Originally from the Philadelphia area, Mike Prevoznik was drawn to UVM by his love of the outdoors, especially skiing.  After receiving his undergraduate degree from the business school in 2011, he joined the Master of Accountancy (MAcc) program’s third class where he also met his wife, fellow MAcc student Jessa (née Donnelly).  They welcomed their first child, Brooks, in April 2021.

Since December 2021, Mike has served as the Chief Financial Officer at BTCS Inc., a Nasdaq company focused on blockchain infrastructure and technology.   We were lucky enough to catch up with Mike to hear about his journey from auditor at the international accounting firm of PwC into the cutting-edge world of blockchain technology.

How did you discover your aptitude for accounting?

I didn't commit to a concentration in the Business School until my senior year. I took a couple accounting courses where I found the content to be almost too logical and intuitive. Over those courses, Susan Hughes (retired program director and Associate Professor of Accounting Emerita) became a good mentor, helping to expand my understanding of the importance of accounting and the opportunities that it could open professionally..

During that time, I also ended up doing an internship with another faculty member, Cathy Beaudoin, as she and some friends were starting a business in Mexico and looking for a student to help with the accounting. I carried that internship through my senior year into my MAcc year. While I was learning a lot textbook wise, being able to take that internship and apply it to real life was a valuable experience.

How did UVM prepare you for that first job at PwC?

Aside from having great faculty mentors, my experiences as part of the UVM community helped to shape me as a person.  I find that professionally, it is important to understand the backgrounds of the people you are working with in order acknowledge the experiences that shape who they are and form effective relationships.

Two takeaways from my coursework during the MAcc program stand out to me.  One, was the focus placed on developing our professional writing skills, as we were challenged to confine our assignment deliverables related to the many case studies we read as part of our MAcc capstone course to one or two-page memos. Historically, if you'd write a 10-page paper in college, that was rewarded. That's not rewarded at all professionally. That capstone course forcing us to be concise was just a great exercise, and one I use every day.

Second, we read a book called “The Smartest Guys in the Room” that was about Enron. It was the first time I found out how powerful accounting can be; even though it was powerful in all of the wrong ways because it was clearly a giant fraud. But, I found the book fascinating how people could create so much power by operating in the grey area of the accounting rules that existed at the time and how large an impact the fallout had, ultimately being a lead reason for the creation of Sarbanes-Oxley. In my auditing career, there are a lot of clearcut rules, and then there are other areas where companies have to make judgments, and use estimates. That happens a lot in private valuations that I was working through in the hedge fund and private equity space.

What were your impressions working at a Big 4 accounting firm?

From all the teachers at UVM, it was very clear that Big Four experience was something that I could use as a solid building block to start my career if I didn't exactly know what I wanted to do at graduation.  I understood that I was going to get a lot of exposure very quickly, and trusted that companies would recognize and respect the exposure.

I spent over 9 years at PwC, where I focused on asset and wealth management. Working across so many different clients with overlapping timelines and multiple teams really forced me to continuously sharpen my project management and communication skills in order to be successful, especially during the most challenging of times. It’s an incredibly fast paced environment, both from a deliverable standpoint but also a continuous education maintaining CPEs and staying current on emerging accounting guidance and quality improvement driven byt the firm. Each year I worked at PwC presented new opportunities and challenges to grow professionally and personally, with the level of responsibility and accountability increasing exponentially.

What came next?

I left PwC as a tenured senior manager after working in Philadelphia and Boston, and took an opportunity with a company called BTCS inc, a blockchain technology focused company. Our company has been early adopters at the cutting edge of blockchain tech since 2014 and are currently focused on staking-as-a-service with our anticipated digital asset platform launch. It’s been an incredible year operating as the CFO of a Nasdaq listed public company, especially given the fast paced nature and rapid expansion of blockchain during my time. My time growing as a professional at PwC during my early stages of my career positioned me well to successfully transition into a c-level management role, and I continue to learn more each day.

When you hire, what are you looking for?

I always look for enthusiasm, because if you're not enthusiastic now, before you start, there's no way that this will work. It's incredibly important to be able to work in a team, but also work autonomously. When people are first starting, I think the most important thing that I advise people is that you need to find a balance between what are you trying to problem solve yourself, versus recognizing when you need to get help or ask questions. It’s also about the manner that you ask questions; meaning don’t wait until Friday to ask your whole weeks’ worth of questions, but also don’t ask anytime a random thought comes to your head. You need to be able to find that balance and refine it your entire career.

What advice do you have for any seniors or recent graduates?

When I first started and was a little overwhelmed, I would ask questions when assigned a coach or a mentor I admired. How did these people know so much? How am I ever going to know that much? I recommend to people starting out in a new job to look at somebody who's a year ahead of you and figure out how they know what they know and seek some guidance and be inquisitive about it, but don't stop there, keep looking. You can look to a manager or director. You can look at partners. You’re not going to know all the answers, but you should be thinking about it, look ahead.

I would not discount the importance of networking, even within your teams and connecting with them, because those are the people you're going to learn from, and you can't teach yourself everything.

You must continue to be hungry to learn as really the first year after college is just learning how to be a professional just as much it is learning how to do your job. It's learning how to work. Being a better worker. I ask myself, “Are they responsive to emails? Are they asking the right questions? Are they asking questions at all, or are they just waiting for you to ask questions?” All these things are important.