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The modern CFO’s role has evolved far beyond financial analysis — especially at fast-growing tech companies. Today’s most impactful finance leaders are strategic partners, change agents, and revered voices within their organizations.
But achieving this level of influence requires capabilities once considered outside the wheelhouse of financial professionals, from talent management to enterprise sales. Today, the role demands a multifaceted toolkit that encompasses financial acumen, broader business expertise, and nuanced people skills.
In a keynote session hosted by The F Suite, Dan Springer, former CEO of DocuSign, shared his thoughts on how CFOs can enhance their influence and work effectively with other executive team members. In an adjacent panel discussion, three CFOs — Nadia Ali of Midjourney, Joy Mbanugo of ServiceRocket, and Jeremy Hux of Upside Foods — discussed getting outside their comfort zones and growing their impact at their respective startups.
Read on to learn the key insights shared during these illuminating conversations.
Key Takeaways
To set yourself up for success, find the right opportunity and organization where your specific skill set can shine.
Determine your brand as either a strategic or operational CFO, and develop “T-shaped” skills to balance broad leadership abilities with deep financial expertise.
To build strong relationships across the organization, learn the art of delegation, think about finances through a human lens, and find opportunities to support the CEO’s vision.
Act as a change agent by translating financial data into actionable insights that resonate with non-finance colleagues, helping to drive organizational transformation.
Focus on finding opportunities to say “yes” and motivating teams to find creative solutions to financial challenges.
Choose an Opportunity That Caters to Your Strengths
The first step toward exerting influence starts before you even come on board at a company — it’s about the opportunity you choose to pursue. Springer, who has worked closely with CFOs at numerous organizations throughout his career, noted that the role often falls on a spectrum between strategic and operational responsibilities, and understanding where fall in is a key to success.
The Strategic CFO:
Typically comes from a banking or consulting background
Focuses on high-level strategy, corporate finance, and deal-making
Is strong in areas like fundraising, M&A, and strategic planning
May have less experience running day-to-day finance operations
May be a fit for high-growth startups looking to scale rapidly, companies planning to IPO or for major fundraising rounds, or businesses undergoing significant transformation.
The Operational CFO:
Often comes from an accounting or finance operations background
Excels at running the day-to-day finance function
Is skilled in areas like accounting, reporting, and financial controls
Is highly detail-oriented and process-focused
May be better suited for mature businesses looking to optimize their financial performance, companies facing operational inefficiencies or cost-management challenges, organizations requiring stringent compliance measures, or workplaces recovering from financial difficulties or restructuring.
While some CFOs consider themselves competent in both aspects, Springer says this is rare. “There’s horses for certain courses. Distance runners aren’t usually fast sprinters… make sure you find courses where you’re going to run most effectively,” he said. “If you get it wrong, no matter how hard you work or how much you hope for tailwinds, it’s going to be tough.”
The “T-shaped” CFO: Balance Broad Leadership Skills With Deep Expertise
As a CFO, you likely fall into either the strategic or operational camp — but it’s still important to cultivate some skills in both arenas. “No one wants to hear your strategic perspective if you’re not taking care of operational details,” said Springer. “You have to make payroll before you can talk about some fantastic debt instrument you’ve been designing.”
Carla Cooper, the CFO at Contentful who facilitated the session with Springer, noted an apt goal to strive for is to become “T-shaped” — with the horizontal bar representing a wide range of general business and leadership skills, and the vertical one representing deep, specialized knowledge in finance and accounting.
A T-Shaped CFO:
Has experience across multiple companies and roles
Balances strategic thinking with operational expertise
Has strong leadership skills and the ability to develop teams
Can effectively communicate with the board and other stakeholders
Is adaptable to different company stages and situations
Often has CEO potential
If you want to become “T-shaped,” you’ve got to be adaptable — and learn when to delegate tasks that truly fall outside your area of expertise. To balance core financial responsibilities with unexpected leadership demands, Mbanugo emphasized knowing where to draw the line. “Sometimes you have to say, ‘No, I am not the Jane of all trades. I’m the Jane of a few trades that I do very well. You need to hire somebody else to do this, or get a consultant — but I’ll help you support that person.’”
High-Stakes Decision-Making: Don’t Miss the Ones That Count
You also need to establish a foundation of trust before you can become truly influential. This involves fulfilling the core part of the job description: financial reporting, forecasting, and guidance. While nobody is spot on 100% of the time, it’s crucial to be as accurate as possible — especially for public companies.
Springer recalled when an organization where he worked as CEO missed a quarter’s revenue projections shortly after IPOing. The miss — a result of collections issues affecting cash flow, timing snafus, and some misforecasts — put the company in the penalty box for three fiscal quarters. “That was a finance department execution failure that had a massive impact on our business,” he said. “It was a small mistake, but the repercussions were dramatic.”
The takeaway, suggested Springer, is to carefully think through which financial metrics and projections are most critical to your company’s success and stakeholder trust. “Don’t become so paranoid and conservative that you can’t make good decisions. But think about the ones that are really important not to get wrong, and make sure you don’t miss those,” he said.
