CFO Mini Series (part 1): Racing Through the Gears - Jill Woodworth, CFO Peloton [S4.E5]

The first episode in this mini series is Jill Woodworth, the CFO
of Peloton (NASDAQ:PTON). Since 2018, when Jill joined, Peleton
has been on a hyper scale journey – she took the reins of the
finance function when the business was a private, $200m revenue
company. In under 4 years since then, it is now a $4b revenue
business listed on the NASDAQ. 


The next two episodes are moving the spotlight away from the CEO
and Founder to their most important partner in the business, the
CFO. You can liken the role of the CFO to that of a navigator on
a ship – charged with the responsibility of charting the course,
tracking the journey and ensuring hazards are avoided along the
way. CFO is often the most underestimated piece of the scaling
puzzle, and why we felt the need to finally shine a spotlight on
them. 


Jill gives some fascinating views into her transition out of
investment banking, scaling her team from 12 to 200, working with
a passionate founder, as well as what in her opinion makes for
good investor relations. We also traverse  the work that
goes into preparing a company for an IPO. All these give deeply
valuable insights into what it takes to scale quickly and
effectively. 


This mini series was inspired by a blog post that TDM produced
last year - “What makes a great CFO” and I hope this podcast
episode brings this blog to life. 


You can follow TDM (linktr.ee/tdmgrowth)
and host Ed Cowan (linktr.ee/eddiecowan) across
social channels.





Show notes;





Jill’s background in banking and then transition into her role as
CFO at Peloton (00:03:32) 


Including the skills that were transferrable to the CFO role from
her banking experience and the skills she felt she needed to
develop (00:7:22) 


How Jill’s leadership style has evolved as the company has
undergone hypergrowth (00:11:01) 


The elevation of the role of the CFO within an organisation
(00:13:47) 


Skills that make for great CFOs (00:15:40) 


Jill’s relationship with Peloton Founder & CEO, John Foley:
(00:18:06) 


How has John’s leadership style changed over time
(00:21:31) 


The role of the CFO in creating wonderful IR (23:35) 


TDM blog 'What makes great IR'  (00:26:15) 


Insight into transitioning Peloton from private to public
(00:27:02) 


Including how this changed Jill’s job (00:30:37)





This podcast is created and published for informational and
entertainment purposes only. It is not financial advice.
Transcripts may contain occasional errors in fact.