Critical.
Authoritative.
Strategic.
Subscribe to CIO Magazine »

10 questions for Entrust CFO David Wagner

Name: David Wagner

Age: 47

Time with company: 15 years

Education: Undergraduate degree in accounting and MBA from Pennsylvania State University

Company headquarters: Dallas

Number of countries: 10

Number of employees total: Approximately 340

Number of employees the CFO oversees: 60

About the company: Entrust is a privately-held company that offers identity-based security software to customers that include 4,000 government agencies and businesses in 60 countries. The website is http://www.entrust.com/index.php

1. Where did you start in finance and what experiences led you to the job you have today?

I actually started in finance as a high school intern. My first job was to transition a company's internal monthly reports from mainframe reports to VisiCalc spreadsheets. I got to where I am today by accepting the job opportunities that allowed me to learn the most. I am a big believer in continual learning. What you can learn is more important than what you make. The money works itself out in the long run.

2. Who was an influential boss for you and what lessons did they teach you about management and leadership?

My first boss, when I was only 18, was probably the most influential for me. I learned to team with technical people and managers in order to help them focus on financial outcomes. I've also learned great deal from my current CEO, Bill Conner, who is a strong leader.

3. What are the biggest challenges facing CFOs today?

I think the biggest challenge is being able to manage change. There is a lot of volatility in the market, and technology is changing quickly. In my career at Entrust alone, we have managed through being a division of a large multinational company, to being a small private company, to going public and back to being private again. Each owner of our business has had different objectives. We have also managed through a transition from being a perpetual software company to a company that earns more than 60 percent of its revenue through subscriptions. It is important to clearly communicate the financial impact of the change to help an organization achieve its goals.

4. What is a good day at work like for you?

A good day is a day when I get to work with the sales team and our customers to create value.

5. How would you characterize your management style?

I hope that I am characterized as empowering, but also as having high expectations for the people on my team.

6. What strengths/qualities do you look for in job candidates?

I really focus on fit. I like to find candidates who will be in a position to do what they do best when they are hired.

7. What are some of your favorite interview questions or techniques to elicit information to determine whether a candidate will be successful at your company?

One of my favorite questions to ask the candidate is to give me specific examples of when they demonstrated a behavior or attribute that I think is critical to their role in our organization. I ask follow-up questions until I am comfortable that I am getting an answer that reflects who the candidate really is and how they really work.

8. What is it about your current job, at this particular company, that sets it apart from other chief finance positions?

Change, the change I mentioned earlier and the fact that what Entrust does -- securing information -- makes a real difference in the world.

9. What do you do to unwind from a hectic day?

I'm a runner. I love to run alone and I love to run with friends. When I run alone, I can really think. It provides a great perspective.

10. If you weren't doing this job, what would you be doing?

I love what I do. I suspect I'd be doing a similar job for another company.

Join the CIO Australia group on LinkedIn. The group is open to CIOs, IT Directors, COOs, CTOs and senior IT managers.

More about: Bill, Entrust, VisiCalc
References show all

Comments

Post new comment

The content of this field is kept private and will not be shown publicly.
Users posting comments agree to the CIO comments policy.
Login or register to link comments to your user profile, or you may also post a comment without being logged in.
Related Coverage
Related Whitepapers
Latest Stories
Community Comments
Tags: Entrust, Business Management, CFO Careers
Latest Blog Posts
Whitepapers
  • Leveraging the Service Catalog to Scale Your MSP Business
    When assessing an MSP’s maturity and prospects, one question provides more insights than any other: “What’s in your service catalog?” A well-defined service catalog can set the framework for growth. The lack of a service catalog can significantly impede an MSP’s ability to scale. This paper explores why the service catalog is so vital, and provides some practical guidelines MSPs can apply in order to ensure their service catalog provides maximum utility and benefit.
    Learn more »
  • Miercom Report - Plug and Play Switches
    Avaya engaged Miercom to evaluate the plug and play features and ease of configuration of the ERS 4548GT- PWR Edge Switch. The energy efficiency of the ERS was compared to similar switches and is discussed in this report as well. Read on.
    Learn more »
  • Risk management: ensuring the security of your hosted information
    Organisations of all sizes are becoming victims to cybercriminals, data breaches, information theft and security risks. But before you go out and spend a fortune on security software, solutions and consultants, the starting point is to identify and measure your business’s exposure to those risks. In this whitepaper, “Exploring, Identifying and Measuring” risk, we examine how to identify risk and share an approach for identifying and measuring risk in your organisation.
    Learn more »
All whitepapers
rhs_login_lockGet exclusive access to Invitation only events CIO, reports & analysis.
Recent comments