1188: Testing Assumptions Before Burning Capital | Kevin Hettrich, CFO, QuantumScape

1188: Testing Assumptions Before Burning Capital | Kevin Hettrich, CFO, QuantumScape

Kevin Hettrich walked into a conference room with a whiteboard full of numbers and a problem no one had fully articulated. QuantumScape’s leadership team was discussing how to scale an expensive R&D tool used to produce early battery materials. Hettrich had spent two weeks gathering data, talking with engineers, and analyzing manufacturing economics. Then he laid out the comparison: QuantumScape’s current performance, the best anyone had achieved in any industry, and what would ultimately be required to succeed in automotive production. There were “six orders of magnitude” separating the industry benchmark from what the company would eventually need, Hettrich tells us.

That moment became an early proving ground for a finance leader who had entered QuantumScape from a background shaped by McKinsey & Company, Bain Capital, and Stanford’s joint business and engineering program. Rather than staying confined to finance, Hettrich immersed himself in the company’s technical environment. He tells us he would contribute to at least one patent application each year and spent time “changing targets out of that tool” and mixing chemicals alongside engineers.

The broader strategy behind QuantumScape has remained equally ambitious. The company’s goal is not incremental improvement, but batteries that are “smaller and lighter,” “faster charging,” “longer lived,” “safer,” and “lower cost at the same time,” Hettrich tells us. Today, the company has commercial partnerships with Volkswagen and collaborations with Corning and Murata Manufacturing as it works to commercialize its solid-state battery platform.

Det här avsnittet är hämtat från ett öppet RSS-flöde och publiceras inte av Podme. Det kan innehålla reklam.

Avsnitt(1215)

1214: The CFO Checklist Keeps Growing | Jack Gordon, CFO, Harri

1214: The CFO Checklist Keeps Growing | Jack Gordon, CFO, Harri

For Jack Gordon, the CFO role at Harri increasingly extends beyond finance—and into the mechanics of how an AI-powered business scales.Harri, a workforce operating system focused on hospitality, has e...

13 Sep 56min

1213: When Constructive Tension Yields Sharper Decisions | Martin Uhrik, CFO, Third Bridge

1213: When Constructive Tension Yields Sharper Decisions | Martin Uhrik, CFO, Third Bridge

When Martin Uhrik compared the margins of two visual-effects brands at Technicolor, one appeared far more profitable than the other. Uhrik tells us the reported difference prompted him to investigate....

9 Sep 54min

1212: When Working Capital Rewrites the CFO Agenda | Dan Barzily, CFO, Tipalti

1212: When Working Capital Rewrites the CFO Agenda | Dan Barzily, CFO, Tipalti

Shortly after Dan Barzily became CFO of Tipalti, a go-to-market transformation altered the company’s working-capital profile. One quarter later, Barzily tells us, the company missed its forecast acros...

6 Sep 36min

1211: Mission, Means, and the Will to Grow | Jonathan Ma, CFO, Sutter Health

1211: Mission, Means, and the Will to Grow | Jonathan Ma, CFO, Sutter Health

Jonathan Ma recalls being at his parents’ home in Nebraska one Saturday when his Morgan Stanley boss called with advice: pursue an opportunity at Sutter Health. After nearly 15 years, the mentor belie...

2 Sep 39min

1210: The Best Trade May Be the One You Don’t Make | Shiv Verma, CFO, Robinhood

1210: The Best Trade May Be the One You Don’t Make | Shiv Verma, CFO, Robinhood

Six weeks before Lehman Brothers went under, Shiv Verma tells us, he joined a hedge fund as the world felt like it was falling apart. After building structured-credit and CLO models at J.P. Morgan fro...

30 Aug 53min

1209: Finding a Larger Voice in the Room | Ross Grainger, CFO, Nasuni

1209: Finding a Larger Voice in the Room | Ross Grainger, CFO, Nasuni

Ross Grainger remembers an early chapter of his career when finance was only one part of the job.After stepping outside a traditional finance path to own and operate a Mako auto-body franchise, Graing...

26 Aug 33min

1208: Quality, Trust, and Scale | Cal Brouilette, CFO, Flatiron Health

1208: Quality, Trust, and Scale | Cal Brouilette, CFO, Flatiron Health

Cal Brouilette recalls a sleepless night in Houston, speaking at 3 a.m. with someone from Blackstone about a purchase-and-sale agreement and transition-service agreements. It concerned a power-plant p...

23 Aug 46min

1207: Putting Guardrails Around Aggressive Growth | Jamie Schroeder, CFO, Premium Guard Inc.

1207: Putting Guardrails Around Aggressive Growth | Jamie Schroeder, CFO, Premium Guard Inc.

Jamie Schroeder’s finance career began on the shop floor at Ford Motor Company. As part of Ford’s rotational development program, Schroeder tells us, he spent a month working in the paint shop at an a...

19 Aug 47min

Populärt inom Business & ekonomi

framgangspodden
rss-jossan-nina
varvet
rss-borsens-finest
24fragor
uppgang-och-fall
svd-tech-brief
avanzapodden
badfluence
rss-inga-dumma-fragor-om-pengar
bathina-en-podcast
lastbilspodden
fill-or-kill
tabberaset
rss-dagen-med-di
kapitalet-en-podd-om-ekonomi
borsmorgon
rikatillsammans-om-privatekonomi-rikedom-i-livet
rss-kort-lang-analyspodden-fran-di
rss-hos-psykologen