Google

I'm the Head of Finance for Google Cloud Consulting in Europe, Middle East, and Africa (EMEA). I work with Sales and Consulting teams to transition our customers into Google Cloud in a profitable way.

Head of Finance

Microsoft

I worked on deal economics and market share expansion for Azure cloud in France. I evangelized the CFOs of our customers on modern finance tools such as machine learning for forecasting revenue and cost.

Commercial Finance Leader

I worked as the head of financial planning and analysis (FP&A) for LM Wind Power, a business in the renewable energy industry. Managed the income and cash flow statements end to end.

Senior FP&A Manager

I worked on deal economics for the GE Power division. I was part of the team that signed a $20M industrial internet (IoT) contract in the marine industry.

Commercial Finance Manager

I worked on integrating the services business of the biggest acquisition in GE's history, Alstom. Realized $30M of operational savings coming from cost synergies between the two companies.

M&A Finance Integration Manager

I completed GE's premier executive leadership development program. Promoted to People Manager and led global teams in six different countries on financial audits and operational excellence projects.

Corporate Audit Staff (CAS)

I completed GE’s entry-level program for University graduates, the Financial Management Program (FMP). It is a two-year entry-level program spanning four rotational assignments and MBA-level coursework.

Financial Management Program (FMP)

Tamir Fishman

I advised Israeli and American companies on how to exercise their stock benefit plans more effectively and timely. I reported directly to the CEO of the Equity Plan Services division of the company.

Finance Internship

Finance Strategy @ Google • Microsoft & GE Alum • 49K+ followers on X (formerly Twitter) • Sharing insights to help you raise your financial IQ

I'm a finance and technology professional with extensive experience in international relations and project management. I have twelve years of experience leading different projects such as financial audits, supply chain excellence, M&A integration, and commercial effectiveness. 

I have been exposed to multiple industries throughout my career such as Oil & Gas, Healthcare, Financial Services, and Software. I have had the opportunity to work in eight different countries, which has allowed me to become fluent in four languages. This has facilitated working with people from different cultural backgrounds than my own. 

I learn and adapt quickly to challenging situations, and try to lead with optimism and by example in everything I do. 

Outside of work, I'm passionate about triathlon, crossfit, filmmaking, reading, music, and traveling.

My areas of expertise are:
◾ Financial Planning & Analysis (FP&A)
◾ Commercial Finance
◾ Auditing
◾ Management & Financial Accounting
◾ Mergers & Acquisitions (M&A) Integration
◾ Supply Chain Finance
◾ Consulting
◾ People Management
◾ Risk Management
◾ Controllership
◾ Cloud Computing

This man saved Apple from bankruptcy in the 1990s. Here are a few good things you can learn from him:

His name is Fred Anderson.

He was the CFO of Apple from 1996 to 2004.

For context, the beginning of that period was one of the most challenging times for the company.

Apple was losing money, customers, and market share. 

Their products started to become less cool, to the point customers were not attracted to the brand.

And their leadership team up to that point kept changing over and over. Steve Jobs was no longer in the company. He was fired in 1985.

So, what did this CFO do to save the company? And what can you learn from him?

1/ Make compromises (even with your competition)

The most notorious move was to secure an investment of $150 million dollars from ... MICROSOFT. Whaaaaat?

Yes. Microsoft invested in Apple as a vote of confidence in its future. They agreed to license each others' patents, develop Microsoft office for Macs, and have Internet Explorer as the default browser.

What Apple got right on this deal was to have the preferred shares issued as non-voting. This means Microsoft could not exert any type of control here. A move that OpenAI could learn from? Anyway ...

2/ Be laser-focused on selling great products

During his tenure, there was a massive rationalization of Apple's product lines. 

To be fair, at this point, Steve Jobs was back.

This is the time when the slogan "Think Different" came about.

The two of them were ruthless on making sure only great products were sold to consumers. 

Some of them you know very well.

iPod.
iMac.

Say no more.

