Chief Financial Officer, 8x8
Search every verified Kevin Kraus interview, podcast appearance, and on-the-record quote — each transcript cross-checked by AI and human review to confirm speaker identity. Kevin Kraus, CFO of 8x8, discussed the company's financial strategy and operational philosophy in a September 2024 podcast. He stated that "cash flow from operations is our Northstar," and that the company focuses on maximizing this metric and returning value to investors, including through paying down debt. Kraus described his approach to M&A, emphasizing the importance of a multifunctional team, strategic rationale, and cultural fit. He noted that the people who perform day-to-day jobs are often best suited for integration work, despite the challenge of balancing it with their regular duties. Kraus also outlined his views on deal desks, describing 8x8's as a "deal execution desk" that aims to speed up approvals by providing pricing tools with red-light or green-light answers. He mentioned that the company prioritizes paying down high-interest debt over share repurchases to deleverage the balance sheet. Regarding internal management, Kraus said he operates his FP&A teams with a "one throat to choke" philosophy, giving each functional leader a single finance contact. He added that he believes great CFOs demonstrate empathy, encourage continuous learning, and focus on succession planning to ensure the organization can operate without them.
“Cash flow from operations is our Northstar. The value of a company is basically the value of its discounted future cash flows, and so what we're focused on is maximizing our cash flow from operations, returning value to our investors. You can also do that by paying down debt; if you pay down your debt, you're apportion...”
“For me, how M&A is done right is first of all you need to get a collective team that's multifunctional. Don't lose sight of the strategic rationale for the acquisition. You want to acquire something that's going to bring value to the company over the long term. Also, cultural fit is absolutely critical because you don'...”
“The people who actually do the day-to-day jobs are usually the best people to do the integration. They know how the company operates, the ERP system, billing system, provisioning systems, and so forth. The downside is they have their day job, but integration can happen faster and with fewer mistakes this way.”
“Our deal desk is not a deal prevention desk; we're the deal execution desk. We give people authority and a pricing tool that gives a red light or green light answer to speed things up. The goal is to get to a yes, not how to get to a no.”
“Ramp deals are common in our market because customers don't instantly deploy all licenses at once. It takes time to ramp up, work out bugs, and get time to value. This is especially important in contact center environments where customer experience is critical.”
“The book 'The Outsiders' influenced how I think about capital allocation. It highlights CEOs who focused on per share metrics, share buybacks, and efficient operations rather than just revenue growth. We focus on cash flow from operations and paying down debt to return value to investors.”
“When deciding between repurchasing shares or buying back debt with incremental free cash flow, we prioritize paying down high-interest debt first to deleverage the balance sheet, which improves cash flow from operations and provides flexibility.”
“I operate my FP&A teams around the 'one throat to choke' philosophy, meaning each functional leader has a single finance contact. This simplifies communication, builds trust, and makes business easier internally.”
“What separates good CFOs from great ones is empathy for people, making them feel good about their work, embracing continuous learning, and surrounding yourself with people smarter and better than you.”
“Succession planning is part of a CFO's job. You want people who are ambitious and want to move up because that helps the company. It's your obligation to ensure the company can operate without you, making the organization sustainable.”
Kevin Kraus, the CFO of publicly traded technology company 8x8 is CJ's guest for this episode. Having done over 14 M&A ...
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