the advice he'd impart on finance leaders.The biggest difference between software and hardware technology companies and how it effects the capital raise or acquisition process? What Ecobee is all about, and how it becam…

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Episode 22: Raising $47M from Strategic vs Traditional VC & the Level of Finance Leader to Hire at Each Stage of a Company's Evolution with Danielle Cerisano, VP Finance at League 26:04

6y ago26:04

26:04

On this episode of The Backbone, I chat with Danielle about:Her progression within finance at tech companies such as: BluePrint Software Systems, Goldmoney and others, before joining League;League and what its all about;Raising from a $47M USD financing round from a strategic VC firm vs a traditional venture capital fund; Dealing with the challenge…

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Episode 21: Using Analytics and Predictive Models to Improve Budgeting + the Role of Attribution in Assessing Digital Marketing ROI with Emma Lyndon, CFO at Canopy Labs 20:33

6y ago20:33

20:33

On this episode of The Backbone, I chat with Emma about:Her journey into tech with stints at eBay, Kaboose, and Ariad Communications prior to her gig at Canopy Labs;What Canopy Labs is all about;Taking advantage of analytics and predictive models to improve the budgeting process;The role of attribution in assessing digital marketing ROI;The evolvin…

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Episode 20: Considerations for CAC and Churn in a Self-Serve Pricing Model with Matt Dove, VP FInance at Celtx 25:51

6y ago25:51

25:51

On this episode of The Backbone, I chat with Matt about:His move into tech after stints in PwC Nova Scotia and Australia;What Celtx is all about;The biggest challenge for you moving from a professional services firm to a growing technology company like Celtx;How to think about customer acquisition and churn at a company with a self service pricing …

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Episode 19: The Journey of Raising $100M ICO (Initial Coin Offering) as a Venture-Backed Unicorn with Brandon Brunet, Controller at Kik 25:23

6y ago25:23

25:23

On this episode of The Backbone, I chat with Brandon about:His move into tech from PwC to joining Kik when it was only 40 employees;What Kik is all about;The process of raising $100M through a Token Distribution Event or Initial Coin Offering (ICO) and launching your own cryptocurrency;What its like to scale the finance function as a company grows …

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Shubham Datta Podcasts

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