The Growth-Minded CFO

In this special re-release of The Growth-Minded CFO, Alex and Lauren revisit the very first episode of the podcast - featuring Rita Kale, now CFO at Valo Health.
At the time, we didn’t know what this show would become. Since then, we’ve spoken to some of the best finance operators in the world. But looking back, this conversation set the tone for everything that followed.
Rita brings a rare combination of global corporate experience - from companies like Roche Pharmaceuticals - and hands-on leadership in high-growth biotech startups. That mix makes this episode just as relevant today as it was when we first recorded it.
In this conversation, we explore what it really means to operate as a modern CFO:
Why the best CFOs act as owners, not observers
How moving from large corporates to startups forces a shift in mindset, speed, and accountability
What it takes to navigate global complexity, from ERP implementations to scaling finance operations across markets
Why investing early in systems and processes pays off long-term
And how adaptability separates good finance leaders from great ones
We also get into something a bit unexpected, but now very familiar for this show.
Rita shares how running became a tool for reflection and decision-making. Creating mental space. Finding your own rhythm instead of copying others. It’s a reminder that performance isn’t just about output - it’s about sustainability, both professionally and personally.
Looking back, this episode captures what The Growth-Minded CFO is all about: going deep into the technical side of finance, while also exploring the mindset behind great leadership.
It’s a gem - and the perfect place to start if you’re new to the show.
Chapters:
03:25 Rita Global Career Path
05:56 From Global To Local CFO
08:28 No Copy Paste Solutions
09:57 First 60 Days Playbook
12:06 Stakeholders And Priorities
13:46 ERP Planning Mindset
18:54 Beyond Back Office CFO
21:00 Financial Peace Foundation
22:18 From Reporting to Impact
22:46 Escaping Spreadsheet Chaos
23:28 Right Tools Not ERP
24:00 Why She Joined a Startup
27:35 Founder Lessons in Finance
29:06 Biggest Shift Leaving Corporate
31:26 Work Life Balance as a CFO
32:01 Running as a Reset Button
34:42 Thinking Time Beats Hustle
38:25 Culture Time Off and Clarity
Subscribe for more conversations with growth-minded finance leaders shaping the future of the CFO role.
The Growth-Minded CFO podcast challenges the status quo and explores how the best CFOs approach their work and lives. Hosts Lauren Pearl (Fractional CFO, 3-time Founder, and Startup Finance Instructor at NYU) and Alex Louisy (FinTech CEO and Y Combinator graduate) speak with inspiring finance and business leaders about what it takes to support high-performing organizations.
This podcast is powered by Upflow - a Financial Relationship Management platform enabling faster payments, stronger customer relationships, and efficient growth for your business.
Join thousands of next-level finance leaders and go from chasing invoices to engaging customers. Find out more at upflow.io.
Want to get in touch? Reach out to our producer at [email protected]
Want to recommend a guest? Apply via our form: https://insights.upflow.io/apply-to-be-a-guest-on-the-growth-minded-cfo-podcast

How does someone go from jazz musician to CFO of a $1B marketplace?
In this episode of The Growth-Minded CFO, Alex Louisy and Lauren Pearl speak with Kevin Drost, former CFO of Reverb — the musical instrument marketplace acquired by Etsy — about his unconventional path into finance and what it taught him about the role.
Kevin didn’t start in finance. He started by running a business. From founding a record label to navigating cash flow, trade-offs, and uncertainty in real time, he learned finance by doing — not by following a traditional path.
In this conversation, he shares how that operator mindset shaped his approach as a CFO, why finance leaders need to stay close to customers, and how the role has evolved from reporting performance to helping drive growth.
Chapters:
02:38 From Jazz to Record Labels
05:18 Learning Business on the Fly
06:51 MBA While Operating
10:40 MBA Value Framework
14:13 Faking It and Risk
20:19 Why Choose CFO
23:57 Leaving Consulting for Reverb
25:28 Building the Music Marketplace
26:32 Choosing Growth Priorities
27:25 From Strategy to CFO
29:21 Learning by Doing
35:05 Public Company Rigor at Etsy
37:27 Marketplace Metrics and ROI
40:42 New Era ADR Mission
44:57 Advice for Finance LeadersIn this episode, Kevin covers:
Why learning finance inside the business builds better judgment
The limits of traditional career paths (and when an MBA actually helps)
How marketplace businesses create complex trade-offs
Why CFOs need to take calculated risks to drive growth
The importance of staying close to customers and product
How to scale a business without losing control
Why putting yourself in uncomfortable roles accelerates learning
As Kevin puts it: “Getting yourself out and speaking to customers is probably the most valuable thing you can do as a finance leader.”This is a practical look at how finance leaders can move beyond reporting and play a more active role in shaping the business.Watch this episode on YouTube: https://youtu.be/W30D0JNJnLg?si=53lBTp2oyBHyTXBVIf you’re a CFO, finance leader, or operator, this episode will give you a clearer view of how the role is evolving — and what it takes to stay effective as the business grows.Subscribe for more conversations with growth-minded finance leaders shaping the future of the CFO role.The Growth-Minded CFO podcast challenges the status quo and explores how the best CFOs approach their work and lives. Hosts Lauren Pearl (Fractional CFO, 3-time Founder, and Startup Finance Instructor at NYU) and Alex Louisy (FinTech CEO and Y Combinator graduate) speak with inspiring finance and business leaders about what it takes to support high-performing organizations.This podcast is powered by Upflow — a Financial Relationship Management platform enabling faster payments, stronger customer relationships, and efficient growth for your business.Join thousands of next-level finance leaders and go from chasing invoices to engaging customers. Find out more at upflow.io.Want to get in touch? Reach out to our producer at [email protected] to recommend a guest? Apply via our form: https://insights.upflow.io/apply-to-be-a-guest-on-the-growth-minded-cfo-podcast

