Podcast
Behind Numbers
Hosted by Alessandro Cozzi · EN
Welcome to Behind Numbers — the podcast where business and finance leaders reveal what’s not visible from the outside.
Hosted by Alessandro Cozzi, a finance and M&A executive with over 18 years of global experience, the show dives into the pivotal career moments, struggles, and leadership lessons that shape today’s top CFOs, CEOs, and corporate decision-makers.
Discover how they lead transformation, build teams, embrace AI, and drive the numbers that define success in today’s fast-changing world.
18episodes
Episodes
Newest firstAll episodes
The “Smartest Guy in the Room” Mistake | CFO Nick Fuoco
Mar 1700:20:36Tap to summarizeIn this episode of Behind Numbers, Alessandro Cozzi sits down with Nick Fuoco — Chief Financial Officer, Equity Partner, Honorary Consul of Italy, and founder of one of Utah’s largest cultural events.Nick shares the leadership mistake that shaped his career: trying to always be the smartest person in the room.From growing up in an immigrant family to helping build Festa Italiana in Salt Lake City — now attracting over 50,000 people every year — Nick explains what leadership really looks like behind the numbers.In this episode we discuss:• The mindset shift from accountant to business leader• Why great CFOs must understand the entire business• The hardest leadership decisions about people and culture• How a $1,000 idea became a 50,000-person festival• Why great leaders are comfortable saying “I don’t know”Subscribe to Behind Numbers for conversations with leaders shaping the future of business and finance.#Leadership #CFO #Entrepreneurship #BusinessPodcast #BehindNumbers
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7,000 Miles. One Suitcase. One Dream
Mar 200:17:28Tap to summarizeAt just 24 years old, he left his family, his country, and everythingfamiliar, with only a small suitcase and a big ambition.In this episode of Behind Numbers, I sit down with Pushkar Bedekar, a CFO whose journey started in Mumbai and led him across the world to build a career in global business and healthcare innovation.We talk about:· The moment he decided to leave home and move 7,000 miles away· Why sometimes you just need to show up at the starting line· The biggest difference between working in India and the U.S.· What it really means to lead as a CFO in a mission-driven company· How new breakthroughs in cancer treatment could change millions of livesThis conversation is about courage, perspective, and the decisions that shape a career, even when they feel crazy at the time.If you're building something, changing countries, or thinking about taking a big leap, this episode will resonate with you.#CareerGrowth #EntrepreneurMindset #Leadership #StartupJourney #BehindNumbers
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Stop Asking ‘What If It Fails?’ — A Global CFO’s Mindset Shift
Feb 1600:19:04Tap to summarizeWhat separates good leaders from great ones?In this episode of Behind Numbers, we explore, with Jenny Fuss – CFO at Crowley, a powerful mindset shift that changes how leaders think about risk, failure, and decision-making.“Your energy flows where your focus goes.”“Everything is figure-outable.”“Stop asking: What if it fails?”Jenny shares lessons from a global career that took her from Germany to China to the United States; navigating complexity,cultural shifts, and high-stakes leadership decisions along the way.We dive into:• The mindset shift that reframes fear of failure• The difference between “reporting the weather” and “steering the ship” as a CFO• Why energy and focus shape outcomes more than strategy alone• What global leadership teaches you about adaptability• How finance leaders should think about risk in uncertain times• AI, transformation, and the evolving role of the modern CFOThis conversation goes beyond balance sheets and numbers. It’s about courage, clarity, and the responsibility of leadership when the stakes are high.If you're a founder, CFO, entrepreneur, or aspiring leader, this episode will challenge the way you think about decision-making under pressure.🎙 Welcome to Behind Numbers: where we look beyond thesurface to uncover what’s not visible from the outside.If this resonates, subscribe for more conversations with business and finance leaders who share the pivotal moments that shaped their careers.#Leadership #CFO #Finance #ExecutiveLeadership #BehindNumbers
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Behind the $3B Empire: Why a CEO Started Back in the Dish Pit
