Shows
Finance Guys In TechEp26 Staying Optimistic with Melissa Brown, Global FP&A, AWS"See the silver lining, even in difficult situations." - Melissa Brown, Global FP&A, AWSHowdy friends, today we talked with our good friend and three year Amazon vet Melissa Brown! We discussed her lessons learned in finance, on career progression, and the importance of having a healthy outlook. We also talked about great books and how her passion for French literature led to a career finance , naturally :) Enjoy!Melissa on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/melissa-brown-90b53335/ --CONTACT THE SHOW:Website | https://www...
2021-06-2226 minFinance Guys In TechEp25 How to Win The Day with Keith Klein, AWS Real Estate, Managing Principal, Americas"Win the day...but understand what your limitations are." - Keith Klein, AWS Real Estate, Managing Principal, AmericasHowdy friends. This a great episode with our pal and 9-year Amazon veteran, Keith Klein. We dive into some great tactics for having success as an individual, how he sets his team up for success, and the importance of keeping family first. We also get into golf, off-roading, and who he'd like to have lunch with. Enjoy!Keith on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/keith-klein-620b4613/--CONTACT T...
2021-06-0427 minFinance Guys In TechEp24 Finding Your Interests with Van Tran, Amazon Treasury, Capital Markets“Ask yourself what makes you happy.” - Van Tran, Amazon Treasury, Capital MarketsHello folks. Today we bring you a show with our our good buddy Van Tran, Treasury Manager, Capital Markets here at Amazon and with it, our first look inside the Treasury space.We’ve had the pleasure of getting to work with Van and her team on some recent projects and today we got a chance to step back to discuss her background: growing up in Hanoi, Vietnam, comic books, attending undergrad in Maine, infrastructure finance, business school at Upenn, and he...
2021-02-2641 minFinance Guys In TechEp23 - The Finance MBA Internship Experience with Alex Solomon (Columbia), AWS Infrastructure“All you ca do day-to-day is control the things that are within your power.” - Alex Solomon, MBA Intern, Columbia, AWS InfrastructureHappy new year!We’re kicking off the 2021 season with an interview we recorded at the end of last summer with Alex Solomon. He was an MBA intern on our team.First off, it turns out that Alex and Charlie hail from the same neck of the woods (Long Island), so we spent some quality time digging into the culture ;) (bagels, North Fork wineries, Montauk, Billy Joel and the importan...
2021-01-2136 minFinance Guys In TechEp22 Fifteen Years at AWS & The Early Days with Joe Minarik, Director, Data Center Supply“It’s good to round yourself out but double down on your super powers.” - Joe Minarik, Director, AWS Data Center SupplyJoin The FG Podcast LinkedIn Group! https://www.linkedin.com/groups/13919730/First things, first, Joe holds the Finance Guys land speed record for guests at 180mph. Yikes.We’re back this week, this time with the fearless leader of our Business team and AWS veteran, Joe Minarik, Director, AWS Data Center Supply..This episode is where the rubber meets the road, where the cloud meets the dirt...
2020-11-3033 minFinance Guys In TechEp021 Finding Meaning In The Process with Raj Uparkar, Sr. Mgr., DC Capacity, AWS“Try to identify top goals, personally and professionally and work at them in a way that’s meaningful to you. Don’t drive towards output metrics…focus on what you can control and the other things will play out.” - Raj Uparkar, Sr. Manager, DC Capacity, AWSJoin The Finance Guys Podcast Group on LinkedIn :) https://www.linkedin.com/groups/13919730/Whoa there peeps! It’s been awhile but we’re back, finally publishing a new episode we recorded over the summer and today we bring you our good buddy, Raj Uparkar, Senior Manager...
2020-11-2038 minFinance Guys In TechEp20 - Keeping Perspective with Shruti Shah, Senior Finance Manager, AWS Real Estate“Ask yourself what’s the worst case thing that could happen…it gives you perspective…don’t take things too seriously…be grateful” - Shruti Shah, Sr. Finance Manager, AWS Real EstateHello there peeps. Today we bring you an episode with our friend and long time (9-year) Amazonian, Shruti Shah. Shruti is a Senior Finance Manager in AWS supporting the Data Center Real Estate team.Today we talk to Shruti about her Amazon origin story, some great thoughts on work-life harmony AND…our mutual love of heist movies! Yes! Finally!!We had a great ch...
