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

Scaling up: Lessons from the world's best CEOs and Founders

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.

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