Glenn reconnects with Adam Shilton—who reveals the highs and lows of more than a decade selling to finance teams and what 134 deals in 36 months taught him about CFO challenges. The founder, writer, and speaker has now launched his own venture focused on helping entrepreneurs and solo business owners.
My Experience selling finance software including SAP
Bridging the Sales-Finance Divide: Why pipeline forecasts are inherently “fluffy”
The Deposit Game-Changer: Why commission should only be paid on receipt of deposit, not just signature
Finance coaching sales on overdue invoices
AI and AR automation
AI Agents workflows
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1:12:13
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1:12:13
CFO of AWA Studios on Building a Hits-Driven Business
What does it take to be the finance leader behind Hollywood stories? Diya Sagar, CFO of AWA Studios, which produces critically acclaimed, original stories for comics, TV, and movies, joins Glenn Hopper to reveal how she manages the money behind the magic—from funding graphic novels that may not pay off for years to navigating the unpredictable world of graphic novels, film and TV deals.
How a “creator-first” approach shows up in budgets
Building a Hits-Driven Portfolio
The Ultimate Model: From Page to Screen Economics
The 2-4 year timeline
What Boards Really Want in a creative industry
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36:49
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36:49
From CFO to AI Evangelist: Maria Azatyan on Finance, and Startups
With more than 20 years of experience helping startups scale from seed to series B, Maria Azatyan has built architectures for companies across ai, robotics and the new space economy, translating complex technologies into numbers. This is coupled with her frank perspective as a single mother balancing finance leadership and advising startups.
Sci-fi Dreams Made Real: sharing experiences with Waymo
Setting up ArmGate, empowering entrepreneurs
One month to “two minutes” using AI to work with data
Case study: AI to Automate ERA Filings for Venture Funds
Role as ex-CFO at DocDoc.ru whose exit was ranked one of Russia’s top five IT & Digital M&A deals.
Problems with cash flow to 45% year-over-year revenue growth
Biggest startup challenges for finance teams
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49:44
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49:44
What boards want from finance AI strategy: Joyce Li
Joyce Li, CEO, and chief AI strategist at Averanda Partners, brings a rare combination: CFA charter holder, computer science graduate, MBA from Wharton, Board advisor on AI. She advises on multi-billion dollar investment strategies and works with boards and C-suites on AI strategy, governance, and adoption.
The power of Excel in an AI age
The ROI of AI and what boards want to see
15% as the magic AI productivity number
Agents and the future of finance
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46:01
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46:01
Getting from Good to really Great in your Finance team: Rohini Jain, CFO, Bill.com
Rohini Jain leads finance strategy at BILL, which delivers strategic finance capabilities in one integrated platform including AP, AR, expenses and procurement. She has more than 20 years of experience shaping and leading finance, product, and operations teams at global fintech, payments, and e-commerce companies including at PayPal, eBay, Walmart and General Electric.
She spoke to us ahead of the earnings release for Bill.com (November 5) which revealed total revenue at $395.7 million, an increase of 10% year-over-year, and core revenue, (subscription and transaction fees) of $358.0 million, an increase of 14% year-over-year. Bill now serves 498,100 businesses as of the end of the first quarter.
In this episode:
Deciding to choose finance (and disappointing my mother)
The GE “magic” building the next gen of finance leaders
Building a diverse skill set in my finance team
Love for engaging small and medium-sized business
Challenges and stress of public CFO role
Building agentic capabilities and finance’s future
A surprising Excel revelation
FP&A Today is the podcast for Financial Planning and Analysis. The weekly show dives into the challenges and opportunities within the world of FP&A, interviewing FP&A leaders, CFOs and other finance pros in order to give you the freshest insights and takeaways. Each week our top guests provide actionable advice about financial planning and analysis – from career goals to navigating challenges, and powerful Excel tips.
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