How CFOs Navigate Cross-Functional Leadership

As businesses face unrivaled challenges and rapid changes in our global economy, clarity is more crucial than ever. That’s why the CFO has emerged as a critical executive. More and more, the role of finance has expanded beyond traditional financial stewardship, with today’s CFOs playing a key role in navigating and helping companies stay ahead of the curve.

In this panel discussion, How CFOs Navigate Cross-Functional Leadership, we are joined by three top CFOs as they share their expert insights on the latest financial trends and strategies. Discover how these leaders have successfully navigated the past few years, and how they are shaping their functions to meet the demands of the future.

The Full Conversation

Watch the Highlights

Here’s What We Discussed

[01:04] Our panel introduces themselves and shared their background and experience 
[03:11] Hiring a CFO: When is the right time for a start-up to look for a CFO and what are their key considerations? 
[13:00] Navigating the financial complexities of fundraising rounds 
[16:58] How the Role of CFO is evolving: Adapting to technological advancements and shifting organizational demands
[28:34] Synthesizing Information to stakeholders and why it’s a crucial skill for finance and analytics leaders
[40:46] Tips for propelling your career forward: Gain experience by stepping out of your lane 
[47:35] How CFOs can adapt and manage financial stability in an uncertain landscape 

Meet the Panelist

Gladys Fung, CFO, Spinn Inc., Ex-VP of Finance, Ring, Chief Financial Officer with 20 years of experience in finance, accounting and transformation. Expertise in consumer products, manufacturing, technology, and growth-stage startups (including proceeding with IPO and M&A exits). Directly responsible for overseeing accounting and finance functions, managing $50M to $200M+ P&L budgeting, as well as producing accurate financial reporting, strategic planning, investment due diligence analysis, KPI dashboards, and ERP NetSuite implementation. I have scaled and positioned companies on an upward trajectory. I am the recipient of the 2022 CFO of the Year Finalist by the Los Angeles Business Journal.

Hari Seshadri, VP of Finance, Made Renovation, Hari has 20+ years of professional experience across VC backed startups, Fortune 500 companies, and public accounting. He has held finance leadership roles across several startups and played a key role in scaling for growth, fundraising, and getting to profitability. Hari has led teams of 100+ members across multiple functions including Finance, Supply chain, People, and Business operations

Shane O’Brien, Director, CFGI, Ex-CFO, Brooklyn Boulders, Shane’s diverse leadership acumen spans all finance and accounting functions, company operations, strategy, legal, real estate and business development. Shane also commands deep experience in the private equity space, from both the PE investor and portfolio company perspectives. Since starting his career in big-4 public accounting, Shane has spent more than 15 years in international financial leadership roles, ranging from Controller all the way up to CFO, across a range of industries and company stages. More recently, Shane has led strategic fundraising and M&A efforts as a consultant CFO for SME’s and just last month joined a top tier financial consulting firm in their Business Transformation practice.

Host: Anish Shah, Founder + CEO at Ruckus – Anish is the CEO & Founder of executive search agency Ruckus. Anish has worked in-house in Growth roles at Snapfish and Getable. He started Bring Ruckus as a Growth consultancy 11 years ago working with 40+ clients, then re-focused his firm on executive recruiting for Growth leaders.