Inside The Mind Of A CFO with Jim Kelliher

The Chief Financial Officer is a critical, but often
misunderstood role in growing companies. In this episode of the
Revenue Builders podcast, John Kaplan and John MacMahon talk shop
with four-time CFO Jim Kelliher about the intricacies of the CFO
role. With vast experience under his belt, Jim talks about
specific strategies that companies can use to scale effectively,
and how CFOs can best guide their companies towards financial
soundness. 


Additional Resources:


Connect with Jim Kelliher on LinkedIn:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/jim-kelliher-8a3100/

Donate to the Irish American Partnership |
https://www.irishap.org/

Drive Consistency in Your Sales Planning Process:
https://forc.mx/3PuYNOa

A CFO Perspective on Healthy Revenue Growth:
https://forc.mx/3yIMhE6



HIGHLIGHTS


What keeps CFOs up at night?

Things to prepare before pitching to a CFO

What is a frugal spend culture?

All markets eventually bounce back

What does a financially-sound company look like?

Financial forecasting is a critical skill in business

Cost-justification needs to come from an internal champion



QUOTES


Jim: "Our job is to control the business. We
have to make sure we're not doing silly things with our cash,
we're not doing things that don't make sense longer term. But our
objective is really to grow the business." 


Jim: "When I say frugal, it's usually around an
investment you're making in the company or in the infrastructure,
or in a person that you expect to be paid back and have thought
through. That's what I mean by frugal. Do it in the right
way." 


Jim: "Let's do it a bit at a time, so that if it
doesn't work, you haven't made  a big bet and you can kind
of pull your foot off. If it doesn't work, you understand why it
doesn't work and maybe you can self-correct in the middle of that
process. That's what I mean by experimenting." 


Jim: "It will probably be volatile for a period
of time. But longer term, good companies get the bulk of markets,
good companies are successful, good companies are bought. So
create a good company, create a good culture, create a scalable
model, and you'll be just fine." 


Check out John McMahon’s book here:
https://www.amazon.com/Qualified-Sales-Leader-Proven-Lessons/dp/0578895064