Executive Vice President & Chief Financial Officer, Progress Software
Search every verified Anthony Folger interview, podcast appearance, and on-the-record quote — each transcript cross-checked by AI and human review to confirm speaker identity. Anthony Folger, Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of Progress Software, participated in a discussion with former CFO Bud Robertson in September 2022, celebrating the company's 40th anniversary and 30 years as a public company. Folger noted that the business partnering aspect of finance remains effective at Progress, stating that the structure has "stayed in place and retained a good relationship with the business." He described the company's employee stock purchase plan as "the most generous I've ever seen at any company" and recommended that employees enroll immediately. Folger also reflected on the company's growth strategy, which involved acquiring companies that could grow double digits and integrating them efficiently, and highlighted the strong culture that has kept employees motivated. In a separate appearance from the same period, Folger was featured in a video titled "Progress CEO Talks: What is Progress," which outlined the company's mission to provide software products for developing, deploying, and managing high-impact applications. The video described Progress as serving over 3.5 million developers, designers, data scientists, and DevOps experts, and emphasized the company's focus on customer experience, data leverage, automation, and security. Folger's remarks in the discussion with Robertson underscored his focus on financial strategy, employee benefits, and the company's long-standing culture.
“When I was first hired back in '96, they wanted a CFO that would effectively go on the road for the analysts and also someone interested in business partnering because they had the best technology people but needed someone with a business background.”
“The business partnering aspect of finance is still alive and kicking and doing very well to this day; that structure has stayed in place and retained a good relationship with the business.”
“Back in '96, Progress had grown from basically zero to about 130 million in revenue, and it was a very technical, technology-driven company with a fun, hard-working culture.”
“One of the proudest achievements is that the people are still motivated and excited about working here, which speaks to the strong culture that has driven the company from the beginning.”
“Our growth strategy was the 'double double'—aiming for double-digit organic growth and growing earnings faster, achieved by acquiring companies that could grow double digits and integrating them efficiently.”
“We encouraged employees to participate in the employee stock purchase plan and 401(k) because these were some of the best financial benefits, helping employees build wealth and pay for things like college education.”
“The employee stock purchase plan at Progress is the most generous I've ever seen at any company, and I highly recommend employees enroll immediately if they haven't already.”
“When you buy companies that are 20, 40, 60 million dollars and they don't have presence outside North America, you can grow them double digits by opening new geographies and leveraging in-house expertise.”
“The Nasdaq experience was unforgettable; seeing Progress Software on the Nasdaq tower in New York gave a different feeling of pride and accomplishment.”
Who is Progress as a company and what do we do? Join Progress President and CEO, Yogesh Gupta, as he walks through ...
Progress Chief Financial Officer Anthony Folger and former CFO Bud Robertson share stories about Progress as we celebrate the ...
Sign in to search the full transcript archive, filter by topic, and access every quote from Anthony Folger.
The summary and quote tags on this profile are produced with AI assistance from verified, first-person interview transcripts, then checked by our team to confirm the speaker's identity and the accuracy of every quote. See how we verify →