Fail Fast, Optimize Smarter: Lessons in FinOps ft. Rense Siegmund, Gasunie | Ep #58
What is FinOps really? Is it just about cutting cloud costs?
In this episode of FinOps in Action, Rense Siegmund, Founder of FinOps Academy and FinOps Lead at Gasunie, shares a practical perspective on what FinOps actually is and why it’s about far more than technical cloud optimization.
With a background in coaching and team development, he brings a unique lens to cloud cost management: collaboration, culture, and data-driven decision-making.
If you’ve ever wondered how to scale FinOps beyond a single practitioner, or how small and mid-sized organizations can manage $1M–$3M in annual cloud spend without a dedicated FinOps team, this conversation is packed with insight.
Here’s what we talked about:
- The realities of FinOps for smaller organizations managing $150K–$3M in annual cloud spend
- How to embed FinOps into company OKRs and governance
- Why behavior change starts with small, repetitive actions
- The growing impact of AI as a cloud cost driver
- The importance of “fail fast, learn fast” in cloud cost optimization
- Why collaboration between engineering, finance, and leadership is the biggest challenge in FinOps
Quote of the Show:
- “Behavior comes from repetitive small actions, so the sooner you get the first actions in the organization, the easier it becomes.” - Rense Siegmund
Links:
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rense-siegmund-0b363b1b/
- Website: https://www.gasunie.nl/en
- FinOps Academy: https://finopsacademy.nl/
Ways to Tune In:
- Amazon Music: https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/f25a9d18-c12f-4ee4-93f5-2aa96e509b55
- Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/finops-in-action/id1790497808
- iHeart Radio: https://iheart.com/podcast/268443483/
- Podchaser: https://www.podchaser.com/podcasts/finops-in-action-5958339
- Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/3IpjMc3qxDXZAjic5Zq21t
- Substack: https://finopsinaction.substack.com/
- Transistor: finopsinaction.com
- YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@PointFiveCloudCostEfficiency
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