In this episode, Tom is joined by Nick Dahm, CFO at Salesloft, to discuss the importance of relationships and storytelling in the CFO seat. They discuss the role of the CFO as a coach, but not a referee or score keeper. Nick also talks about how his background in finance and M&D informs his current approach as CFO and how he maintains team engagement amid constant change.
In this episode, Tom is joined by Nick Dahm, CFO at Salesloft, to discuss the importance of relationships and storytelling in the CFO seat. They discuss the role of the CFO as a coach, but not a referee or score keeper. Nick also talks about how his background in finance and M&D informs his current approach as CFO and how he maintains team engagement amid constant change.
Guest Quote:
Timestamps:
01:10 Nick Dom's Background and CFO Role Evolution
02:22 Balancing Growth and Profitability
04:23 Finance as a Coach, Not a Scorekeeper
06:12 The Importance of Storytelling in Finance
08:37 Common Misconceptions About Finance
11:25 M&A Insights and Value Creation
17:04 Team Management and Company Culture
20:20 Personal Reflections and Advice
Links & Resources:
[00:00:00] Tom: Cash is king smart, very smart, good business. Now show me the money. Welcome to Liquid How CFOs Outperform. I'm your host, Tom Gavigan. I'm joined by a special guest, Nick Dom, who is the CFO at SalesLoft. In today's conversation, we met with Nick. Dom, who is the CFO of SalesLoft. Very impressive background.
He was CFO at another company. Truck has been involved in business development at companies like, or organizations like Rubicon. Global has a strong m and a background in the conversation. We get a lot into how relationships are really important between the finance organization and the rest of the company that they ultimately work with.
How that's important, kind of the lessons learned, his growth journey there of of, of cultivating that and then also. What he imparts on his organization and expects from them as well to help continue to foster, uh, that, that type of relationship with the broader company. Uh, the importance of [00:01:00] storytelling, which is such a core aspect to me, and, and how and why even in finance is that important.
Let's get into the conversation with Nick. Nick, great to have you on. Thanks, Tom. Great to be here. Before we go into some of the, the, maybe the meatier parts of the conversation, Nick, I guess we'll kind of start off with some, some foundational questions and kind of get a little bit better understanding of your background and your current position.
So, uh, with your current role at, at SalesLoft, the company that's. Gone through changes and, uh, different investment investor changes there. How has your perspective on the CFO role evolved, I guess, in your time, uh, thus far at SalesLoft?
[00:01:34] Nick: Yeah, Tom, it's a great question. I would say like some things have changed and then there's things that haven't changed as far as the finance role.
It's still, you know, very much being a strategic partner, you know, informed by data producing and analyzing data, and then ultimately, you know, driving a financial outcome. But I do think. Over the time that I've been at SalesLoft, which is a little over three years, and also, you know, during that time we had a financial [00:02:00] sponsor, Vista come in.
There's been an evolution, not just of the finance role, but also like in the, the category that we're in and software. And so similar to like the approach to growth where growth used to be, you know, growth at all costs was the, the main strategy and growth was kind of this end all be all. That's no longer the case.
Right. And so now businesses and very much the CFOs are taking a more balanced approach. You know, kind of marrying both growth and profitability. So that's where you get the focus on a rule authority or rule of X.
[00:02:36] Tom: Yeah.
[00:02:36] Nick: You know, investors, ultimately, they want these businesses to be self-sustaining. And so timelines are shorter than what they used to be.
Like runways are shorter, cash management is far more important, and like those are all things that kind of fall on the CFO to lead that change or kind of lead the charge there as well. Determining that right balance. The
[00:02:55] Tom: world has changed from grow at all costs to. Control that cost. I think [00:03:00] that is one of the things also our respective companies share in common is that, that investor control and private equity involvement, I, how, how do you keep a balance on the long-term, long-term value creation, right?
Whatever that time horizon is, as it might vary by investment holding, but how do you balance that long-term, uh, versus kind of the near term, uh, results that you're trying to also get to quarter to quarter for, for your investors?
[00:03:23] Nick: I, I think it's one where you're kind of working backwards from those ultimate objectives, right?