2020-05-2127 minFinance Guys In TechEp19 – Appreciation and Being Happy with Mariana Emsenhuber, Finance Leadership Development Program, AWS“Appreciate spending time with friends and family…make sure you like what you are doing…and be happy.” - Mariana Emsenhuber, Finance Leadership Program, AWSHey folks. In this episode we bring you our first virtual guest - our friend and teammate Mariana Emsenhuber. Mariana is a Senior Financial Analyst on our team providing financial support for existing region data center expansion strategy.We get to talk to Mariana about growing up in Brazil, her experience joining the Amazon MBA finance rotation program out of business school, and we also chat about some extracurr...
2020-05-0730 minFinance Guys In TechEp18 – The Finance Guys Are Back w.Charlie & Sid“When the going gets tough, the tough get going…we’ll get over it…and we’ll be stronger” - Sid“There’s always an opportunity that comes out of change.” - CharlieThe Finance Guys are back!Whatsup our peeps. We’ve been missing you all since this social distancing began but now that we’ve acclimated to our new routines we are itching to bring you fresh episodes again.In this shorter episode Sid and I reflect on what it’s been like so far. what’s worked well and w...
2020-05-0221 minFinance Guys In Tech*Special Episode*; TPOT1 – The Restaurant Biz During Corona with Phil Buttacavoli, Hospitality Industry, NYC*Special Episode* The Plaza Of Truth (TPOT) Episode 1“It doesn’t matter who you are or how much money you make…maybe you’re driving a Ferrari home and I’m driving a Honda Accord but we’re at the same table, eating the same food…We’re all on the same level.”The Plaza of Truth (TPOT) podcast is a new longer-form version of the 1 minute daily TV show from Instagram #ThePlazaOfTruth, @cbkunk It's a project I’ve been thinking about for awhile now, and got jump started by the current situation going on wi...
2020-04-0219 minFinance Guys In TechEp17 – Uncluttering The Mind with Ryion Pun, Finance Director of APAC Data Center Operations, AWS“In a world that’s going so fast, if you can find the space in yourself that can truly slow down than everything else you’ll find is a lot clearer.”In this episode Sid and I got a rare chance to sit with our friend Ryion Pun while he was with us in Seattle from the Singapore office. Ryion is the Finance Director of Data Center Operations for the APAC region here in AWS infrastructure.Today we talked about quieting the mind, keeping life uncluttered, and learning to use the least amount of force...
2020-03-1143 minFinance Guys In TechEp16 - Keeping It Simple with Dalmar Sheikh, APAC Leader For Data Center Expansion Strategy, AWS“THE SECRET IS SIMPLE…DO THE STUFF EXACTLY HOW YOUR MAMA USED TO TELL YOU, DRESS CLEAN, BE HONEST, BE ON TIME, DO YOUR WORK, BE RESPECTFUL….IF YOU DO THAT EVERYTHING WILL FALL INTO PLACE”Today Sid and I got to sit down with our friend Dalmar Sheikh, the leader of the APAC Data Center Expansion Strategy team and an eight-year Amazonian to boot.Dalmar tells us his awesome story about growing up in (at least) seven different countries (I lost track). Yemen, Somalia, Uganda, Italy, Iran, Nigeria, Sudan…I think ther...
2020-02-2742 minFinance Guys In TechEp15 - Do It Anyway with Valery Gross, Head of Data Center Demand Planning, AWS“Do stuff anyway, even if people tell you no…just keep going.” Today Sid and I got to talk with our friend Valery Gross, the inspirational Head of Data Center Demand Planning here in AWS Infrastructure and a 9 year veteran of Amazon.This was a great episode about many things but especially getting to talk about women in business. We talk about the founding of the WIFI, (the Women In Finance Initiative affinity group at Amazon), the long term game of networking, and waking up at 4:30am to hit the gym.As fath...