Feb 100:27:07Tap to summarizeWhat does it really take to build a $3B company?Sometimes, it means starting at the very bottom — even after you’ve already “made it.”In this episode of Behind Numbers, I sit down with Andrew Smith, Founder of Savory Fund, to unpack the unconventional choices behind building one of the most successful hospitality investment platforms in the U.S.After years in tech, Andrew made a counterintuitive move: he went back to the dish pit. Not for optics, and not as a stunt — but to truly understand the business he was about to scale from the inside out.We dive into:• Why failure and rejection are part of every founder’s daily reality• How the skills that drive early traction can become liabilities at scale• The mindset shift required to let go of control and ego• Why unlearning is often more important than learning• How starting from the bottom shaped Savory Fund’s path to a $3B empireThis is a raw, honest conversation about leadership, resilience, and the kind of lessons you only learn by doing the work — not managing it from a distance.If you’re a founder, operator, or leader navigating growth — or questioning what real leadership looks like when the stakes rise — this episode is for you.🎙 Behind Numbers is the podcast where leaders share the decisions, failures, and insights that don’t show up in headlines — but define success.#Entrepreneurship #Leadership #Founders #StartupLife #behindnumbers
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The Founder’s Journey Is a Decade of Rejection — Until One Day You Win
Jan 2000:20:01Tap to summarizeIn this episode of Behind Numbers, host Alessandro Cozzi sits down with Saroop Bharwani, founder and CEO of Senso AI, to unpack what the founder journey really looks like behind the hype — constant rejection, daily failure, and the resilience required to keep building anyway.Saroop describes entrepreneurship as a decade-long journey of rejection, where failure isn’t the exception but the rule. Through his story, we explore why this cycle of failure is not only unavoidable, but essential — especially in today’s fast-moving world of AI, autonomy, and exponential technology.The conversation traces Saroop’s path from early curiosity about artificial intelligence and neuropsychology, to building enterprise software, to founding Senso AI — a knowledge orchestration platform helping organizations unlock the value trapped in static documents, policies, and workflows. Along the way, he shares how global shifts in AI, particularly in the post–ChatGPT era, have reshaped what’s possible for builders and leaders alike.Together, Alessandro and Saroop explore:• Why founders must learn to live with rejection and uncertainty• How failure accelerates learning more than any textbook ever could• What Y Combinator really looks for when selecting founders• The difference between enterprise thinking and builder thinking• Why traditional long-term planning breaks down in the age of AI• How leaders must unlearn corporate habits to keep pace with innovation• Why mindset, not technology, is the biggest blocker to AI adoption• How building communities and empowering people through technology has been a constant thread across Saroop’s companiesSaroop also reflects on the emotional highs and lows of entrepreneurship — the moments where quitting feels inevitable, and the moments where everything clicks. He explains why every leader today, founder or not, must adopt a builder’s mindset: experimenting fast, accepting failure, and starting every day as “day one.”This episode is not just about startups or artificial intelligence. It’s a raw, honest conversation about resilience, leadership, decision-making, and what it takes to build something meaningful in an uncertain world.If you’re a founder, executive, operator, or builder trying to understand how to navigate failure, AI disruption, and the future of work, this episode will challenge how you think — and how you lead.#BehindNumbers #FounderJourney #Entrepreneurship #StartupLife #Leadership #FailureToSuccess #Resilience #Ycombinator
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He Became a Tech Executive Without a College Degree - Here’s How He Did It
Jan 600:22:54Tap to summarizeIn this episode of Behind Numbers, host Alessandro Cozzi sits down with Zak Ali, General Manager of the U.S. at Finder, to unpack one of the most unconventional leadership journeys in modern tech — building a senior executive career without a college degree.Zak’s path didn’t follow a traditional blueprint. Instead of credentials, he focused on learning by doing, building products, growing audiences, and mastering the mental discipline required to lead at scale. From co-founding Rantt — which evolved from a news aggregator into a widely cited media platform — to leading growth and eventually the U.S. business at Finder, Zak’s story is about momentum, focus, and deliberate thinking.A key theme of the conversation is attention — what you choose to focus on shapes your outcomes. Zak shares a powerful mental model, to explain how awareness, mindset, and intentional focus can quietly determine success or stagnation in both career and life.Together, Alessandro and Zak explore:• How Zak built executive-level responsibility without formal academic credentials• Why controlling your thoughts and attention is a competitive advantage• The difference between learning skills and mastering judgment• How growth leaders scale teams, culture, and systems sustainably• Why many careers accelerate not through planning, but through pattern recognition• The role of self-belief, criticism, and resilience in leadership development• What aspiring leaders should focus on instead of titles and credentialsThis episode goes beyond career advice. It’s a conversation about mental discipline, leadership under uncertainty, and building credibility through execution rather than permission.If you’re interested in leadership development, growth strategy, unconventional career paths, mindset mastery, or what it really takes to earn trust and responsibility at the executive level, this episode offers practical insight and hard-earned perspective.#BehindNumbers #TechLeadership #NoCollegeDegree #ExecutiveMindset #CareerGrowth #LeadershipMindset #TechCareers #StartupLeadership #MentalDiscipline #CareerAdvice #NonTraditionalPath
