445: How Finance "The Connector" is Wiring Organizations | Michael Bayer, CFO, Wasabi

Published: Nov. 21, 2018, 11:01 p.m.

Wasabi CFO Michael Bayer\u2019s career ah-ha moment struck early. He was a college math whiz in the early days of PCs when a professor enlisted Bayer to move all of his paper-based finance and accounting records to a computerized system. \u201cHe took me under his wing and taught me a lot,\u201d recalls Bayer, whose 25-plus year professional career includes various\xa0finance,\xa0operations, technology and business\xa0development roles primarily for venture-backed technology companies. \u201cOnly recently have I realized the magnitude of the risk that he undertook \u2026 He allowed some college kid to build out his business systems [and] he trusted the trading of his fairly sizable investment portfolio to computer models that I built around my emerging understanding of options.\u201d The experience has served as a leadership beacon for Bayer throughout his career as he managed IPOs, co-founded a mobile social network and served as a CFO in a number of companies: \u201cI really think the most powerful thing you can do as a CFO and a business leader is to articulate the business strategy in measurable terms, hire great people and be a great coach.\u201d