Leaders of Modern Finance Ep. 5 – Building a Winning Culture & Staying Humble ft. Scott Almeida
On this episode of the Leaders of Modern Finance podcast, host Tiffaney Fox Quintana is joined by Scott Almeida, Chief Financial Officer at Recorded Future, the world’s largest provider of intelligence for enterprise security. View the full episode below or keep reading for highlights of the conversation.
Early Goals
Scott knew he wanted to be an accountant since he was 13 years old. He readily admits not many 13-year-olds commit their future to accounting, but he saw a list in the newspaper of the top paying entry-level jobs and CPA was on it. He thought, “I’m pretty good at math, that’s what I’m going to do.” And he focused his education on becoming a CPA from that point on.
After attending a small business school in the Boston area, Scott got started, like many, as a public accountant at a small firm. Through his career, he worked his way up to bigger firms. He found that he liked working with early-stage, smaller companies, and he joined one in 2000, right around the time of a major crash. They quickly went from sixty employees to just three when he finally left.
Despite the unfortunate timing, he eventually got his first CFO job at a small venture capital firm. It was a great opportunity for a 28-year-old, to be able to sit in on board meetings and be a part-time CFO at companies the venture firm was funding. This turned out to be an educational experience that prepared him for where he is today.
Joining Recorded Future
Scott has been with Recorded Future since 2013 and has seen tremendous growth in that time. When he started they had around a million dollars in annual recurring revenue. This year that number will be 200 million dollars.
Because he’s been there from the beginning, Scott says the organization has a small company, startup kind of feeling to it. He jokes that at the beginning he was the CFO, but HR, legal, and janitor around the office when necessary. To this day, if he sees a piece of paper on the floor, he will pick it up and throw it away.
This startup mentality has developed a culture of controlled spending at the organization. As a CFO, he appreciates this disciplined approach to spending amidst robust growth. Team members are good about getting proper approvals and staying within a budget. This culture goes all the way to the C-Suite, making his life easier as far as managing finances.
Building a Winning Culture
Between his “get the job done” attitude and the organization’s fiscal responsibility, Scott and his team have created a culture that is conducive to getting things done, with great collaboration and a high comfort level to challenge one another to learn every day.
Scott credits that culture to staying humble and not thinking you have all the answers. He is very approachable and is passionate about hiring people who are better at something than he is.
Another important part of the culture at the organization is to be a lifelong learner. With his humility and approachability, people are comfortable asking questions and learning when they don’t have the answers. Hiring smart people who will work hard and who are willing to learn is a key to having a thriving organization.
This attitude isn’t limited to just Scott’s department. He interacts with everyone at the office, and he tells the story about physically sitting for a few years next to the sales team. He took that as an opportunity to get to know the products they sell better, and understand how the sales process works. He makes a point to interact with all the teams in the organization to have a complete holistic view of the company.
Staying Approachable & Embracing Change
Recorded Future is still at an early stage, but it has grown to a company of 600 team members. He says people come to a company like his because they embrace change, they want to create change, and they want to make things happen.
Even still, he recognizes that some people fear change and always wants to make sure he slows things down and gets everybody educated on what they are considering. That education and his measured approach help calm any fears people have and allow them to move forward in a strategic manner.
It all goes back to being open and approachable. He says it’s as simple as saying, “We’re thinking about doing this. What are your thoughts? Where do you see frustration? Where do you see friction?” Then they can work as a team to get through it successfully.
Helping CFOs Understand Security Risks
Scott’s company focuses on global threat intelligence, monitoring any and all cyber threats they can find and disseminating that information to their clients. The company is SaaS based, and they structure their threat intelligence in a way that their clients can easily get that information through a web application or directly from an API.
Scott recommends some basic measures surrounding security that may be on the radar of a typical CFO. One example he gives is requiring two-factor authentication across your entire organization, which dramatically increases your level of security.
He also points out that some of the biggest security breaches in the past few years can be traced back to third-party vendors and suppliers. CFOs are likely to be dealing with third-party vendors and could start a program to monitor vendors who have access to their systems to ensure that they have proper security procedures in place.
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