Instacart, Arm, Klaviyo - What wasn’t talked about enough last week? The amazing teams behind the scenes working so so hard for months, even years, to make the IPO possible. ➡️ Finance & Accounting teams ➡️ Procurement teams ➡️ Legal and Privacy teams ➡️ IT and Security teams

What's the best background for strategic finance at a high growth startup? In my opinion, there's really no right answer. All backgrounds have pros and cons. Does an ex-investment banker know how to run a complex procurement process? Does an accountant know how to pull together an M&A model? Does an analytics person know about GL accounts and ASC 606? For all of these questions, the answer is likely not on day one, but most capable people can learn.

I was first introduced to Naveed Tejany over two years ago, and I learned a lot just in that first meeting. While all CFOs care about talent, Naveed brings it to another level by leveraging a people first mindset to drive important career and business decisions. This Friday, I have the opportunity to chat with Naveed on Sudozi Finance Friday, and I'm excited to share his perspectives with the audience.

After working with dozens of finance and procurement teams, we’ve seen that almost all procurement purchasing/spend requests go through finance as the first stop. When I was in finance, there were weeks I spent hours getting relevant data to decide if I should approve a spend request. What’s the #1 thing a strategic finance leader asks when reviewing a new procurement request?

This week we have the opportunity to chat with Fadi El Mouallem, a visionary procurement executive with 20+ years of experience enabling strategic sourcing and procurement teams. Fadi spent a decade at Salesforce and another decade in various roles prior, including at Apple and Lennar Corp. He’s built highly effective teams, empowered to deliver strategic value for the business.

As a senior in high school deciding which college to go to, Jasmin Moghbeli was one of the first people I met at Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Her roommate Alice C. was on the volleyball team, which is how we met, and they graciously hosted me at Baker House. Getting to know them that random weekend in February convinced me MIT was the place to be. Fast forward ~20 years, the NASA SpaceX Crew-7 blasted off from Kennedy Space Center in Florida early Saturday, 2 days ago.