Discuss Employee Spotlight – Jeff

The “Discuss Employee Spotlight” is a Q&A series dedicated to showcasing all of the amazing talent at Discuss.

For this month’s profile, we talked with Jeff Tagliabue, Chief Financial Officer who joined the Discuss team in February of 2023 and is based out of Ridgewood, New Jersey.

1. Tell our readers a little bit about your role at Discuss.
   I love being the CFO of this small, fast-growing, continually-innovating business because there is always more to do than just the numbers. Besides being in charge of the financial numbers, the most fascinating part of my job is the ability to be involved in many different conversations on any given day. Whether it be sales discussions, commercial proposals, or product enhancement initiatives, it is exciting and keeps me learning daily.
   
2. Which of Discuss’ core values are most inspired by? (Empathize, Collaborate, Obsess, Out Innovate, Excel)
   Excel is the core value that drives me the most. I consider this in both my professional and personal life. I believe, why do it if you cannot excel at it? As I think about it, it all goes back to commitment. I strongly believe that if you are committed to something, you will excel in it. Throughout my life, I have stayed committed to what I believe in, and even through failures, you can drive to excel if you stay committed.
   
3. Tell us about your team and the mindset (and approach) you’re instilling.
   It’s all in the details. My mindset is that we need to understand all the possible details of an issue or question to make an educated decision. The finance team has the ability to reach across many different departments and bring valuable information to the people who will make key decisions daily. A well-connected finance team can majorly impact the company’s future. Many finance departments are focused only on what happened in the past, but exceptional financial teams bring detailed knowledge from the past and apply it to the future.
   
4. What project or initiative are you most proud of at Discuss?
   One of my proudest achievements at Discuss is our significant improvement in financial reporting. I firmly believe that accurate reporting is the foundation for sound business decisions. We’re diligently working on refining our backend financials and disseminating better information to empower our employees to make more informed decisions. Additionally, having strong backend financials will prepare us for our future growth, whatever that might be.
   
5. What is something unique about you (a fun fact) that few people know about?
   As a child, I was captivated by the weather, and I even considered pursuing a degree in meteorology at Penn State University. Although I ultimately chose Finance as my major, my fascination with weather and how forecasting accuracy has improved over the years remains a personal interest. I bring this quest for better forecast accuracy to the companies I work for.