3/ Focus on cost efficiency

As part of that product line rationalization, Fred Anderson dropped the hammer hard on cutting unnecessary costs across the company.

He knew that he needed to free up capital from every place possible to invest in making better products, marketing them to consumers, and selling them at scale.

We tend to only glorify Steve Jobs when it comes to turning around Apple. 

However, this is a good example where the finance people can kill it too.
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Antonio Reza

Head of Finance @ Google • Posts on how to increase profits, improve cash flow, and leverage technology in your business • 48K+ followers on X (formerly Twitter) • 1,000+ people read my newsletter • Microsoft & GE Alum

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Free cash flow is a better metric than revenue. Here's why in less than 1 minute. 
 
In short, FCF is the net change in cash generated by the operations of a business, 
 
MINUS (this is the important part) 
 
Any cash outlay related to working capital (A/R, inventory), capital expenditures (buying buildings or land), and dividends paid out to investors. 
 
Why should you care more about FCF than revenue then? 
 
Well, besides being one of those nice KPIs that appear in dashboards, FCF meaures how healthy a business is and how able it is to invest in new opportunities (IN CASH). 
 
On top of that, it's an indicator of that company's ability to pay its debts to creditors, and return value to shareholders in the form of dividends or share buybacks. 
 
And it's also good for valuation purposes. It helps tell the story of real intrinsic value of the business. Anyone who's in the VC or PE space likes this metric. 
 
Let's be honest. Even though a lot of people brag about ARR in social media, revenue is not as good as FCF. 
 
Remember ... FCF > Revenue 
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Here are 12 timeless tips to make your presentations better. From one of the most elite finance organizations to ever exist.

That organization was the GE Corporate Audit Staff.

When I was a young auditor, someone shared this piece of paper with me.

It contains 12 timeless pieces of advice on how to deliver a presentation effectively.

Back in the day, presenting was bread and butter.

Every two weeks, it seemed like I had to give a presentation to update on the status of the audit.

And every single one of them required a level of preparation I was never used to before.

This piece of paper came in handy every single time.

My favorites are highlighted in yellow.

Prepare, seize the first minute, and DON'T BE BORING.

Hope this helps anyone giving a presentation this week.

Cheers.
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Tesla is the next Enron ... One of the most serious accusations of the day. Is it? Let's break it down ...

So, there was a thread from the co-founder of Asana, Dustin Moskowitz, in which he claims Tesla is the next Enron.

If you read the thing, one of the main points of concern is that Tesla booked $700 million of deferred revenue related to FSD (full-self driving).

What is the problem with that?

Before I tell you, let me quickly define deferred revenue.

Deferred revenue is unearned income. The best way to understand this is by thinking of a magazine subscription where you pay upfront for 12 months.

As time goes by (let's say the end of January), the magazine earns 1/12 of the money because they have provided the magazine and its articles for a full month. In that case, they can recognize revenue for one month's worth of the subscription. However, because you paid upfront, the magazine company has 11/12 months sitting on the balance sheet as a liability (unearned revenue). They shouldn't recognize this until they've delivered what they promised you.

OK ... back to the Tesla thing.

I think what this guy is implying is that Tesla is double-booking revenues. Tesla released a feature called Autopark to existing FSD subscribers, which allowed Tesla to recognize the deferred revenue. However, if Autopark is a feature of FSD (which is already paid for), why would you recognize an additional $700 million for Autopark? I get this point, but not entirely sure if it's true (no evidence at this point).

Anyways, let's assume for a moment that this is true. For a company that recorded almost $100 billion of revenue in 2023, this is immaterial and it wouldn't trigger a restatement to their financials. So, you can't really say that you're deceiving investors at a proportion of Enron. Worst case, they reverse the revenue, get a slap in the hand, and apologize for it.

Other things that come to mind that are different between Tesla and Enron are: (1) there's an actual product here (an electric vehicle) vs. trading contracts, (2) nothing so far on shell companies off balance sheet, and (3) no mark-to-market accounting where you're booking 25 years worth of income in one-shot.