2020-02-2056 minFinance Guys In TechEp 14 – Being Mindful Of Your Life with Brent Holley, Senior Finance Manager, Data Center Construction, AWS“Be conscious of your tradeoffs…if you’re perpetually doing things not aligned with your priorities, that’s a recipe for unhappiness.”Today Sid and I got to sit down with our friend Brent Holley, Senior Finance Manager of Data Center Construction here at AWS Infrastructure.This episode was like a fireside chat (a campfire actually). Brent talked to us about adding value as a finance partner and shared his philosophy on being conscious about how you spend your days. He told us a about a recent vacation too – no, not Cabo. Try, getting drop...
2020-02-1443 minFinance Guys In TechEp13 - On Healthy Lifestyle And Adventure with Lincoln Booth, Global Expansion Manager, AWS Infrastructure“Life’s what happens when you’re planning other things.” John Lennon via Lincoln Booth Today Sid and I get a rare opportunity to sit down with one of our business partners, Lincoln Booth, a Global Expansion Manager for data center supply who has recently relocated from Singapore to Dublin.Linc and his team are the people who make sure Elastic Cloud Compute is actually elastic. Today we talk a little about that magic behind the cloud, we talk about Linc’s awesome story about how he’s made health and fitness a priority, bot...
2020-02-0641 minFinance Guys In TechEp12 - The Only Rules Are The Ones You Set For Yourself with Charlie Kunken, Finance Manager, AWS“THERE ARE NO RULES, ONLY THE ONES YOU SET FOR YOURSELF.”Today Sid and I sit down with…ourselves. Sid flipped the script and peppered me with a few of the typical questions we usually ask our guests.We chat leadership, hacking the Amazon recruitment process, and a little story about driving to the Arctic Ocean from New York via Mexico.We thought that could tied you over until we come back next week with some new guests. We hope you enjoy!8:00 | Sports + being a nerd growin...
2020-02-0152 minFinance Guys In TechEp11 – Bringing Your Whole Self with Bunmi Omotowa, Finance Manager; Insights, Planning, Analytics, And Technology, AWS“ALWAYS BRING YOUR WHOLE SELF TO WHATEVER IT IS YOU’RE DOING.”Today Sid and I sit down with our old friend, Bunmi Omotowa, Finance Manager on the Insights, Planning, Analytics, & Technology finance team for AWS. Simply put, they tell the C-suite what’s going on in AWS daily. I told you we’ve got important friends.We get to dig in today to see how Bunmi learned to embrace fear and she shares with us an operating philosophy that would serves us all to heed.Very fun and very wise! Please enj...
2020-01-2442 minFinance Guys In TechEp10 - Make Progress Everyday With Oisin Hughes, Head Of Portfolio Management, AWS“Make progress every day…even one small win can be enough.”Today Sid and I interview Oisin Hughes, Head of Global Data Center Portfolio Management here in AWS Infrastructure. Oisin has a really unique history. Long story short he once traveled around the world…on his motorcycle. That was his 2nd major overland trip on a bike, the first being the entire length of the Pan American highway. He is the author of 2 books documenting each adventure and made a documentary on Youtube about the last.This was a ton of fun and w...
2020-01-1651 minFinance Guys In TechEp9 - The Importance Of Lifelong Learning with Andrew Wilson, Senior Finance Manager, AWS“Lifelong learning is important…go find something (with a plan!)...follow your passions.”Today Sid and I interview Sr. Finance Manager, Andrew Wilson here at AWS Infrastructure. Andrew also happens to be….our manager. Best behavior! (not really)Today Andrew talks about his lifelong pursuit of curiosity and explains how riding to work on a unicycle is a perfectly good way to read the newspaper.Please enjoy! 1:45 | On riding a unicycle to work (while reading the paper)4:05 | Choosing a path in undergrad, learning & being curious from the beginn...
2020-01-0753 minFinance Guys In TechEp8 - Shaping A Career with Gretchen Stephenson - You Better Be Having Fun“If you’re not having fun then you probably need to find something else.”Today Sid and I interview our very own Finance Director here in AWS Infrastructure, Gretchen Stephenson. Today Gretchen drops some sage advice about shaping a career in tech finance. We also chat about Texas, baseball, and why the ideal dinner party involves Barbra Bush, Lenny Kravitz, and The Rock….can you smell what The Rock is cooking?This was a really fun show, we hope you enjoy!3:18 Growing up around education & enrolling at Texas A&M6...
