Host Erik Zhou, CAO at Brex, sits down with Richie Mashiko, Fractional CFO, to unpack the financial complexities of running high-growth e-commerce and CPG brands. From measuring the right things to navigating ad spend, pricing strategies, and fragile supply chains amidst tariffs, Richie offers a unique operator’s perspective on what it takes to drive sustainable growth in today’s market.

Key quotes

• “There are 4 things I look at in an e-commerce business: cost of goods, operating expenses, advertising spend, and profit”
• “A lot of e-commerce businesses are dependent on the performance and efficiency of ads on Meta, Google, or Tik Tok”
• “It's cheaper to have a website than it is to have a physical retail location. But what ends up happening is over time, it can end up costing way more to run a website because you have 50 different software providers. Most people don't even touch all the software that they're using.”
• “I see a lot of brands in business for a long time who don’t increase their prices. Don’t be afraid to do price testing.”

Time Stamps

• (00:51) Richie's background and early ventures
• (05:04) Basic e-commerce business strategies
• (08:18) Impact of tariffs on e-commerce
• (19:23) Managing margins and operational costs
• (25:55) Capital structure and financing challenges
• (31:11) Future outlook for e-commerce brands
• (34:55) Finance leaders are fun too!

Links

• Connect with Richie
• Visit She’s Birdie
• Connect with Erik
• Visit Brex

Host Erik Zhou sits down with Amber Papp, VP of Finance at Scentbird, to explore the unique challenges of accounting in the e-commerce space. From managing a massive inventory of over 700 fragrances to navigating rapid growth and making smart automation decisions, Amber shares firsthand insights on what it takes to keep financial operations running smoothly at a high-growth, subscription-based company.

Amber and Erik also dig into relevant themes like the role of AI in accounting, balancing efficiency with cost when evaluating new financial tools and systems, and the never-ending pursuit of data integrity.

And as the episode closes, Amber shares a truly unexpected budget request—one that involved a Cybertruck, a demolition derby, and a marketing team with big dreams.

Key quote

• “Having over 700 fragrances, it does present certain challenges. We want to make sure as an ecom business that we're giving our customers the best offering. You want to have as much variety as possible, obviously, but at the same time, you have to be able to manage the different fragrances.”

Time Stamps

• (02:20) Career path and transition to Scentbird
• (06:20) Challenges with inventory management
• (16:31) Data integrity and AI in accounting
• (21:25) Homegrown systems vs. off-the-shelf solutions
• (30:07) Maintaining company culture remotely
• (41:09) Finance leaders are fun too

Links

• Connect with Amber
• Visit Scentbird
• Connect with Erik
• Visit Brex

On this episode of Controllers Classified, host Erik Zhou sits down with Brad Silicani, COO of Anrok, to talk about his journey from Big Four accounting to leading operations at a fast-growing tech company.

The discussion begins by covering Brad’s transition from audit to client side, and highlights the myriad of roles he held at Dropbox. In his time there he was Controller, tasked with landing a sound revenue recognition method, Head of Tax, focused on developing the right international tax structure prior to IPO, and Treasurer, responsible for managing $2B in cash in a changing interest rate environment. In covering all this, Brad shares how these experiences set him up for success in his current role as COO at Anrok, highlighting why a background in accounting and finance makes him the operations leader he is today.

And of course, no modern finance conversation would be complete without tackling the AI revolution. Erik and Brad dig into how automation and AI are reshaping accounting, tax, and treasury functions—not just making processes smoother but fundamentally redefining the role of finance leaders. Whether you're a CFO- OR COO-in-the-making, or just someone who loves hearing behind-the-scenes war stories from hyper-growth companies, this episode delivers sharp insights and great conversation.

Key Quotes

• “It was a big transition, being in an environment where I was around a bunch of accountants who knew the acronyms to being in a world where you had to communicate with people who had no experience or background in accounting.”
• “Accounting in a startup - you have to work with what you have.”
• “I genuinely think that tax drives a lot of how the world works. Getting exposed to tax strategy was like a light bulb moment for me. I understood why a business would make a decision about where to play their people, produce their products, why they would acquire a company and do it in a certain way.”
• “My career goals changed from CFO to COO because I loved getting exposed to all of the different parts of a business.”

Time Stamps

• (00:50) The journey into accounting
• (02:04) Early career and experience at E&Y
• (05:03) Joining Dropbox: revenue recognition methods
• (06:54) Scaling Dropbox: tax challenges
• (20:12) Transition to Treasurer and preparing for IPO at Dropbox
• (21:49) Becoming COO at Anrock
• (25:55) The evolution of financial software
• (36:14) Finance leaders are are fun too

Links

• Connect with Brad
• Visit Anrok
• Connect with Erik
• Visit Brex