Senior Vice President & Chief Financial Officer, Aerovironment
Search every verified Kevin Mcdonnell interview, podcast appearance, and on-the-record quote — each transcript cross-checked by AI and human review to confirm speaker identity. Kevin McDonnell, senior vice president and chief financial officer at AeroVironment, appeared on two podcasts in 2023 and 2024. In a December 2024 episode focused on property investing, McDonnell discussed the concept of "no money down" property purchases, which he described as "buying property without money that you've earned in a job." He stated that "most people can't do property with their own money" and attributed the availability of such strategies to governments having "printed trillions of pounds in the last few years, especially during the lockdown." In a September 2023 podcast on business risk, McDonnell said that "at the end of the day you can only create value for any organization or even for yourself if you take risk." He described different risk profiles for companies, stating that for startups "the biggest risk is running out of money," while for mature companies "competition and environment are the biggest risks." McDonnell also discussed a risk he took at a previous company by overhauling its pricing scheme, which he said "tripled the company's profitability while keeping customers happy." He emphasized that organizations should "focus on the things that are going to get to their long-term objectives and not try to do everything that's a good idea."
“The concept of no money down is buying property without money that you've earned in a job.”
“A lot of people on social media especially go 'you can't do no money down' — and the irony is that they can't do their own money down; most people can't do property with their own money so then they think I can't do property.”
“If you stop looking internally and look externally... the reality is governments of the world printed trillions of pounds in the last few years, especially during the lockdown.”
“At the end of the day you can only create value for any organization or even for yourself if you take risk. The key is to understand what the risks are and understand what the rewards are and balance the risks with rewards so you can make good decisions.”
“Organizations need to focus on the things that are going to get to their long-term objectives and not try to do everything that's a good idea. It's not a trick to find good ideas; it's a trick to decide what are the top few good ideas that you should pursue as an organization.”
“Even simple policy changes, like increasing fees for housing development, increase the risk and cost of doing something, which can lead to unintended consequences such as housing shortages. This illustrates how risk and reward dynamics affect markets and organizations.”
“If you don't have a systematic way to look at what your competitors are doing, they're going to surpass you and beat you in the marketplace, making whatever you're doing obsolete. For mature companies, competition and environment are the biggest risks.”
“For startups, the biggest risk is running out of money, so you have to be very careful about how you spend money on things that increase value, like proving your product works and has customers.”
“Implementing a new system, like moving from QuickBooks to a more sophisticated accounting system, is a significant risk because many people lack experience with such changes. The person leading that change is taking a lot of risk.”
“Companies need to be thoughtful, not reactionary, about entering new markets. Decisions should be based on market potential, not just personal connections, to ensure the best next market for growth.”
“When implementing risk management strategies, be clear on what you're trying to accomplish and carefully monitor milestones. Establish proof points early to evaluate if the direction is successful to avoid wasting resources.”
“A big risk I took at my last company was overhauling the pricing scheme. Although it made people nervous, it simplified pricing for customers and tripled the company's profitability while keeping customers happy.”
“For startups, focus on a niche and do it really well rather than trying to serve too many segments. This approach requires less money and increases the chance of success before expanding to a broader audience.”
In this episode, we chat with Kevin McDonnell, CFO at AeroVironment, about effectively managing risk to drive growth and create ...
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