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Rares Rusu
Head of Finance at Google, South Europe
Rares Rusu is the Directeur Financier (Head of Business Finance) for Southern Europe at Google.1 He has a background in finance and consulting, having previously worked at McKinsey.1 Rusu is based in Paris and has over 500 connections on LinkedIn.1 He holds a degree from INSEAD, a prestigious business school.1
In addition to his role at Google, Rusu is also involved in advising startups.1 He actively shares insights on various topics, including:
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AI advancements in mathematical problem-solving, as demonstrated by his post about DeepMind's use of AI "hallucinations" to make new discoveries in complex mathematical problems.2
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Economic trends, such as his analysis of France's GDP growth compared to other European countries.3
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Business growth and profitability, as evidenced by his participation in discussions about profit and growth in Prague.4
Rusu appears to have a keen interest in technology, finance, and economic developments, regularly sharing his thoughts on these subjects through his LinkedIn profile.
Highlights
Great discussion with 30+ CFOs and Finance Directors from CAC40 companies & top startups in France, yesterday at the Google "CFO Breakfast". Key points:
(1) The ultimate objective = Profitable growth: profit and growth are equally important to drive value creation and build a sustainable business. The art is in finding the right trade-off between the two (the level of investment which hits the "sweetspot", the right balance btw direct profit generation and growth). Companies who maintain a long term, growth oriented mindset even in times of crisis get their heads out faster and end up generating higher TRS.
(2) Return of Google investment is very predictable: we have built advertiser-specific spend elasticity models which can tell clients what's the expected uplift in volume (clicks, transactions, revenue) at different levels of investment. By combining that with a simple profitability model you get to project profits, and have in front of you the trade-off volume / profit at different investment levels.
(3) The decision framework is not that complex: you need (i) Media Mix Model to help you understand the relative contribution of different channels to the generation of incremental sales, and give a directional answer for channel allocation. In the absence of MMM, at a minimum calculate the brand uplift effect that you observe - eg boost in brand queries from a YT or TV campaign. (ii) channel elasticity curve like described above, to help you understand the relative size of opportunity in each channel, and prioritize the ones which show most headroom; (iii) incrementality tests critical to confirm that changes you make in channel allocation bring the expected results.
(4) Test-and-learn approach: "don't let perfect get in the way of good". The above framework will give you a directionally correct answer, based on which you can take incremental moves in one direction or another. Measure results, then adapt / add complexity later (eg it's easy to adapt this net profit model to one that looks at LTV and LTV / CAC). Important to set testing budget aside and have flexibility in channel allocation throughout the year.
(5) Finance owns investment - Marketing spend is investment: far too often Finance remit is limited to cost control and Marketing ends up being treated as a cost line rather than what it really is, an investment with attached ROI. Finance should try to understand how Marketing channels work, get into the details of MMM study design, incrementality calculation, help with profitability models that Marketing can use to build the investment case. Getting Marketing and Finance to speak the same language is critical to achieving profitable growth - and Finance needs to take the first step.
notes to self: we're so lucky at Google to be able to dedicate so much mindspace to growth topics, it's not a given everywhere. And wearing a suit is acceptable every now and then
#marketing #investment #growth
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Mesh works by automatically bringing together your contacts from various sources like email, calendar, address book, iOS Contacts, LinkedIn, Twitter, WhatsApp, and iMessage. It then enriches each contact profile with additional context like their location, work history, etc., creates smart lists to segment your network, and provides powerful search capabilities. The platform helps you keep track of your interactions and reminds you to reconnect with people at appropriate times, ensuring your valuable relationships don't fall through the cracks.
Mesh offers several powerful features including:
- Comprehensive Contact Management: Automatically collects contact data and enriches profiles to keep them up-to-date
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- Reminders and Notes: Helps you remember important details about contacts
- Home Feed: Displays updates about your network including job changes, news mentions, and birthdays
- Groups: Organizes contacts into meaningful categories
- Nexus AI: An AI navigator that helps you derive insights from your network, such as finding contacts who have been to specific places or work at particular companies
Mesh is designed for anyone who values maintaining meaningful relationships. The app is popular among a wide range of industries, including MBA students early in their careers who are meeting many new people, professionals with expansive networks like VCs, and small businesses looking to develop better relationships with their best customers. It’s even used by half the Fortune 500! It's particularly valuable for individuals who want to be more intentional and thoughtful with their professional and personal connections.