2019-11-1652 minFinance Guys In TechEp007 Real Estate (For Clouds) w.Jim Footh - Understanding People And Communicating“THE WAY TO CONNECT WITH PEOPLE IS TO LISTEN AND UNDERSTAND WHERE THEY CAME FROM…AND THEIR PHILOSOPHY.”Today our guest is Jim Footh, a Real Estate Principal here in AWS Finance and another one of our business partners.Today Jim takes us on an entrepreneurial ride from paper routes to Paris and explains why a weekend cruise involves driving his car into a lake.You’ll especially like this one if you’re curious about Real Estate. It was a great show, we hope you enjoy!2...
2019-10-3050 minFinance Guys In TechEp006 Finding Your Way w.Ernest Popescu - & Finding Truth On The Journey“Be true to yourself, no matter what.”Today our guest is Ernest Popescu, a Bus Dev Sr. Manager here in AWS Infrastructure (and Sid’s business partner). Ernest takes us on a classic ‘Hero’s Journey’ prior to joining Amazon in 2014, complete with tales, hijinks, and the lessons he learned along the way. This episode was a blast. We hope you have as much fun as we did!3:50 | Wait, how many languages does Ernest know?5:01 | Ernest as a kid - sports…and just a little trouble ;)8:01 | Mechanical engineering &a...
2019-10-1646 minFinance Guys In TechEp005 Two Decades of Finance Wisdom w.Mona Leung - Being Mindful & Relaxed On The Journey“You walk in with your idea, people are going to engage with you. They’re going to get into your data, they’re going to get into your thought process and they’re going to challenge you, and they’ll also build on it. So you’re going to walk out with a different product…a better product.”Today our guest is finance gal Mona Leung, a Director here in AWS Finance. Mona draws on her 2 decades of finance experience before joining Amazon in 2014. She tells us what was different about Amazon, what advice she would give herse...
2019-10-0938 minFinance Guys In TechEp004 Staying Close To The Business w.Karl Brenner Román“For the first 90 days here I would try to sit as much as I can, or literally just move your desk to where your business partners are.”Today we have an interview with Karl Brenner Roman, Sid’s and my ‘cousin’ (by the org chart) here in AWS infrastructure finance. Karl is an energy guy and he’s got some great insights on how he has found success adding value in finance at Amazon.1:00 When do you stop counting your Amazon tenure in months?3:00 Karl’s gig before b-school included energy retrofit...
2019-09-3033 minFinance Guys In TechEp003 From India To AWS Finance w.Sid DhodiThe opinions on this show are my own. The voices in my head...still figuring that out.Today we have an interview with Sid Dhodi, my homie and teammate here in AWS finance. Sid brings the funny, we'll definitely be hearing from him again.1:00 Sid’s origin story3:05 Never try this…Sid & family land in NYC for business school7:20 Flunking every 1st round interview9:55 How Sid prepared for Amazon interviews13:35 The biggest learning curve the first year – communication16:10 Amazon’s data culture19:16 Sid’s superpow...
2019-09-2327 min
Finance Guys In TechEp002 (5) Tips for Starting in Finance At Amazon(0:41) 1/Be Useful Quickly; (1:16) 2/Solve Problems, Don't Create Solutions; (2:15) 3/Start w.The Micro; (3:16) 4/1-on-1 Strategy; (4:32) 5/The 3 BucketsThis is the coffee chat I have with new analysts on Day 1 and I wanted to share with you so you can hit the ground running.You can find us online here and subscribe to the weekly blog, where all the ideas start: charleskunken.com/subscribe. This is the audio from an episode of the 'Finance GuyTV' Youtube channel. You can get that video here.You can always hit me up with questions: charlie@charleskunken...
2019-08-2005 min
Finance Guys In TechEp001 Intro: A Different Kind Of ShowWhatsup peeps and welcome to episode 1! This is just a quick preview of what we've got in store. Here's the description of the show: Charlie Kunken brings you a not-so-typical-approach to working in finance at Amazon all geared towards helping you perform better, forming stronger teams, reducing stress & anxiety, and having plenty of laughs along the way.We’ll go micro on the day-to-day tactics and tips. We’ll go macro on creativity and mindset. We’ll give you all kinds of new ideas to play with about how to get into tech finance or what an...
2019-08-1901 min