24
1st QUARTER 2014
Interview by Andrew Zezas
Q A
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P
aul Genova has served as Wireless
TelecomGroup’s CEO since Novem-
ber 2009 and from 2003 to 2010 as the
Parsippany, NJ–based company’s CFO.
Shareholder value has tripled since he stepped
up to the CEO position at the company, which
designs and manufactures radiofrequency
and microwave-based products for wireless
and advanced communications industries. He
recently spoke with CFO Studio On-Camera
about how he improved valuation and what it
takes to move fromCFO to CEO.
n
(ANDREWZEZAS)
Paul, CFOs were once
thought of as bookkeepers and controllers, but now
the role of CFO has changed and become much
more sophisticated. Many aspire to and become
CEO, as you have done. What criteria didWire-
less TelecomGroup seek to satisfy when it decided
that they should put a CFO in the role of CEO?
PAUL GENOVA:
As you know, I was the
CFO for almost seven years prior to getting
the nod for CEO, and for one year I actually
performed both roles. The primary driver
here was the fact that the company needed
to perform a turnaround. We were underper-
forming from a shareholder-value perspec-
tive. My first approach was “let me take a
real good look.” At the time, we had four
divisions and I determined that we needed
to sell one of them and focus on our core
business. It did mean reducing our revenues.
What good is having revenue if the profits are
not there? We weren’t creating shareholder
value. We were spending quite a bit of money
on developing products…[in one subsidiary
that was based in Germany]. I ended up sell-
ing that. With the remaining three entities,
we looked hard at each one.
n
When the board decided “we want someone
with financial expertise,” they were looking for
someone who could take both a short- and a long-
term view—and they already had him.
GENOVA:
Absolutely. Having that financial
background enabled me to interact very closely
with the production people, our engineers, our
salespeople, make changes in the business, and
know what those changes are going to do when
it comes to financial results. That’s the anchor
that I operate the business with. Being able to
work with the Board of Directors, being able
to offer opinions, acquisitions, due diligence,
contract analysis, things like that, and really be
a support factor to driving the business in the
current period for the future benefit—as op-
posed to just historical bookkeeping.
n
Decision-making between CFO and CEO:
How is it different?
GENOVA:
Ultimately, responsibility falls on
the CEO completely. As CFO, you’re one-
half step removed from that. You’re present-
ing your ideas, but the CEO is the person
who ultimately has responsibility, not only
internally, but to the board, to the sharehold-
ers, to our customers.
n
So 2009, you’re appointed CEO. Since then,
shareholder value has tripled. What do you
attribute it to?
GENOVA:
I had to build confidence within
the staff. For a period of time, I don’t think
the management team really understood
how the business was operating in all facets.
I’ve created an executive management team,
which we never had before. It was less open
as far as how things work. That transparency
is critical. Financially, as a public company
we have to be transparent, but we need to be
transparent as a management team too.”
C
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Andrew Zezas and Paul Genova discuss the turnaround at Wireless Telecom Group
The CFOWho Became CEO