From where I stand, I don't think this is comparable. Not even close.

What do you think?
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Head of Finance @ Google • Posts on how to increase profits, improve cash flow, and leverage technology in your business • 48K+ followers on X (formerly Twitter) • 1,100+ people read my newsletter • Microsoft & GE Alum

If you haven't seen the OpenAI spring update, stop whatever you're doing and watch it RIGHT NOW. GPT-4o is insane. 🤯

Among the many updates today, real-time translation has to be my favorite one.

Why?

Simple. This one hits close to home.

My two kids can only speak French at the moment (2 and 4 years old).

My parents can only speak Spanish.

They understand each other because love transcends languages. Fact.

However, being able to use ChatGPT to translate conversations in real time will make family interactions so much easier (especially when I'm not around to play the role of translator).

The speed at which AI is evolving and reaching new heights is just unbelievable.
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What's the main job of a finance person? I'm sure there will be multiple answers on this one ... But only one is right. 👇🏼

The answer is effective capital allocation.

Yes, finance people should help the business cut costs, expand margins, increase revenue, etc. 

But that's just partially right.

The main job is to figure out what's the best way to allocate capital — which tends to be limited — to return as much value as possible to shareholders.

The five levers that exist to do this are:

1) Investing in existing operations
2) Buying businesses (M&A)
3) Paying out dividends
4) Buying back shares
5) Paying down debt

When capital is scarce, you have an opportunity cost when you choose to pursue one versus the other.

Therefore, the main task of someone working in finance is to figure out what's the best trade-off to make. 

A trade-off that will increase total shareholder value.
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One of the best hacks to understand a business is to learn the chart of accounts. 

A chart of accounts can help in understanding how every single transaction happening in the business gets recorded in the books.

And if you follow the money — like a good auditor — you'll be able to understand how they purchase, sell, and ship product out the door.

You'll be able to understand incentives a lot better. Not to mention the overall behavior of the organization.

What do you think?
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The cash in your wallet and the funds in your bank account have value because of one single reason. 👇🏼 
 
The trust and confidence people place in the government and central bank. 
 
But that confidence has been abused in the past few years. 
 
Inflation. Currency devaluation. 
 
We see it in the news all the time. 
 
$400 dollars buying 10-15 items in the grocery store. 
 
Electricity at its peak. 
 
Gas prices through the roof.  
 
House prices nobody can't afford. 
 
Even though most countries left the gold standard in the 1930s, it makes you wonder if we would have been better off if currencies would have been backed by gold all this time. 
 
What do you think?

Consulting is about to get richer. 
 
If you were to look at bookings of consulting firms, it’s fair to assume that AI workloads will be driving a lot of the top line. 
 
Companies want to hop on the AI trend to transform how they do business.  
 
So they will typically go to consulting firms to get help on how to set the strategy for the next few years.  
 
Customers might not know what to use AI for, but in a competitive environment, it’s more important to be ahead of everyone else. 

Jamie Dimon, the CEO of JP Morgan Chase, gave one tip on how to read to maximize learning and productivity. 👇🏼

Separate the types of reading you do in your life.

Very fast.
Fast.
Very slow.

'Very fast reading' should be newspaper articles, text messages, non-critical emails.

'Fast reading' should be novels, self-help books.

'Very slow reading' should be anything that has the potential to give you an additional set of skills and knowledge. Industry reports, technical books, or business critical emails. 

Content that requires your brain to focus and reflect on things should be read carefully and deliberately, while taking notes and associating the concepts with prior knowledge you've built throughout the years.

Making mind maps and thinking how you can apply certain concepts will immediately help your retention and learning.

Applying all of that immediately is what guarantees you'll remember and use those skills in the future.

That's how books change your life.

By learning and applying what other people have left for you in their written words.
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What's one of the most important skills to develop in business? Here's the former CFO of Nike explaining it brilliantly. 
 
