January 03, 2012, 10:08 AM — -- Name: Craig Johnson
-- Age: 50
-- Time with company: 5 months
-- Education: Bachelor's in Business Administration, University of Michigan; CPA
-- Company headquarters: El Cajon, California
-- Number of countries: U.S, with sales in other countries
-- Number of employees total: 25
-- Number of employees the CFO oversees: 3
-- About the company: Pure Bioscience develops and markets nontoxic, technology-based bioscience products, including antimicrobials, aimed at various global health challenges.
1. Where did you start in finance and what experiences led you to the job you have today?
I'm a CPA by training and I worked with Pricewaterhouse right out of college. I always liked smaller startup companies, so my entire career since leaving Pricewaterhouse has been with smaller startup technology companies. I've worked as a CFO in the tech industry here in San Diego since '94.
I'm sure bioscience is a little different than your standard run-of-the-mill biotech company that is going to produce a drug that's not going to see revenue for a decade or more, if ever. Pure has developed products that are on the market and they're not drugs, they're antimicrobials, sanitizers, antibacterials. It was interesting to come from biotech to this company that has strong sales and that is in a number of different areas since the products we develop are used in a lot of different industries.
2. Who was an influential boss for you and what lessons did they teach you about management and leadership?
He's passed away -- his name is Tom Tranchina. I worked for him at two different times at two different companies. It was early in my career, right out of Pricewaterhouse. He taught me to always do the right thing. ... It's a character issue. I was always practical and pragmatic but he was more practical and pragmatic than I was. That's a great skill to have, the ability to cut through the nonsense and just understand point A to point B, this is where we're going, so let's just ignore all of the ancillary stuff and home in on where we're going. The other thing that he taught me was to keep things simple, which kind of goes along with being practical. A lot of finance guys want to tell you the horror story about how they got from point A to point B -- just tell us the bottom line. Nobody wants to hear the horror story. Just break it down and keep it simple so that everyone understands it.
3. What are the biggest challenges facing CFOs today?
I've been CFO in the biotech industry in smaller companies, so I'll speak specifically to that industry. The biggest thing we face as CFOs in biotech is financing. We don't have product revenue, so it's explaining what we'll do with money, what we'll develop, and taking it to the next step. It's creating value with that money and maybe going out and getting more money. The last few years, trying to extract money from people is not the easiest thing in the world.
Another one is not specific to biotech, but just the ability to focus and allocate resources [is a challenge]. You can't be involved in a million projects. There's a finite amount of time, there's a finite amount of money. You need to be able to move products along. That's always a struggle, that's always a challenge.
4. What is a good day at work like for you?
I'm a big list person, so it's getting everything done on my list and then just having the ability to work on the things that are important but aren't necessarily urgent. Getting back to the whole Stephen Covey "The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People" ... getting to the things that are really important rather than the daily fires.
5. How would you characterize your management style?
I played sports all my life and still do, so I'm a big team guy. There's a lot that goes with being a team guy. One is that everybody is going to make mistakes, everybody is going to fumble the ball every once in a while, everybody is going to make a touchdown every once in a while. But the key is that you're still a team even when there's a fumble. I'm not worried about making mistakes unless it's the same one over and over again.
I'm also big on people asking for forgiveness rather than permission. I'd rather people be the CEO of their own area, or like Seinfeld, the master of their domain. I want people to be smart enough when they know they might be over their head to come and ask a question, but I never want anyone to worry about making a mistake. I want them to hire smart people and go ahead and do their job. You're the expert in your area, not me.
And I like to have fun. I spend eight to 10 hours a day at work. It would be nice if it was fun.
6. What strengths and qualities do you look for in job candidates?