So you have these North star goals or these, um, like these long-term like either projections or, or targets. And then we have to like take a, take a step back and say, okay, what does that mean when we break it into, you know, the next 12 months or even the next three months? And I think that, um, you know, a financial sponsor or private equity, that's what they're looking for, right?
So it's. I would say for all of us, for every business out there, like the, the bill comes due eventually, and when you're owned by, by, you know, [00:04:00] financial sponsor, it's a bit clearer about like that being probably a three to five year hold. So I kind of appreciate working in that context.
[00:04:08] Tom: It's a good point.
It's a little more concrete. Everybody's kind of on the same page, obviously publicly traded. You have a lot more stakeholders, a lot more shareholders, and they have different timelines and objectives and so on. So you're kind of also, uh, balancing that. So I think that's a, that's a real fair point. One of the things that we, we talked about, uh, in our prep call, uh, was about how you, your, your viewpoint on what finance is and what it should be.
And one of the things you said is you wanted to move finance from being a scorekeeper. To really kind of being a coach. And I think a lot of times that is maybe what is the perception, uh, if finance is synonymous A lot of times with accounting, accounting is synonymous with scorekeeping. What are some of the concrete ways you've shifted the mindset of your team to adapting to being more of a coach as opposed to just being a scorekeeper?
[00:04:54] Nick: To your point, like with accounting, like we're very much viewed as, yeah, you're closing the books, you're talking about what [00:05:00] happened. I don't view that as particularly strategic, right? It is absolutely necessary. We have to be able to do that, but it's not really driving or adding value. I had a good friend that was here, that was the CFO and used to talk about, you know, I don't wanna report the news.
I want to help make the news. That's why I think about like being a coach or a trainer and like actually having some skin in the game. And so what I've done is I've tried to kind of instill that in my team, right? So we've hired people or we've cultivated within our employees, um, like kind of a high degree of curiosity.
They don't just say like, Hey, what was the result? They're asking, why was the result that way? I've tried to, you know, instill in them that like you're the CFO of your department, like you're the custodians of our resources, and you need to, you know, kind of partner with your executive leader and empower them around finance.
And you need to understand what's actually going on there.
[00:05:56] Tom: And the why is the important part. I think the what the result is, the what, um, [00:06:00] and that's is sometimes not easily understood, uh, by people who aren't in finance. The dollars and cents sometimes don't make, uh, as much sense, uh, to some, like it may mean to you and I, and it's important to kind of make that, make that connection.
One of the things that I thought was really interesting is that you emphasize storytelling. Um, and I think that's one of the biggest attributes that I think people can really. Grow and cultivate in others. And we talked about how like Kobe Bryant, he is a top 10 things that people should do, which I'm a big proponent of.
And, and one of those is storytelling. Why would a basketball player care about storytelling? That's how you get your point across, right? And that's how you kind of learn and teach, uh, simultaneously with others. So can you share how you've used storytelling, um, to get different teams on the same page and working towards the shared objective?
Uh, at hand?
[00:06:44] Nick: Yeah, no, I, i, I love the idea of like a shared objective there. Right. And because too often, like you'll see a CFO or finance leadership will produce, you know, a slide and it's got, you know, 200 data points on it. And everybody's trying to understand, okay, what's, [00:07:00] what are you actually trying to drive here?
What's the true story? Think people, all of us connect with story, right? Think about like the epics. Um, you think about like, kind of the narratives that we build around, you know, our own lives, and I think people embrace that when it comes to a company as well. Mm-hmm. We've had, you know, different challenges that, you know, when we try to come up with a way to, um, explain how we're, how we're gonna get through those, like being able to tie a story to that rather than just say, Hey, you know, we over, we overshot on this expense, or we, you know, we underachieved on revenue or on bookings.
Actually being able to explain that in ways that people can connect with, uh, means a lot more than, you know, Hey, we need you to, you know, cut costs or we need you to, you know, kind of perform better on revenue.
