Welcome to The 6 a.m. CFO, where finance chiefs share how they jump-start their days and engage with the tasks that are in front of them.
Today, Conga’s CFO, Simon Edwards, shares his morning routine.
Be sure to check out the entire 6 a.m. CFO series, and if you’d like to be featured in a future post, please email us here.
Conga
- Helps businesses become more connected and intelligent with AI-powered CPQ, CLM and document automation solutions.
- Year founded: 2006
- Number of employees: Around 1,800
- Revenue: Around $500 million
MORNING ROUTINE
Walk us through your normal workday morning routine: My day begins early with a 5:30 a.m. Pacific Time alarm. My wife and I both work in finance, and we take turns making the morning coffee. From 6 to 7 a.m., I catch up on news and emails. Conga’s CEO is based on the East Coast and often shares thoughts in the early hours, so I usually spend time reviewing and responding to those. By 7 a.m., I’m on my second coffee and ready for the first meetings of the day.
Can you share a recent morning where things didn’t go according to plan? Every Thursday morning, I chair our strategic deal call. We use the session to review major pipeline opportunities, understand win themes, inspect close plans and evaluate deal economics. When needed, we approve commercial exceptions. Our approach is to find a way to get to yes, supporting the field in staying competitive while also protecting the long-term interests of the company.
On one recent Thursday, just as the call was starting, we learned that a key late-stage deal had shifted significantly. The economics had changed, and we needed to respond quickly. What followed was a fast-paced, cross-functional effort. We engaged product management to confirm the customer’s expectations, brought in legal and accounting to evaluate revenue recognition implications, and worked with finance to recalculate deal margin and assess risk.
It was not the morning I had planned, but it reminded me of the importance of organizational agility. Planning matters, but so does responsiveness. In high-stakes sales cycles, especially late in the quarter, being able to move quickly builds trust with the customer and helps neutralize competitive threats.
How do you structure your first few hours after you log on at work? What do you prioritize, and how do you engage with your teams? My mornings are structured to balance responsiveness with focus. I usually start by reviewing any updates from our CEO and leadership team, particularly since many of them are based on the East Coast and have already begun their day. I also scan for any urgent internal messages or customer updates that require immediate attention.
After that, I focus on the top one or two priorities for the day. This often involves reviewing pipeline performance, preparing for key deal or forecast meetings or diving into financial insights that support decision-making across the business. I try to avoid context switching early in the day so I can make progress on the most strategic or time-sensitive work.
When it comes to team engagement, I rely on a mix of structured and informal touchpoints. I keep standing check-ins with my direct reports and cross-functional partners, but I also make time for quick pings or ad-hoc chats to stay connected. I believe leadership is as much about presence as it is about planning, and I aim to be accessible and clear about where we are focused and why.
LEADERSHIP AND INSPIRATION
Favorite mantra: One of my guiding principles is that family time is made up of small moments that add up. My job requires frequent context switching, but working from home allows me to take quick breaks throughout the day. Whether it’s a short conversation with my daughter or grabbing lunch with my wife, these moments help me recharge and come back to work with renewed focus.
Favorite leadership lesson: A quote from our CEO, Dave Osborne, really resonates with me: “Culture is a reflection of the behaviors that the leadership team demonstrates.” In my role, I engage across the company in many ways. This includes working with go-to-market teams on strategy and deal reviews, partnering with product management on road map prioritization and revenue impact, collaborating with procurement on vendor strategy and upcoming spend, and aligning closely with the finance team on forecasting, pacing, and performance metrics. Across all of these areas, I try to lead by example and foster clarity, accountability and progress.
Something important to know about me that you wouldn’t know from my business bio: I’m someone who takes the work seriously, but I try not to take myself too seriously. My bio might list roles, metrics and companies, but it doesn’t show how much I value humor, humility and curiosity in the way I lead. I believe teams perform best when there is space for both high standards and real connection.
Also, while I’ve built a career in finance and strategy, I’m deeply motivated by helping people grow. Some of my most meaningful moments have come from mentoring team members, helping them find their voice or watching them step into bigger roles. I view that as just as important as driving results.
Favorite phone app that is unrelated to work: Although my golf game is still a work in progress, I’m always looking for ways to improve. One of my favorite apps is Arccos. It tracks my on-course performance, offers insights on areas to focus on and helps me fine-tune my club distances. It gives me a data-driven edge, even if the results don’t always show up on the scorecard just yet