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From 9/11 to Autonomous Defense Robots: how one Engineer ended up Defending the World
Dec 2300:24:36Tap to summarizeIn this episode of Behind Numbers, host Alessandro Cozzi sits down with Tim Bean, an engineer and founder whose unconventional career journey led him into the world of autonomous defense technology and AI-driven systems — not through a lifelong plan, but through pivotal moments and real-world opportunity.The conversation begins with 9/11, a defining global event that reshaped Tim’s perspective and ultimately redirected his career. Rather than “following his dreams,” Tim explains how he followed important problems, learning along the way and building technology where accountability, ethics, and leadership truly matter.Together, Alessandro and Tim discuss:• How global events can shape leadership paths and career decisions• Why many successful founders never planned their end destination• The difference between ambition and obsession — and why obsession can become dangerous• What it takes to build autonomous systems and defense technology in high-stakes environments• How AI, robotics, and autonomy intersect with ethics and responsibility• Why proximity to meaningful problems matters more than titles or credentials• How strong judgment and values define long-term leadership successThis episode goes beyond technology and AI trends. It’s a deep conversation about leadership, decision-making under uncertainty, career growth, and building impactful technology without a traditional roadmap.If you’re interested in founder stories, leadership development, autonomous systems, AI in defense, engineering careers, or unconventional paths to success, this episode offers rare insight into how meaningful work is built — one decision at a time.
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This Is the #1 Reason People Fail at Work
Dec 800:27:22Tap to summarizeIn this episode of Behind Numbers, host Alessandro Cozzi sits down with Frank, one of the rare leaders who has operated at the very top of both the consulting and corporate worlds. Frank served as Chairman and CEO of Deloitte Italy, where he led the firm through one of its most challenging periods, and later as President and CEO of Herbalife, guiding the global organization through transformational change. Today, he is CEO of Finaxstrure, continuing his mission of building strong cultures and elevating people.Frank opens with a powerful truth: culture is the most important factor in your career. Intelligence and talent alone don’t guarantee success—being in the right environment does. If you’re in the wrong culture, you’ll struggle. In the right one, you’ll thrive beyond expectations. This theme anchors an episode full of hard-earned wisdom, personal stories, and unfiltered leadership lessons.Together, Alessandro and Frank explore:🔹 Why great careers aren’t designed—they’re built by delivering excellence in every assignment, no matter how small or unglamorous.🔹 How being proactive, not reactive, creates opportunities long before a title appears.🔹 Why you should choose leaders and culture, not logos, and how staying in the wrong environment is the fastest route to stagnation or failure.🔹 The differences between leading in Europe and the U.S., from negotiation styles to contrasting ideas of ethics, accountability, and transparency.🔹 Frank’s people-first leadership philosophy, built on loyalty, fairness, trust, courage, and compassion—and why employees will follow leaders who consistently live these values.🔹 His toughest leadership moment as Chairman & CEO of Deloitte Italy: arriving to find the firm on the brink of collapse, forced to cut 30% of the workforce to save the organization—and the lessons in dignity, honesty, and courage that shaped him.🔹 How he approached global leadership as President & CEO of Herbalife, managing diverse cultures, intense scrutiny, and rapid decision-making.🔹 How to recognize true talent, why everyone has a “genius zone,” and the leader’s responsibility to place people where they can excel.Frank also offers candid reflections on living and leading in Italy—learning the culture, adapting to the pace, and navigating a society where relationships matter as much as results.This episode is more than a career conversation—it’s a masterclass in leadership, resilience, values, and navigating the realities behind executive decision-making.If you’re a future leader, an ambitious professional, or simply curious about what happens at the highest levels of organizations, this episode pulls back the curtain with honesty, humility, and insight.
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