[00:07:47] Tom: When it comes to objectives, there's usually objectives within objectives. So if you think about the objective as like the role of 40, fine, we're all underneath of that regardless of what part of the business we sit within.
But there's objectives within that, right, that we all own and [00:08:00] and manage in our various business lines. That's important that everybody. Is on the same page is, is aware. I, I sometimes think, uh, that sometimes is missed. Um, and if that's not clear, um, then it does become confusing, I would say right between finance who ends up kind of helping kind of, uh, score that and, and, and measure that versus those that are ultimately impacting that.
I think also in a company. Companies like our own, we're both in tech, uh, we're high growth companies with both Korea and SalesLoft. What's, uh, one thing about finance at companies like this that you think people outside of the department get wrong?
[00:08:37] Nick: Oh man, I've, I've got a couple of 'em, right. I think there's, there's first like this idea that finance is always just ready to say no.
The fun police.
[00:08:45] Tom: The fun
[00:08:45] Nick: police. Yeah, the fun police. There's also the idea that like finance is super short term focused. They're just, you know, trying to get to the end of the month or the end of the quarter. And then I think probably the other, the other one is that like finance [00:09:00] is only focused on the numbers, right?
And I think that this is really like a real, we already talked about narrative, but I think there's like a relational component here and a strategic component that's really kind of marrying both like. The narrative, the strategy and the numbers together. And so yeah, like sometimes we do have to say no, but that's always in the service of like being able to say yes later on or being able to say yes to something else.
And then, yeah, sometimes we have to be very focused on like how we're performing at the moment. We can't just all say, Hey, I'm sure you'll get there in three years time or five years time. That's more for like being able to understand like the trends of the business. And then, you know, I've, I've already talked about kind of building that relationship with the rest of the business.
You know, we talked about not being the score scorekeeper, you know, what's even worse than the scorekeepers, like the referee. I've been running with this analogy a little bit internally, and you think about like the player and the referee, like just kind of getting into it. Like I [00:10:00] never want to kind of, uh, replicate that as far as how finance engages with the business.
I, I really want to build that relationship like you would have with your coach or, or with your trainer, where you're like, Hey, we're both in this together. They're invested in, you know, me achieving my best.
[00:10:16] Tom: Yeah. Not just like throwing, throwing flags and, and fishing out penalties. Yeah. If you think about the audience, someone listening right now who's sitting there going, you know.
Uh, we're seen as the scoreboard. We operate like the scoreboard. Really. I want to help kind of impart that, that change. I think I know your answer to this, but what would be your first thing that you would tell 'em to do? First piece of advice to start changing?
[00:10:39] Nick: Yeah. I, I think you have to seek to understand.
Mm-hmm. Right? You have to build a bridge between finance. Um, you have to kind of start to erode, you know, some of the, the silos and really understand kind of what their objectives are or what their department objectives are. If you can kind of walk a mile in their shoes, then they're more likely to come and look at things.
You know, [00:11:00] again, if you're helping them achieve their, their objectives, they're going to be more likely to engage with you on the financial side of things.
[00:11:09] Tom: That's what I figured. Relationship. You gotta, you gotta work. And that's hard sometimes, especially maybe if you're new or maybe if, maybe if you're new or maybe if you're highly tenured, uh, because things have been running the same way for so long and, and that, but it does start at the relationship level.
I couldn't agree more. It's what I was expecting you to say. If we shift more conversation to like broader terms, broader strategy, one of the things, you know, from your background was the, the experience you've had in, in m and a before, uh, on the investment banking side. Right. Are there practical tools, processes that you've brought from that background, um, that you think impact how you are as a tech a, a leader now in the technology space working as a CFO that others should adopt?
[00:11:48] Nick: The advantage for better or for worse, like I do have this tendency or this bias to look at everything through like an m and a lens, right? Like I even, even once I left banking, I still, you [00:12:00] know, spent a lot of time just doing corporate development, like leading m and a internally for businesses. And so the world isn't all just deals to be done, but there are some good things that that's afforded me in the finance role.
I think the main one is like that outlook around value creation, right? Like. I recognize ultimately that we're trying to increase the company's value, and so I want the team to be really focused on that. Again, not just simply closing the books, but what are we doing to kind of like impact how the company's being valued?