Nowadays, we hear a lot about the importance of analytical skills, critical thinking, data science, or AI. 
 
We hear some about soft skills such as emotional intelligence, influencing, or teamwork. 
 
But we don't hear enough about intuition. The importance of developing that 'gut feeling' which is more effective and accurate than a bunch of data. 
 
Business is about human interactions. And understanding motives and incentives from customers, suppliers, employees, and external institutions is what gives companies a competitive advantage to win in the marketplace. 
 
This only comes with experience. Which is why it's important to start developing that skill early in your career. 
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Can your kid get into Harvard? 
 
Besides scoring in the 99% percentile on SATs, earning an impeccable GPA, and accumulating extracurriculars ... 
 
Let's not forget the $100K+ in consulting fees that rich parents pay to make sure their kid gets a fighting chance at being admitted.

A reminder to never underestimate your competition. Steve Ballmer got cocky and the other Steve from Apple stole his lunch. 
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One of the best ways to explain economics is through the eyes of a combat medic. Let me explain ...

In reality, economics is not about making money or what you typically see or hear in the news.

It's much broader than that.

The most elegant definition of economics is this one: it's the use of scarce resources that have alternative uses.

Money. Natural resources. Time.

But my favorite scarce resource to illustrate economics is a combat medic.

This person follows a platoon with limited meds and no weapon. He supports the troops with medical assistance, while putting his life in danger. Truly exceptional people.

The combat medic has to allocate his time and skills to save soldiers lives. In other words, triage.

Imagine two soldiers. One is wounded with critical injuries, to the point he might not survive, regardless of medical attention. The other also has wounds, but with enough plasma and morphine, he might make it through to live another day.

Now, imagine that the combat medic only has one shot of morphine. 

Whom does he give it to? Whose life does he save?

This is an economic dilemma.

As an outsider or observer, the decision might be quite obvious.

But for someone who is in the heat of the moment, trying to save the lives of his friends, this decision is not as crystal clear as we think.

This teaches us that economics is all about tough choices (some tougher than others).

Raising interest rates. Increasing the money supply. Firing employees.

All of those are economic choices. Just like deciding which soldier gets the shot of morphine.

Choices on how to best allocate scarce resources with alternative uses.
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If you get confused when people talk about return on investment (ROI), read this: 
 
At some point, every business faces a decision about when/what to invest in. 
 
This could be: 
 
- Purchasing equipment to improve the supply chain 
 
- Buying a company or technology to boost market share 
 
But how do you select the best opportunity? 
 
You select it based on ROI. 
 
To figure out the ROI on that particular investment, you need to do two important things: 
 
• Balance costs with projected profits. 
 
• Compare benefits to potential risks. 
 
80% of the decision-making process should focus on these considerations. 
 
Let me show you how to do it. 
 
Calculating ROI: A Simple Step-by-Step Guide 
 
1. Determine investment costs. 
 
2. Forecast savings from the investment. 
 
3. Estimate cash generated by the investment. 
 
4. Draw a timeline comparing costs, savings, and cash flow. 
 
5. Factor in intangible costs and benefits. 
 
When calculating ROI, it's vital to account for: 
 
a) Initial and ongoing costs (e.g., maintenance, upgrades). 
 
b) Savings from varied sources (e.g., enhanced quality, increased productivity). 
 
c) Additional sales spurred by the investment. 
 
Now, let’s move onto the mechanics: 
 
There’s various ways to calculate ROI such as: 
 
• Payback Period: 
 
Divide initial investment by avg cash flow or cost savings per year.  
 
Ex: If a company invests $10K and saves $2K annually, payback period = $10K / $2K = 5 years. 
 
Simple but doesn't consider time value of money. 
 
• Net Present Value (NPV):  
 
Time value of money. 
 
Discount future cash flow to present value. 
 
Ex: An investment makes $5K annually for 5 years. 
 
With a 10% discount rate,  
 
NPV = $5,000 / (1.10^1) + $5,000 / (1.10^2) + ... + $5,000 / (1.10^5) = $18,463.  
 
