Paul competes at the Excel World Cup - with Ajay Patel and Andrew Grigolyunovich
Paul competes at the Excel World Cup - with Ajay Patel and Andrew Grigolyunovich
What happened when two highly-skilled Excel leaders took on the "best of the best" in the sport? Paul Barnhurst reveals the inside story when he pitted his FP&A-based Excel wits in the The Financial Modeling World Cup (FMWC). Taking the ultimate test alongside him is fellow-first timer “Excel Ninja” Ajay Patel, who teaches thousands of subscribers advanced Excel.
Giving his opnion on the two Excel jousters is Andrew Grigolyunovich, FMWC Founder and CEO of AG Capital. The trio talk Excel-at-speed, improving skills, and the functions they can't live without.
- Getting to know Andrew Grigolyunovich: From being a CFO at 21 to founding the Financial Modeling World Cup
- Ajay Patel (aka the Excel Ninja) a fifth degree black belt in Tang Soo Do talks his favorite Excel functions and his FMWC ultimate test
- Optimization planning and Analysis vs FP&A
- The inside story of Paul and Ajay’s grueling FMWC experience
- Secrets to creating classic Excel use cases
- Advice for getting started in competitive Excel
- Best advice to improve your Excel skills
Guests:
Andrew Grigolyunovich, Financial Modeling World Cup: Founder & CEO of AG Capital
https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrewgrig/
Ajay Patel, The Excel Ninja, Founder of the Excel Dojo
https://www.linkedin.com/in/theexceldojo/
FP&A Today is brought to you by Datarails,the AI-powered financial planning and analysis platform. Keep your own Excel financial models and spreadsheets and benefit from AI for data consolidation, reporting and planning.
“Partnering & Chill”: Netflix’s first CFO on Blockbuster FP&A
“Partnering & Chill”: Netflix’s first CFO on Blockbuster FP&A
"I have been at the inception points of three companies-Intuit, Netflix and Mozilla Firefox. And now I’m just trying to give back as many lessons as possible” Jim Cook
Jim Cook shares his front row experience as first finance hire at streaming giant Netflix. He reveals the finance business partnering lessons learned from supporting fellow co-founders Marc Randolph and Reed Hastings building the company from obscurity to one of the biggest brands in the world.
How did finance at Netflix contribute to the design of the first red envelopes? What are his lessons that can transform your FP&A?
In this episode:
- Coping with unrealistic budgets experience at fast-growing startups
- What it’s like as Finance Hire #1 at Netflix
- Rebirthing the browser market at Mozilla Firefox
- Lessons from M&A and IPO at Intuit
- Lessons to deliver blockbuster FP&A
- The FP&A as CEO
- The power of a “listening tour and finance partnership”
- Using your voice in FP&A
- What storytelling really means for a finance professional
- Two strategic finance moments that changed the game for Intuit and Mozilla
Links from the Show
Netflixed by Gina Keating (Amazon)
That Will Never Work, Mark Randolph (Amazon)
Netflix versus the World. (Full Documentary, YouTube)
Five lessons I learned from Netflix – Jim Cook
Contact Jim Cook on LinkedIn
Email jimCook@benchboard.com
Drew Murphy: Find best practices, people that make you work better, and things you enjoy
Drew Murphy: Find best practices, people that make you work better, and things you enjoy
Drew Murphy nearly became a meteorologist. But he opted for a different type of forecasting, warning of impending storms as an FP&A professional. A fast-paced finance career saw him land a part role at Procter & Gamble (while studying)-his senior year saw him work 30 hours a week as a plant accountant. Following six years of FP&A at Procter & Gamble (including analysis for Gillette and Braun), he took roles at Vistaprint, Mimecraft (where he was central to their IPO) and a CFO gig. Drew then launched community FP&HEY with his co-founder Yarty Kim. The mission of FP&A Hey is to “help time starved FP&A professionals get their free time back, their personal freedom back” offering resources and mentoring for FP&A professionals.
Core to his career approach is a clear mantra: “Find best practices, find people that make you better, work on things you enjoy.”
In this episode he discusses the implications of this approach to upgrading your career and work life balance in a busy finance role.
In this episode:
- Drew’s worst budgeting experience in his career
- Shaving forecasting with Gillette and Braun
- how to impress sales executives with quarterly sales performance analysis
- Best practice for a monthly profit forecast and team management process
- Why you need to be at a place with “people you respect and admire”
- The importance of relationships in finance
- How the IPO process felt like a “wedding”
- His strategic finance moment delivering (at Mimecast) growth of 40%, EBITDA expansion over time as a percentage of revenue
- Why FP&A pros must learn accounting and a business model
Links from the Show
FP&A Hey. Because they don’t teach FP&A in school. Grow your skills, networks, and careers, all while having fun.
How to impress sales executives with quarterly sales performance analysis: https://www.fpandhey.com/how-to-impress-executives-with-quarterly-sales-performance-analysis/
Contact Drew at Drew@fpandhey.com
AI in FP&A: Your Big Questions Answered
AI in FP&A: Your Big Questions Answered
This special edition of FP&A Today saw 1,524 finance pros sign up for this LinkedIn Live session. In this episode Paul and a special panel answer all your burning questions on how Finance teams are practically using AI to advance their careers (and bring instant productivity to their businesses).
Joining Paul is Adam Shilton, Founder, Tech for Finance and a world expert on “Helping finance pros turn systems into superpowers with AI”. In addition he is joined by Sloane Kolt, Head of Datarails Labs, which recently launched FP&A Genius, an AI powered solution transforming FP&A.
Some of your big audience questions answered:
- What was the last thing you used Generative AI for?
- Ethical questions in AI and Finance (eg. Do we own the model that AI built?)
- What are the most common use cases for AI in FP&A, and accounting post ChatGPT?
- What are the differences between AI in big vs small companies?
- How should finance leadership use AI and adapt it in their team ethos and processes?
- Privacy, security, AI and Finance - what are the risks?
- What are the secrets of effective Prompting in finance?
- Clarifying tasks with your AI Chat
- Lessons from building a new finance AI tool
- Favorite non ChatGPT AI tools you have seen
- Best advice for getting started with AI in finance
- Rapid fire questions: favorite Excel function and person I would most like to meet.
FP&A Today is brought to you by Datarails,the AI-powered financial planning and analysis platform. Keep your own Excel financial models and spreadsheets and benefit from AI for data consolidation, reporting and planning.