GrowCFO Show

Delaying action on emerging technologies is often seen as the safest path for finance leaders. But in today’s environment, standing still can quietly erode competitiveness faster than visible missteps. For CFOs, the choice is no longer between perfection and experimentation; it is between shaping how intelligent tools transform their business model, or inheriting a cost base, tech stack, and oper...

In today’s finance function, relying solely on monolithic systems and periodic reporting is no longer enough, as rapid advances in AI transform how data is collected, processed, and turned into insight. Finance leaders are now expected to orchestrate an ecosystem of intelligent tools that automate routine work, enable continuous forecasting, and surface risks and opportunities in real time. Those...

In a world of rapid disruption and volatility, finance teams can no longer rely on single‑point forecasts and rigid spreadsheets. They must understand ranges of possible outcomes, quantify risk, and communicate uncertainty in ways that enable better, faster strategic decisions, turning uncertainty from a threat into a competitive advantage.

In this episode of The GrowCFO S...

Stepping into senior finance leadership is rarely neat or linear. The move from technical expert to strategic leader often happens sooner than expected, with higher stakes, tougher decisions, and sharper scrutiny. Yet these stretching moments are where the next generation of CFOs is really formed.

In this episode of the GrowCFO Show, Kevin Appleby speaks with David Hudson,...

In a world where business models, technology, and regulation can all shift in a single planning cycle, building a finance team and infrastructure that still works five years from now is a strategic necessity. Short‑term fixes and ad hoc processes quickly turn into bottlenecks as organizations grow and face deeper scrutiny from investors and regulators.

In this episode, Kev...

A high-income fractional CFO career is becoming one of the most attractive paths for senior finance leaders who want more control, variety, and upside than a traditional corporate role can offer. As businesses increasingly look for flexible, part-time strategic finance support, the opportunity for experienced CFOs and finance professionals to build profitable portfolio careers has never been greater.&n...

In this GrowCFO Show episode, Kevin Appleby sits down with Jeremy Earnshaw, GrowCFO Mentor, to unpack one of the most painful but instructive topics in corporate life. Rather than celebrating a headline-grabbing success, Jeremy walks through a deal that went badly wrong—financially, culturally, and strategically. The episode emphasizes why leaders often learn far more from failures than from smoo...

In this episode of The GrowCFO Show, host Kevin Appleby, together with Michael Pytel, Technology Leader & Director at VASS, underscores why AI is now a board-level issue for finance leaders: decisions made today about platforms, data, and governance will shape an organization’s risk profile and competitive position for years to come. They frame AI not as a shiny add‑on but as an infrastructur...

In episode 279, Kevin Appleby and GrowCFO mentor Susana Serrano‑Davey explore a critical question for modern finance leaders: whether the rapid rise of AI is enhancing or eroding the strategic role of the CFO. They frame AI as both an incredibly powerful assistant and a potential threat to originality, judgment, and confidence if used uncritically. Throughout the conversation, they examine how tools li...

Stepping into a first CFO role is rarely a smooth promotion from finance manager to “bigger calculator.” In this GrowCFO episode, host Kevin Appleby speaks with Ian Goodkind, Chief Financial Officer at Smarsh, about the often‑overlooked capabilities that determine whether a new CFO becomes a true strategic leader or struggles with imposter syndrome. The conversation underscores how the mode...

This episode of The GrowCFO Show brings together David Tuck, Founder of Mayday and CFO Tech Stack, and Kate Hayward, Managing Director UK at Xero, to challenge one of the biggest assumptions in mid-market finance: that fast-growing businesses must eventually abandon Xero for a larger ERP. Drawing on real-world data from the State of the Stack report and the CFO Tech Stack community, they demonstrate ho...

In episode 276 of the GrowCFO Show, host Kevin Appleby is joined by Howard Francioni, Lead Auditor at Akton Boundrie Group, to explore why information security has become a core responsibility for today’s CFO. The conversation frames cyber risk not just as an IT problem but as a strategic, financial, and reputational threat that CFOs must own. Using high‑profile breaches such as Jaguar Land Rover...

In this episode, host Kevin Appleby is joined by Gavin McGahey, CTO and Co‑Founder of AccountsIQ, to explore one of the most pressing questions facing finance leaders today: how to choose between shiny “AI‑native” tools and proven finance platforms. The conversation sets out why finance data, controls, and auditability demand a higher bar than generic AI adoption, and why CFOs cannot afford...

In today’s M&A landscape, the businesses that achieve premium valuations are rarely those with the best numbers alone. They are the ones with brands that command trust, preference, and pricing power. Yet, brand equity is still one of the least understood and least quantified assets in most deals, often buried in a vague goodwill line and ignored in negotiation. For CFOs, founders, and deal pr...

In today’s capital-constrained and AI-accelerated economy, company valuation is no longer just an exit consideration, it is a strategic priority. Investors, lenders, and strategic partners are increasingly assessing businesses not only on financial performance but on scalability, defensibility, and global potential. For modern finance leaders, valuation has become a continuous process rather than...

The transition from Finance Leader to Chief Financial Officer is one of the most significant and demanding career moves in finance. While technical excellence, financial control, and operational discipline form a strong foundation, stepping into the CFO role requires a fundamental shift in mindset. It is not simply a promotion—it is a move from managing finance to leading the enterprise. The CFO ...

Access to capital is no longer cheap or guaranteed. Companies that once grew by “buying” growth with aggressive spend are now being forced to prove they can scale in a way that’s sustainable, repeatable, and cash‑efficient.  

Kevin Appleby sits down with Manu Diwakar, Chief Financial Officer at Virta Health, to unpack how high‑growth companies c...

In this episode, Kevin Appleby speaks with GrowCFO Mentor Alan Scholnick, a finance leader with over 30 years’ experience at IKEA, to explore why so many newly appointed CFOs struggle with imposter syndrome and feelings of fraudulence. Drawing on his journey from accounting roles to VP of Finance and later into executive coaching, Alan explains how the leap into the CFO role magnifies expectation...

For modern finance leaders, staying offline is no longer a neutral choice. In an environment where boards, CEOs, and recruiters routinely research candidates before they ever meet them, a CFO’s digital presence has become a critical part of their professional reputation. This episode explores why even the most technically strong CFOs risk being overlooked if their expertise is invisible online&md...