And then the one that's like super practical is that m and a, again, this mindset that's always around the corner, like whether we're the acquirer or we're being acquired, it requires a certain level of like preparation or readiness. You know, if we're gonna bolt on an acquisition, we have to have our systems, our processes, you know, kind of our policies, controls all locked down.
And then if, if we're going to be acquired, then you better be ready for due diligence. [00:13:00] That state of preparation and that state of readiness, I think is, is really forced me to kind of, um, address things now in the near term that otherwise I might be more inclined to kind of say, Hey, we'll get to it eventually.
[00:13:14] Tom: When you think about that though, right as the fi as a finance leader, you're the one that's sitting there. Recommending and, and helping kind of design the future, helping kind of shape the approach to build the valuation. At the end of the day, that's what you're, I mean, that's what SalesLoft's goals are.
It's not to stay at the current level that you're at, it's to grow to a certain level, um, that puts you in a different category within the market. So in those types of situations, like how do you ensure that the. The guidance you're giving, the approach, you're taking, the strategy, you're devising, how do you ensure that that gets adopted or, or pushes through to adoption and not just maybe push side, you know, by someone else, for example, one of your peers, the CRO, right?
If you're looking at growth opportunities and, um, for example, and the CRO just goes, Nope. You know, I got it. I, I'll take it from here, Nick. I don't need your input. [00:14:00] Uh, for something like that, how, how do you ensure that things are being kind of leveraged and used in a collaborative way?
[00:14:05] Nick: Data's at like the corner of that discussion.
So, you know, being able to produce, you know, a like a basis for your recommendation or for your suggestion, that's like grounded in reality, grounded in the current facts, I think is, and again, being able to tell the story with that data so that there is a narrative there. What I also try to do is really kind of, um, narrow my focus a bit.
So if I go in and I engage with our CRO and say, Hey, here's 20 things that we need to work on, or here's 12 things, or even here's like five. I think it's too many. Yeah. So again, going back to the whole coach analogy, like if you, I don't know if you've ever had like a golf lesson, but they pretty much, one, I need, I need one.
If you have a tip, I, I could use one. Same, but they pretty much, you can only hold like one or two things in your brain at any given time. If I'm partnering with, with our CRO, it's. Hey, here's the top two, and like we [00:15:00] can get to those and then once we address those, then we can move down the list. But that, that I found to be, um, you know, way more, uh, collaborative than if I kind of upload like a, a huge laundry list.
[00:15:14] Tom: Double click on that though, because focus like yourself, you'll know that there's 10 things that can and should be done, but you like, you're, you're right. In order to actually see movement, you need to keep focus, right. Which also means you can't lose focus of the other things. At some point they do come back.
I mean, how do you balance that and ensure that you're not getting completely diverted, say, on the top two things, uh, and that the other eight, you know, come around at some point and then you can kind of focus on them. How are you ensuring that those are kind of not, uh,
[00:15:43] Nick: missed as well? Yeah, I've seen like way too often, like where there isn't prioritization that those, you know, eight things have a way of turning into 10, and then the next day, you know, they're 12 and.
You never actually resolve any of them. Like you have to keep the list running. You have to, I have an [00:16:00] idea of like where you're gonna go next, but you truly have to close out the top things in order to move on. Um, and so that requires like, you know, being a bit ruthless and saying like, Hey, we know we need to do everything here, but realistically I can only do, you know, 1, 2, 3 at any given moment.
[00:16:19] Tom: Yep. You have to keep reality in check. Uh, you have to enforce. And one of the things I always preach is, you know, acknowledging the change, albeit incrementally. Of course, if you got all 10 things done at once, it'd be monumental and you would notice it immediate, you would obviously notice it. But what you can also notice is incremental change as well, when you're tackling these piece by piece in a pragmatic way.
Uh, and that just requires. Alignment relationship, like you said earlier, part of that change though, or part of how the, what impacts those types of priorities is change. Uh, and I think, I'm sure, uh, what we see in our market is what you see as well, which is like every day is a different day. Uh, change is the only, you know, it's a.