When is the right time to hire your first CFO? And what actually separates a great one from an expensive mistake?
In this re-released standout episode of The Growth-Minded CFO, we revisit our conversation with Dav Masaon, Co-Founder of executive search firm Zanda, to unpack one of the most high-stakes decisions founders make: hiring a CFO who can truly scale with the business.
This isn’t a checklist of qualifications. It’s a practical look at what happens when companies bring in finance leadership too early, too late - or with the wrong expectations.
Dav brings a front-row view from placing CFOs across high-growth startups globally, sharing how the role is evolving fast in response to tighter capital, rising expectations, and the growing influence of AI and automation.
A clear tension runs through the conversation: startups don’t just need financial oversight anymore. They need operators who can balance discipline with ambition - driving growth while building the foundations for long-term performance.
We also dig into what founders consistently get wrong. From over-indexing on “big company” experience to underestimating the importance of stage-fit, Dav explains why the best CFO hires aren’t always the most obvious on paper.
If you’re a CFO or finance leader looking to understand what truly sets the best apart — from how they operate to the traits and experiences that define them — this episode will help you benchmark and sharpen your own approach.
In this episode:
When and why companies should hire their first CFO
The biggest finance hiring mistakes founders make
What differentiates a great startup CFO from a corporate, and why that matters for CFO hiring
How the CFO role is evolving with AI and automation
Why financial discipline matters more than ever
How to evaluate candidates for stage-fit and real impact.
Subscribe for more conversations with growth-minded finance leaders shaping the future of the CFO role.
The Growth-Minded CFO podcast challenges the status quo and explores how the best CFOs approach their work and lives. Hosts Lauren Pearl (Fractional CFO, 3-time Founder, and Startup Finance Instructor at NYU) and Alex Louisy (Fintech CEO and Y Combinator graduate) talk with inspiring finance and business leaders about what it takes to support high-performing organizations.
This podcast is powered by Upflow - a Financial Relationship Management platform enabling faster payments, stronger customer relationships, and efficient growth for your business.
Join thousands of next-level finance leaders and go from chasing invoices to engaging customers. Find out more at https://upflow.io/
Want to get in touch? Reach out to our producer at [email protected]

