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Back in 2008, when Jim Cox was controller for investment management software company Advent Software, he was invited by that firm's founder and CEO, Stephanie DiMarco, to accompany her to an investor meeting.

\u201cI just sat there smiling and hoped that nobody would ask me a question,\u201d comments Cox, recalling one of a number of experiences that he credits with helping him to step beyond his accounting career roots.

The meeting\u2019s biggest take-away, Cox tells us, was about repetition.

He explains: \u201cGuess what? All 20 investors asked six of the same questions and two questions that were unique to them.\u201d

Looking back, Cox believes that DiMarco was providing him with an opportunity to not only develop a rapport with investors but also polish his communication skills.

\u201cWhen Stephanie brought me along, I think she was like, \u2018Let\u2019s try this out,'" continues Cox, who stepped into Advent\u2019s CFO office in 2009, only 3 years after joining the company.   

Cox had been recruited to Advent by a VP of finance who had formerly been a client of Cox\u2019s when he was an accountant at Pricewaterhouse.   

\u201cBe good to your clients,\u201d advises Cox, who credits yet another client executive with encouraging PwC to relocate him to New Zealand for a 2-year stint.

Asked about his early career\u2019s lengthy tenures at PwC (10 years) and Advent (9), Cox reports that he doesn\u2019t think that he missed out by not changing jobs more frequently.

\u201cYou can stay at the same company, but it\u2019s about doing different things,\u201d he comments.

Today, having served in multiple CFO roles, Cox likes to measure his stint as Advent's CFO differently since its was publicly held: \u201cI like to say that I was a public company CFO for 22 quarters\u2014because when you\u2019re a public CFO, you live one quarter at a time.\u201d \u2013Jack Sweeney