The only constant is change at this point where everything's different, [00:17:00] both at a macroeconomic level as well as I'm sure internally and organizationally. How do you keep your team engaged, keep your team motivated? Especially in, in times of challenges and change, like we're constantly going through.
[00:17:13] Nick: I've had some great leaders, great managers in the past, and I've had some that are not so great, right? And so there's been a lot of learnings that I've kind of incorporated over, you know, 20, 23 years. I will share here at SalesLoft, like our culture is extremely strong. You know that I already mentioned that there's been a lot of change over the three, three and a half years that I've been here, but the culture has held up and it's, I view one of like my greatest responsibilities as kind of nurturing or, or protecting that culture for my team.
So we have very much what I'd call like a radio friendly, uh, like no jerks policy here, right? So low ego and so again. Protecting that environment where my team like actually comes and enjoys working with each other. I, I, I [00:18:00] truly count some of the team members as like real friends and I'm on great terms with, with the entire department.
The second part, and this is, this is more for me, um, but I think it kind of, it's worked out very well for, um, the sort of profile that we hire for and that we have here. Is that it, we've tried to create an environment of constant learning. I'm constantly learning and the team under me is like seeking out new opportunities, you know, trying to take on more.
I hate it when somebody leaves, but typically when somebody does leave, we end up back filling them internally, um, with somebody else. Yeah. And, and I think it's, it's provided like a, uh, even if, even if there isn't like a opportunity to move somebody up, them, like kind of creating, um, you know, greater expertise or being able to lean into something new, um, that's, those are the right.
Sort of employees for us here, here at SalesLoft.
[00:18:54] Tom: I think, and that goes down to relationships, like you're saying. It's not just about relationships externally, it's also maintaining the ones [00:19:00] within your hierarchy, within your own organization. Um, as well. I think part of it also is what you also talked about is ensuring that you're all.
Aligned to the objectives and the underlying why. Right? Because things do change. Um, and, and a lot of that we can't control, um, if the communication isn't there, if the relationship isn't there, if people are on, on, on the same page, then they just think, Nick's, Nick's doing this. Nick's the boss. Nick's the jerk.
Nick doesn't know what he's doing. Nick's uh, making us do this. And no, if you have a good relationship, if you have. Uh, a good communication and you kind of all are aligned on the why it's clear and the team can kind of move on past that, um, mental gymnastics that you end up doing, which is why, why are we doing this?
Why is this going on? Why are we, if sooner you can move past that, the quicker you can kind of action whatever it is that you're actioning. I have found, um, at least, yeah.
[00:19:50] Nick: Yeah. That trust that you get from that Right. And that buy-in. Um, versus like the, all those cycles that you can burn, kind of questioning it or doubting it.[00:20:00]
[00:20:00] Tom: Yeah. One of the things we like to talk about are secrets as well, you know, not our deepest secrets, but you know, more of our professional secrets. So what's a secret weapon you use to get through a tough time, whether it's a tough quarter or even a tough year, or some sort of like setback, whether it perhaps somebody leaving key to your team, something like that.
What's the secret that you have that you can share with the audience here?
[00:20:20] Nick: I'm gonna go a little soft here for A CFO, but I, I think there's like two, right? I say the first one's gratitude, right? And it, every once in a while, like hitting balls and realizing like how fortunate I am to be in this role.
This, this is something I wanted. I get to work with really smart people, try to solve big problems, enjoy what I do. And then the second, and this is, it seems to be a trend in this, uh, conversation. Is relationships. So the, those smart people are also people that I enjoy, even in the bad days here, in the tough weeks and the ugly quarters, I, I get to do it alongside friends.
So that's awesome. And then relationships beyond here too, obviously. So when it, when things really get bad, you [00:21:00] know, grateful for, you know, family and friends.
[00:21:02] Tom: Good. And hopefully your team's listening to this and they'll, they'll validate that one, right? The gratitude and the, uh, patience part of it. Yeah.