If NPV > 0, go for it. 
 
• Sensitivity Analysis: 
 
Evaluates multiple scenarios with varying inputs, assessing how changes in initial costs or return durations impact the investment's viability. 
 
If you’re good with spreadsheets (Goal Seek is great), this is a good one to consider all possible scenarios. 
 
• Break-Even Analysis:  
 
When do I start making (or losing) money? 
 
Ex: A company invests $100,000 in a new product.  
 
Each unit sells for $50, with $30 variable cost per unit.  
 
Break-even point = $100,000 / ($50 - $30) = 5,000 units.  
 
If sales > 5,000, it's profitable. 
 
Lastly, always remember to include factors such as inflation, technology upgrades, skills, etc. 
 
While they might be challenging to quantify, they're essential in the decision-making process. 
 
Hope this helps clarify what ROI means for your next discussion with your finance partner. 
 
Have a great start of the week!

Spotify is 18 years old. Old enough to have a beer (at least in Europe). Here's why you should root for them. 
 
Today, Daniel Ek posted a very cool video where he talked about the company becoming an 'adult'. 
 
I left a comment congratulating that milestone and he actually liked my comment back. A personal highlight for my LinkedIn profile. 
 
Anyways, the company reported net income of 197 million Euro in the first quarter of the year.  
 
Last year, they actually lost 225 million Euro.  
 
That's progress. And a testament that they are past the teenager phase. 
 
In business, I think of adulting as making tough choices. The "coming of age" kind of thing. 
 
They let some people go, which is always painful. 
 
They cut a lot of unnecessary spend, which is hard to do. 
 
They increased prices, which is a hard sell for customers. 
 
However, based on this quarter results, it looks like the efforts paid off. 
 
On top of that, I just think we should root for these guys. 
 
For us millennials, go back to the Napster era where we were spending countless hours in front of the computer waiting for a song to download. 
 
Now, we have the ability to listen to any song we want to in a matter of seconds for free or for a reasonable fee without ads.  
 
AND Legally.  
 
Without the feeling that if you get caught, you might get sued or judged by your friends for being cheap and not buying the album. 
 
I'm bullish on Spotify.  
 
I leave you with one of the first landing pages they made when the company started. 
 
A good reminder of the beginning of the journey. 
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Sounds about right. Anybody in finance who's worked on month/quarter/year-end close will know what this feels like. 😅  
 
Have a great weekend, everybody! 
 


One of the most powerful and truthful quotes you'll ever find. 
 
Life is a battle. 
 
Everything is hard. 
 
Being fit and eating healthy is hard.  
 
Being overweight and not able to walk for 10 minutes without gasping for air is also hard. 
 
Life is all about choices. 
 
Choose your hard.

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iPhone sales are down by almost $5 billion, but the stock went up higher than what analysts expected. Why?

First ... let me get me get this out of the way.

If you own an iPhone, could you tell me what the biggest differences are since the iPhone 12 came out? Besides the camera and the USB-C. 

Hard to say for the average consumer.

This phone needs to be disrupted. And hopefully, we'll see something cool coming in the next few years. Because at the moment, consumers are going to Pixel, Galaxy, and Nothing phones.

To put this in perspective, that 10% drop in iPhone sales is the equivalent of almost $5 billion USD. Not a small drop.

Now ... the stock.

What's interesting about this story is that the stock price actually went up.

The share buyback of $110 billion had a lot to do with this.

Remember this is one of the key levers to pull when it comes to capital allocation.

So, what this signals to the market is that Apple believes its stock is under appreciated. And they rather buy it back to pump the stock price to the levels they think is the right one.

On top of that, services (i.e. subscriptions, licenses, etc.) is going up as well. And from what we hear, the iPad is coming with a redesign, which has some people excited (I think it's mostly the fact that hopefully the camera is placed in the right spot this time).

Let's see if after a few years, this share repurchase program yields positive returns to shareholders.
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