Ep004 Staying Close To The Business w.Karl Brenner Román Artwork

Finance Guys In Tech

The opinions on this show are our own. The voices in our heads... still figuring that out. Charlie & Sid bring you some humanity, fun, and other useful stuff from the trenches of working in finance at Amazon. An interview show with our friends and colleagues at Amazon about how they ended up here, how they thrive, and most importantly…what are they doing this weekend. This show is all geared towards helping you perform better in your career, forming stronger teams, reducing stress & anxiety, and having plenty of laughs along the way. We’ll go micro on the day-to-day tactics and tips. We’ll go macro on creativity and mindset. We’ll give you all kinds of new ideas to play with about how to get into tech finance or what an optimal career might look like for you. We'll also bring you guests who you might not otherwise have access to. And since our number one objective is to bring you value we'll listen to you about the things you really want to hear. Sid joined Amazon in 2016 and AWS one year later. He's a value investor at heart so his presence on the show should be all you need to know about choosing to listen. Charlie (that’s me) has worked in finance at Amazon since 2014 and joined Amazon Web Services in 2015. He is also 1/2 of GoodBaby.band | Bass and songwriter for fornow.band | Recovering drummer | Author of the Art & Work weekly newsletter at charleskunken.com | Writer. Rider. New Yorker. Artist.

All Episodes

Finance Guys In Tech

Ep004 Staying Close To The Business w.Karl Brenner Román

September 30, 2019 • Charlie Kunken, Finance At Amazon

“For the first 90 days here I would try to sit as much as I can, or literally just move your desk to where your business partners are.”

Today we have an interview with Karl Brenner Roman, Sid’s and my ‘cousin’ (by the org chart) here in AWS infrastructure finance. Karl is an energy guy and he’s got some great insights on how he has found success adding value in finance at Amazon.

1:00 When do you stop counting your Amazon tenure in months?

3:00 Karl’s gig before b-school included energy retrofitting sugar factories, mmm

5:45 The albums that were on replay in Cost Rica as a kid

8:33 Favorite music venues in Berkley & Seattle

12:00 What attracted Karl to Amazon – promoting renewable energy

14:20 Considerations for FinTech campus recruiting at business school – company focus vs. product/team focus

17:45 Visa considerations in business school recruiting – discover early which companies have sponsorship for international students

20:00 On finding your balance at Amazon

21:35 Karl’s advice for first 90 days at Amazon – spending time with the business team

22:45 How to add value in finance

23:50 The difference in perspective of finance vs. the business

25:55 Finance's obligation for long term thinking

27:40 Thoughts on career path, staying close enough to the business to ask good questions

29:10 Lighting round word association with Sid

30:00 Parting words for anyone interested in a career in tech finance – can you map your story and skills to the business’s need

32:20 What’s Karl doing this weekend?

Connect with Karl on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/karl-brenner-rom%C3%A1n-6a963152/
--

Sid on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dhodi/
Charlie on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/charleskunken

Here's where you can find us online: https://www.charleskunken.com/podcast or contact the show with any questions, comments, requests for guests: charlie@charleskunken.com

Subscribe to the ‘Art & Work’ weekly Newsletter: charleskunken.com/subscribe

Other socials:
https://www.instagram.com/cbkunk/
https://www.facebook.com/cbkunk