Yeah. Yeah. I hope I'm living that. When you look at your journey, which is quite impressive, what's the biggest surprise that you see about yourself in that, in that journey?
[00:21:19] Nick: I would say in this role, it's surprising to me how much of it is managing the team or not even managing, I would say it's truly serving the team, right.
Again, I've got, I've got people that are incredibly bright, hard workers, uh, people that are way more experts, that they're disciplined, and I can be like, how do I empower them? How do I make sure that I have their back? Or how am I setting them up for success? Mm-hmm. So that's, that's way more of my role than, you know, obviously, you know, when I started out, I didn't, you know, as a.
Just on my own.
[00:21:49] Tom: Yeah. And you know, starting out and just being a numbers guy and debits and credits and, and, and, uh, math, you know, focused to being, balancing that with, uh, the qualitative human side of [00:22:00] things is, um. Impressive. Right? And I think some people don't, don't understand that, don't see that. Um, and obviously that's, uh, what, what's elevated you, I'm sure, or been a part of your elevation and growth, uh, is, is that aspect.
You can't just be a numbers guy. You're gonna have to possess those relationship interpersonal skills as well to become a CFO of a company, especially one like sales l. One more thing on that. I guess if you were to think about it, go back to your early days, right? Post-grad, uh, you're 25 years old, what's one piece of advice you would give yourself at that point?
Um, based on what you know now?
[00:22:31] Nick: This still holds true 20 years later, but it would be to worry less, particularly about all those things that I can't control. So really to focus on. Hey, this is up to me to manage, you know, this very, you know, small or discreet task today. Mm-hmm. I'm gonna do the best I can and then I can't really, I'm not going to, you know, kind of give over a bunch of real estate in my mind to, you know, the macroeconomic environment.
I need to be aware of all these things, but I can't, I can't control 'em, so I need to put them out my mind. [00:23:00]
[00:23:00] Tom: Do you have to reaffirm that and remind yourself of that periodically? It's not just ingrained, it's something you have to be like, Hey, I'm, I'm breaking my own creed here. I mean, at least that's how I feel sometimes.
[00:23:09] Nick: Absolutely. So it's, it's still top of mind. I have gotten better at it, and I think that's the benefit of experience.
[00:23:16] Tom: I always tell people, you know, certain things that you hold yourself to or standards and stuff, it's like you're gonna break it. But as long as you have an internal contract with yourself that's like, Hey, I broke my own creed or my own belief of something and I, you know, won't do that, or I'll try not to do that again.
And that's certainly one as well, which is you gotta, you can drive yourself crazy trying to worry about and think about. Things that you cannot control. Um, especially in finance, like you said, macroeconomic stuff. Uh, yeah. Wish you could, but you can't, you could drive yourself crazy just thinking about it, especially with all the activity going on.
[00:23:45] Nick: Yeah, absolutely. There's no shortage of things to worry
[00:23:47] Tom: about. Nope, there isn't. And that it won't get you anywhere if you just harp on that stuff.
[00:23:52] Nick: Well, it's, it is remarkable too when I look back, like how many times I was worried about something and it never like manifested. And then I should have been worried about something [00:24:00] else.
'cause that's what I actually came along, or, yep. You know, we used to have, you know, one of our, one of our kind of core values here was this idea of being a glass half full. Right. A lot of times these things I'm worried about, like they actually lead to a good outcome.
[00:24:13] Tom: Yeah, it's a good, good point. Gotta be glass half full.
One thing we talked about, albeit shortly, a couple years, I spend time in Atlanta and you're an Atlanta guy, uh, what's going on down there? What's your favorite Atlanta spot? I will say Atlanta has a pizza problem, in my opinion. Like it. You know, as a northeast guy, like just wasn't cutting it. Um, Antico was the place we would go.
Is that still around? What's your favorite spot in Atlanta?
[00:24:36] Nick: I'm up in Sandy Springs, so there's two up there that are like, kind of my favorites. There's a place called Kaiser's, it's a steakhouse maybe. Uh, once a quarter my wife and I will go and like grab a seat at the bar. Okay. And then being a, being a finance guy, find a way to kind of, uh, you know, split a burger and, you know, it doesn't get too outta control for us.
