Today on the number one podcast for CFOs, CJ talks to Nicolette Turner, CFO of Headspace. Nicolette shares her unconventional journey into her role and how she first came to work for the company during the pandemic while she was seven months pregnant with her first child. She explains why CFOs should use their company’s products and why and how they should talk directly to customers. Nicolette then sheds light on Headspace’s fascinating and complex business model that includes facets of a B2B, B2C, and B2B2C company. She discusses the challenges of forecasting the business, calculating customer acquisition costs and lifetime value, and monetization within this complex framework, as well as the unique working capital and cashflow challenges they face. She also shares hiring wisdom, including when to promote internally versus hiring externally, what she looks for in a resume, and how building a diverse team unlocks value, while also sharing tools for tough conversations with employees.

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TIMESTAMPS:

(00:00) Preview and Intro

(02:03) Sponsor - Leapfin | Planful

(04:08) Nicolette’s Unconventional Journey at Headspace

(12:13) Understanding Your Company’s Product

(14:05) Why and How CFOs Should Talk to Customers 

(17:15) Numbers Are One-dimensional 

(19:09) Sponsor - Mercury | NetSuite | Maxio

(22:31) Headspace’s Business Model: B2B, B2C, and B2B2C

(27:01) Forecasting for a Highly Complex Model

(29:35) Calculating Customer Acquisition Costs 

(30:56) The Healthcare Overlap

(33:19) Unique Working Capital and Cashflow Challenges

(37:11) Promoting From Within Versus Hiring

(42:18) Tools for Tough Conversations With Employees

(45:32) Moving From a Big Company to a Small One

(48:40) How Building a Diverse Team Unlocks Value

(53:05) Long-ass Lightning Round: Advice on Learning From Mistakes

(56:31) Finance Software Stack

(57:50) Craziest Expense Story

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