Build Strategic Partnerships Internally
Your most valuable assets for enhancing your influence aren’t usually found on any balance sheet — they’re the strategic partnerships forged within the organization.
Take on Roles That Enhance the CEO-CFO Relationship
The CEO and CFO often complement one another in nuanced ways. In the start-up environment, the CEO may be more focused on the visionary elements of running a company, and less focused on revenue. This creates opportunities for a CFO to take on a financial leadership role in order to push the company’s growth goals.
Mbanugo described learning to work with her CEO’s inclination toward idealism. “My CEO is the quintessential optimist… as CFOs, we’re a little bit more practical,” she said. “[But it’s still important to] support their vision. Sometimes, instead of me saying, ’No, that’s not going to work,’ I have to say, ’Okay, let’s figure out how we can get there.’”
Springer added that CFOs are one of the few people who can give CEOs peer-to-peer feedback. He offered two main points of advice on this art form:
Be as specific as possible. ”If you have 19 pieces of feedback for me, at around seven, I just can’t listen anymore. You’ve got to be pointed,” he said.
Choose the right environment. "Pick your spots. Know what’s going to be well received. You’re not giving feedback for you,” he said.
For instance, after an earnings call gone awry, take some time to collect your thoughts before venting frustration. “Maybe before callbacks the next day, you can say something along the lines of, ‘I don’t think your follow-up to my point on guidance was effective, so I want to make sure we get aligned on our message,’” Springer suggested.
Develop Relationships with the Board
Another key way CFOs exert influence is by working hand in hand with the board. A few ways to build strong relationships here include:
Getting to know board members individually
Understanding their backgrounds and perspectives to better tailor communications and build trust
When presenting at meetings, offering strategic insights and context beyond just numbers
Springer emphasized that CFOs at public companies in particular must have direct, strong relationships with the audit committee chair.
For more on this topic, see our article on building strong cross-functional relationships as a CFO.
Be a Change Agent
As CFO, you have insight into nearly every element of the business — especially at a smaller company or startup. “We see everything. Even if people don’t report to you, you still see the people issues, because there may be some financial impact,” said Mbanugo
This often means you have to act as a translator — turning financial data into actionable insights in ways even non-numbers-oriented colleagues can understand.
Translate Revenue Into Context That Resonates
At the lab-grown meat startup where Hux serves as CFO, the company is transitioning its focus from primarily R&D to commercialization. Now, Hux faces the challenge of shifting the culture from “science for science’s sake” to a more business-oriented mindset.
“Early on, 90+ percent of the company were scientists, and most of our folks are mission-aligned," he explained. “As that 90% R&D focus starts to get smaller and smaller as the Company grows and commercializes, we’ve had to change our mindset from, ‘Do whatever we can to demonstrate our technology works,’ to ‘Do it at a certain price point and at a certain volume, achieve certain process economics.’ That’s a big cultural shift.”
The way he’s approached this transition includes framing the company’s messaging around profitability from an impact perspective. Hux is working on educating the team about how achieving their mission (reducing greenhouse gas emissions, land and water use and enhanced food safety for humans and improving animal welfare) depends upon having an economically viable and scalable product. It boils down to, “the larger we are, the more profitable we are, the more impact we can create,” he said.
Avoid Always Playing ‘Bad Cop’
As CFO, you may find yourself in the unenviable position of delivering difficult news about a company’s financials — or curbing the enthusiasm of founders or executives wearing rose-colored glasses. This is why it’s particularly important to focus on the positives whenever possible. “A lot of people think CFOs only say no, so I try to give the business as many ‘yeses’ as I can,” said Mbanugo.
Springer added that although the “bad cop” dynamic — for instance, when slashing expenses or reining in ambitious growth plans — can sometimes be unavoidable, in many cases, it’s misguided. “Instead of being the bad cop, be the motivator,” he advised. “Sometimes a tough message can actually unlock creativity in your executive colleagues.”
Becoming an influential CFO requires stepping out of your comfort zone, challenging traditional notions of the role, and learning to say “yes” — at least every now and then. As enterprises face rapid technological shifts and global economic uncertainties, a strategic CFO who can successfully straddle financial prudence and visionary thinking will be invaluable.
For CFOs looking to enhance their influence and connect with peers facing similar challenges, The F Suite can offer valuable resources — apply to join today.
About The F Suite
The F Suite is an invitation-only executive peer community where leading CFOs turn to make better, faster decisions that propel their companies forward. Member CFOs build their Braintrust with peers from high-growth companies and investment funds including Lyft, Bumble, Circle, Nextdoor, Via, Riskified, Fireblocks, Anthropic, Midjourney, Contenful, OnlyFans, Vista Equity Partners, Polaris Partners, Upfront Ventures, Felicis Ventures, and First Round Capital. F Suite members benefit from access to a custom-built, proprietary platform for curated connections and conversations with hundreds of CFOs on trending topics; an extensive library of hyper-relevant data and timely insights from CFO peers; a members-only vendor database to find the right solution the first time; and exclusive local, national, and virtual events that bring member CFOs together with their trusted inner circle.