We've got a great barbecue place so. Uh, our neck of the woods too called [00:25:00] heirloom barbecue, and it's kind of a, a melt of like Southern and Korean barbecue together. Oh, okay. Um, and they just got a, uh, I guess a year or two they got like a, uh, uh, a. Michelin Borman, so Oh, nice. I mean, it's just there at a gas station, but if you're ever, you're ever Oh really?
One of those spots. Alright,
[00:25:20] Tom: cool. The, the food in Atlanta was great. The, like I said, the pizza was, was subpar and from my point of view, but the steakhouse is, yeah, we're, we're always good in barbecue was good as well, but we were always kind of regionally. You know, it depends on where you've, you've lived because trying to go from Sandy Springs down to, you know, somewhere in the southeast isn't, as is easier said than done as we we know with, uh, the wonderful Atlanta traffic.
[00:25:41] Nick: Oh yeah. And your, your loyalties for like, um, pizza in the Northeast. I, I don't think you're alone there. It's unfair. It's a little unfair.
[00:25:48] Tom: Yeah. I will say. I always like to talk about books as well. Any recommendations? What you're eating now or what's on your list? Uh, for the tying out the summer here?
[00:25:57] Nick: I just finished up, um, the Demon of Unrest [00:26:00] by Eric Larson.
It was about the, uh, the kind of the very start of the Civil War. So, uh, mostly set, you know, either at Fort Sumpter or with Lincoln, um, you know, as he was, um, inaugurated. So, um, highly recommended. Yeah.
[00:26:17] Tom: I'm always like, oh, I'll audit to the list. And I do, and the list is quite long. I am a Civil War guy, though.
My favorite, one of my favorite books is Killer Angels. If you ever read that, I mean, it's like one of the best civil war books, in my opinion. I've read that in one sitting from on a plane ride, actually, to San, from Philly to San Diego. Always remember cover to cover. I've never done that. Wow. Uh, for a book.
Yeah. And that one's one. So I'll definitely add that, add that to the list. Yeah. Any, any parting thoughts? Any final words? I guess before we, we, uh, we close out here.
[00:26:43] Nick: You know, I mentioned this book, the Demon of Unrest, um, and you know, watching kind of, or, or understanding now, like kind of how the Civil War started.
Um, you know, and, and thinking about that in terms of like, okay, as, as a finance leader, you know, making decisions, you know, a bit of a [00:27:00] stretch here, right? Tom? Go. I would say like the ego that was involved on, you know, kind of leading up to these events, the lack of understanding, like miscommunication. I think about that in terms of like, okay, how am I breaking those down, you know, as, as a leader in this business.
Mm-hmm. Right? How am, hopefully like, hopefully I'm lowering my ego again. Hopefully I'm seeking to understand, being empathetic and understanding. Yeah. And then using information like it and being able to communicate that effectively. So. Not saying we would stop, stop a, uh, civil war from half being below food for thought,
[00:27:34] Tom: but at least you keep the Civil Wars at rest within the internal company as, as a CFO, kind of because your feet is in every camp and you're involved in all of that.
And actually it's, you know, when you think about it, right when you said it, you're CFO of a company. You're a CFO of your family. You're a CFO of your personal life as well. I think you said yourself, I think you're, uh, the co-founder and CFO of your, your foundry of your family is the way you put it, which I think is a good way to look at it.
You're a CFO [00:28:00] 24 hours a day no matter what. Well, Nick, really do appreciate you taking the time. Uh, is a good conversation. Really interesting to hear your point of view, especially how we, how you balance the opportunity that you have there at SalesLoft. The, the short-term kind of growth strategy, the long-term objectives that you're trying to hit, and making sure that everybody's in the same camp and, and marching on the same foot.
That you're not sitting there as the scorekeeper and certainly not the. The, the referee and being the just the bad guy. It's really, really important. Thanks everyone for tuning in to never miss an episode. Subscribe wherever you listen. I'm Tom Gavigan and this is Liquid How CFOs Outperform.