What can nonprofit finance teach CFOs about decision-making
In this episode of The Growth-Minded CFO, Alex Louisy and Lauren Pearl speak with Darien Wright, CFO and COO of the National Geographic Society.
After a 30-year career spanning public accounting, consulting, telecommunications, hospitality, and private equity - including roles at PwC, Accenture, Sprint, Marriott, and Brookfield - Darien made an unexpected move into the nonprofit sector.
What he found there reshaped how he thinks about finance leadership.
In this conversation, Darien explains how nonprofit operating models force finance leaders to make decisions with less certainty, longer revenue cycles, and greater ambiguity. With contributions replacing traditional revenue streams and impact replacing traditional ROI, the role demands discipline, judgment, and a deep understanding of mission.
Darien also shares how combining the CFO and COO roles requires enterprise-level thinking, operational alignment, and constant prioritization of liquidity, impact, and mission.
Chapters:
01:11 Meet Darien Wright
01:54 National Geographic Mission
03:20 Career Before Nonprofit
04:26 Why Choose Nonprofit
05:53 Donor Revenue Reality
06:56 Mission First Finance
07:53 Impact And Liquidity
10:00 Forecasting Fundraising
12:08 Transferable CFO Skills
13:53 Empathy As Leadership
15:24 CFO And COO Role
17:55 Balancing CFO and COO
18:53 Mission First Investments
20:04 Nonprofit Efficiency Metrics
22:34 Board Governance Cadence
23:23 Sponsor Break
25:08 Building the New Museum
28:07 Life Beyond the Mission
29:45 Advice for Aspiring CFOs
In this episode, Darien covers:
Why nonprofit finance requires strong liquidity discipline
How slower revenue cycles change forecasting and planning
The challenge of making decisions with imperfect information
How mission-driven organizations evaluate investment impact
The advantages of combining CFO and COO responsibilities
Why empathy and enterprise thinking are essential leadership skills.
As Darien explains: “You have to make decisions along the way with imperfect information.”
This is a thoughtful conversation about finance leadership in environments where certainty is limited, impact matters deeply, and judgment becomes the CFO’s most valuable skill.
📺 Watch this episode on YouTube:
If you're a CFO, finance leader, or aspiring executive, this episode offers valuable insight into how leadership, capital discipline, and mission-driven thinking intersect.
Mentioned in this episode: our episode with Erik Nakamura, where he discusses the importance of EQ for any great CFO https://youtu.be/lYktfwG2w44?si=3oiEC_qqeYSxA244
Subscribe for more conversations with growth-minded finance leaders shaping the future of the CFO role.
The Growth-Minded CFO podcast challenges the status quo and explores how the best CFOs approach their work and lives. Hosts Lauren Pearl (Fractional CFO, 3-time Founder, and Startup Finance Instructor at NYU) and Alex Louisy (Fintech CEO and Y Combinator graduate) speak with inspiring finance and business leaders about what it takes to support high-performing organizations.
This podcast is powered by Upflow - a Financial Relationship Management platform enabling faster payments, stronger customer relationships, and efficient growth for your business.
Join thousands of next-level finance leaders and go from chasing invoices to engaging customers. Find out more at upflow.io.
Want to get in touch? Reach out to our producer at [email protected]
Want to recommend a guest? Apply via our form: https://insights.upflow.io/apply-to-be-a-guest-on-the-growth-minded-cfo-podcast

What does it really take to scale finance through the stages that break most teams?
In this re-released standout episode, we revisit our conversation with Charly Kevers, CFO of Carta - who helped guide the company from Series B to Series G over seven years of hypergrowth, complexity, and rising investor expectations.
This isn’t a theoretical discussion about what CFOs should do. It’s a practical look at what actually happens when growth accelerates, pressure mounts, and the role of finance fundamentally changes.
Charly makes a compelling case that modern CFOs no longer get to choose between growth and profitability. Today, you’re expected to drive aggressive expansion while proving a credible path to sustainable profits — at the same time. That tension is where the real leadership begins.
We also explore one of the most forward-thinking aspects of Carta’s finance function: it’s not just accountants and FP&A. Charly built a cross-functional organisation that includes engineers and works deeply alongside sales, marketing, and product. His philosophy? Use constraints to sharpen creativity — not to slow teams down.
If you’re building a finance team for scale, navigating the shift from high-growth to durable growth, or redefining what the CFO role looks like today, this episode is worth a (re)listen.
In this episode:
How the CFO role evolves from Series B to Series G

Why growth and profitability must coexist

Scaling finance teams through complexity

Embedding finance across the organisation

Using constraints to drive better decisions

Subscribe for more conversations with growth-minded finance leaders shaping the future of the CFO role.
The Growth-Minded CFO podcast challenges the status quo and explores how the best CFOs approach their work and lives. Hosts Lauren Pearl (Fractional CFO, 3-time Founder, and Startup Finance Instructor at NYU) and Alex Louisy (Fintech CEO and Y Combinator graduate) talk with inspiring finance and business leaders about what it takes to support high-performing organizations.
This podcast is powered by Upflow - a Financial Relationship Management platform enabling faster payments, stronger customer relationships, and efficient growth for your business.
Join thousands of next-level finance leaders and go from chasing invoices to engaging customers. Find out more at ⁠upflow.io⁠.
Want to get in touch? Reach out to our producer at ⁠[email protected]⁠
Want to recommend a guest or apply to be on the show yourself? Apply via our form: https://insights.upflow.io/apply-to-be-a-guest-on-the-growth-minded-cfo-podcast