CFO THOUGHT LEADER5 Tammi 2025

1060: Reaching Unicorn Status Through Innovation | Emma Seymour, CFO, Deputy

When Emma Seymour arrived at Deputy in early 2022, she became focused on strengthening the company’s financial foundation. In the three years since, Deputy has achieved a historic milestone—reaching unicorn status through strategic partnerships with major customers who not only become clients but also invest capital, thereby opening new distribution channels and co-creating additional value.

Turning back the clock, Seymour tells us her initial focus was “runway optimization”—a disciplined approach to spending and resource allocation that helped the business thrive in uncertain market conditions.

Seymour’s path to the CFO office was paved by a broad advisory background, where she honed her ability to identify “leaky taps” and champion data-driven decisions. At Deputy, she has sought to refine revenue models, implement robust metrics, and guide the firm through a series of pivotal fundraising conversations.

The move to pursue strategic investments from major customers rather than relying solely on venture capital is now expected not only to deepen customer relationships but also to unlock new distribution channels for Deputy’s offerings.

Looking back, Seymour tells us she has consistently applied a “storytelling through numbers” philosophy.

Along the way, she understood that it was incumbent on finance leadership to make sense of raw data within companies—finance leaders must connect figures to overarching strategy in a way that resonates with board members, employees, and investors alike. This dual focus on clarity and collaboration allowed Deputy to pivot quickly when market conditions shifted, without sacrificing the company’s innovation agenda.

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1197: The CFO Who Learned Finance by Owning Sales | Sinohe Terrero, CFO, Envoy

Sinohe Terrero still remembers the timing. He joined Envoy in January, only to see the workplace transformed just two months later as offices around the world shut down because of COVID. The company h...

5 Heinä 45min

Inside the IPO: Three CFOs, Three Perspectives

Taking a Company Public: What CFOs KnowWhat does it really take to prepare a company for life as a public company?In this special CFO Thought Leader compilation, we revisit three conversations with fi...

1 Heinä 59min

1196: Your Next Finance Hire Should Think Like a Founder | Martino Cadoni, CFO, DeepL

When Martino Cadoni joined DeepL, he arrived with an unusual perspective—he already knew the company’s product firsthand. Earlier in his career at Klarna, he had helped introduce DeepL as a translatio...

28 Kesä 52min

1195: When Finance is at the Center of the AI Code Revolution | Jean Compeau, CFO, Sonar

When Jean Compeau joined Sonar as CFO in March 2025, AI coding was not yet dominating industry conversations. By the summer and fall that followed, however, the landscape had shifted dramatically. Tod...

24 Kesä 47min

1194: Why Curiosity Creates Better Finance Leaders | Stacey Jenkins, CFO, Aerotek

Each day, Stacey Jenkins watches a different set of indicators than the quarterly financial results that eventually appear on a report. Candidate applications, recruiter activity, and other throughput...

21 Kesä 41min

1193: Building Finance Functions That Shape Outcomes | Jesse Waldron, CFO, Thyme Care

When Jesse Waldron describes Thyme Care’s work, he begins with the patient experience. Cancer patients, he explains, are often thrust into a healthcare system that can feel overwhelming both financial...

17 Kesä 49min

1192: Building Through Disruption | Christina Spade, CFO, Catalant

Five weeks into her role as CFO of Catalant, Christina Spade is helping guide a company that she believes is positioned for a different era of consulting.Catalant was founded out of Harvard Business S...

14 Kesä 51min

1191: From Complexity to Clarity: Building Operational Maturity | David Forlizzi, CFO, Salsify

When David Forlizzi describes Salsify, he begins with a simple observation: “We all use it every day.” Unlike some of the highly technical software businesses where he previously spent his career, Sal...

10 Kesä 38min