EP 018 - The Infra SaaS CFO with Rakib Azad, CFO at Alkira

“I just love operations and how the numbers tie back to it.”

“Being in the tech world is unbelievable because it's things that you wouldn't have imagined 15, 20 years ago, some of the tech that's coming out. And now, I'm helping these companies become seminal companies and it's a great feeling.”

“I pay a lot of attention to the go-to-market org and how that needs to evolve.”

“It's a hard buy at first because sometimes it is transformational… So the logo land is tough. So that's been a theme I'm seeing. But then the economics are tremendous. So it's a high cost to acquire. But the LTV gets delivered in spades once you have the right solution.”

“I love to have a well-rounded team because I think you get the best work from some of the parts who are really different.”

“You want processes and automations that actually make people's lives easier while also building the backend guardrails and then compliance that are required.”

“If you are an FP&A team that is very proactive in the business, you're gonna be everywhere in the IPO process.”

“Obviously you want that you're the guy who knows numbers and you have the foundation of us understanding how P&L and everything works. But now you are that strategic business partner with that acumen.”

“I'm gonna be a guy who's gonna have empathy and also hold you accountable. So that's what I pride myself on. I think the modern CFO needs to have those two aspects in them.”

“It's up to the modern CFO to deliver the company's strategy in a way that's digestible for each of the leaders.”

“The more you put your effort in and learn more, the better your future self is going to be.”

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