What does it really take to build a treasury function from the ground up in a fast-moving tech company? And why is the mindset of “Fix the Now, Plan for Next” a game-changer for treasury leaders navigating scale and uncertainty?

In this episode, we sit down with Michael Scott, Senior Director of Treasury at Toast, whose impressive resume spans industry giants like Dell, HomeAway, Expedia, Dropbox, and Fastly.

Michael Scott is the Senior Director of Treasury at Toast where he leads global liquidity, capital markets, investments, and risk management. He’s built his career around scaling treasury functions, strengthening financial resilience, and advancing automation across fast-growing technology companies.

Before joining Toast, Michael led treasury teams at Dropbox, Fastly, Expedia, and Dell.

His story is a masterclass in building, scaling, and future-proofing treasury teams that don’t just survive - but thrive - through rapid change and disruption.

In this conversation, Michael walks us through his approach to starting up treasury from scratch, shares how he led Expedia’s treasury response to the COVID-19 crisis, and explains how those lessons are shaping his leadership at Toast today.

What We Cover in This Episode:

1. Michael’s unconventional entry into finance from a career in radio and media
2. How his MBA experience clarified his path into corporate treasury
3. Lessons from Dell’s treasury team and its emphasis on mentorship and rotation
4. Building a treasury function from the ground up
5. How Michael led the treasury response to COVID-19 at Expedia, helping raise $4B in capital
6. Transitioning to Dropbox and leading a cost-saving transformation project
7. Why Toast’s growth stage required hiring for scale and embedding a strategic mindset
8. How Michael assesses treasury talent and builds high-performing teams
9. His approach to implementing treasury technology and evaluating TMS platforms
10. The leadership shift from being a hands-on doer to managing parallel transformation streams
11. Michael’s advice for junior finance professionals entering the treasury world

You can connect with Michael Scott on LinkedIn.

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