Coworking with Christina Ross

Coworking is a weekly segment where we talk to CFOs and other leaders in the finance space about their experiences, their companies, and the larger economy. To be considered, answer a few quick questions for us here and we’ll be in touch if we want to feature you in the newsletter.

Christina Ross is CEO of Cube, a financial planning and analysis tool she created in 2018 after being a three-time CFO with stints at Rent the Runway, Criteo, and Eyeview.

This interview has been lightly edited for length and clarity.

How would you describe your job to someone who doesn’t work in finance?

I’m on a mission to help every company hit their numbers. Our way of doing this is by delivering FP&A automation and analytics to help businesses better understand their past, manage their present, and build for the future.

How do you think the CFO role has changed over the past five to 10 years, both for you, and in general?

Much of the CFO’s evolution accelerated when companies began to automate their high-transaction roles such as billing, payables, and collections. With greater automation came more time to focus on the strategic side of finance, allowing businesses to become more data-driven in their planning and decision-making. Just as “Human Resources” successfully made the leap to “People Operations,” finance has evolved from a perceived back office to a strategic value driver.

What’s something we can’t guess about your job from your LinkedIn profile?

My second job is being a mom to my 6-year old twins. And yes, twins run in my family, including aunts, uncles, and cousins.

What advice do you have for future CFOs?

If you’re looking to grow into a CFO role from other areas of finance, remember your job is to tell the story behind the numbers, not just build and share them. The real value in the finance function is understanding what the numbers are saying, using them to create better forecasts and scenario plans, and using data to make better decisions to drive the business forward.

Who’s a CFO you admire or you try to model yourself after?

I really admire the work Dave Stephenson has done at Airbnb. This is a business that could have been bankrupted because of Covid. Instead, they made the necessary changes and saved the company from disaster, proceeded to go public, and bounced back in time to support massive growth for a travel-eager population. Truly amazing.

If you weren’t a CFO you would be... ?

A traveling backup dancer. I wish I could tell you that I had experience there. But the reality is, I just have always loved dancing and not in any sort of traditional or well-trained way. I just love being everyone's backup dancer. So if we’re [out] for karaoke, I will be the backup dancer. If we’re out with friends, I will be the first person up dancing. So if I weren't a CFO and I didn’t study finance and operations in school, I would have become a fly girl.—KT