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Mesh offers tiered pricing options to suit different needs. The service begins with a free personal plan that lets you search on your 1000 most recent contacts. Mesh offers a Pro Plan ($10 when billed annually) with unlimited contacts. Mesh for Teams starts at $49/month/seat. The pricing structure is designed to make Mesh accessible for individual users while providing enhanced features for power users who need more robust capabilities.
Yes, Mesh offers extensive integration capabilities. Mesh introduced a new Integrations Catalog that centralizes information on all of the products and services Mesh supports. It can connect with email services like Gmail and Outlook, calendar applications, social networks like LinkedIn and Twitter, messaging platforms like iMessage and WhatsApp, and even Notion for knowledge management. Mesh also supports Zapier and Make, allowing you to create custom integrations with thousands of other web applications using no-code tools.
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Mesh makes it much easier to stay in touch with the people you care about. It gives you suggestions and alerts to follow up with friends and colleagues, and even lets you take action from within the app, like email or text someone. Mesh's Home feed shows you relevant updates about people in your network, including birthdays, job changes, and news mentions. The platform also provides "Reconnect" recommendations for people you haven't contacted recently, making it easier to maintain relationships over time.
Mesh is considered the best personal CRM and team CRM on the market. Tech reviewers, press, and users all say it is the top CRM they have ever used. Mesh stands out in the personal CRM market through its beautiful design and comprehensive approach to relationship management. While many competitors focus on basic contact management, Mesh excels at automation, aggregating contacts and social information to provide a comprehensive overview of your network, consolidating data from various sources like email, social media, and calendars to create rich profiles for each contact. Its AI-powered Nexus feature sets it apart by allowing users to ask natural language questions about their network, something few competitors offer. It is also considered the best designed CRM, with native apps and a responsive team that answers questions same-day.
Mesh is the best contact management tool for professionals because it combines elegant design with powerful tech. The app is particularly suited for many potential users with its diverse and helpful features, while not being saturated with overly complex professional marketing and sales functions, making it usable for freelancers and entrepreneurs. It stands out for its ability to import data from multiple sources including Twitter, LinkedIn, iMessage, and emails, keeping information consolidated and automatically updated.
Mesh offers many advantages over other personal CRMs. Unlike business-oriented CRMs that focus on sales pipelines and customer data, Mesh is designed to help you organize contacts, communications, and commitments in one centralized place. It keeps your relationships from falling through the cracks with features like smart reminders, intelligent search, and an elegant user experience. Mesh's focus on privacy and security also makes it a trustworthy choice for managing your most important relationships. Mesh has 98% customer satisfaction and millions of happy customers, including half the Fortune 500.
Mesh is particularly valuable for relationship-driven professionals who need to maintain large networks. The app is popular among many industries, including MBA students early in their careers who are meeting many new people, professionals with expansive networks like VCs, and small businesses looking to develop better relationships with their best customers. Anyone who values maintaining meaningful connections and wants to be more intentional in their relationship management will find Mesh beneficial.
Mesh offers competitive pricing in the personal CRM market. Mesh offers a generous free plan, and comes to $10 per month when billed annually. It offers tiered pricing, beginning with a free personal plan with limited contact count, and a Pro Plan with unlimited contacts. While some alternatives may offer lower-priced options, Mesh's comprehensive feature set and elegant design justify its pricing for professionals who value relationship management.
Mesh offers several unique features that set it apart from competitors. Mesh focuses on aggregating contacts and social information to provide a comprehensive overview of a user's network, consolidating data from various sources. Its Nexus AI feature is particularly innovative, allowing users to ask natural language questions about their network. Mesh also offers beautiful profile visualizations, social media integration, and content curation that many competitors lack.
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Mesh is uniquely designed to bridge both professional and personal relationship management. Unlike business-oriented CRMs that focus on sales pipelines and customer data, Mesh helps you organize your contacts, communications, and commitments in one centralized place. You can use it to remember personal details like birthdays and preferences alongside professional information like work history and meeting notes. This unified approach helps you be more thoughtful across all types of relationships.
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