New CFO consultants occasionally ask me about picking a good domain name. The question goes something like this, “Should the domain name include my personal name, or should I use a firm name?” Ask 10 marketers that question, and you might get 9 different answers. Well, maybe that’s a stretch. I’ll save my answer for another…
Periodically, I have other part-time CFOs ask if they should work with startups. My typical response is a question, “Do you want to go broke?” But Mark, I’ve been offered equity. My comeback is another question, “Have you ever heard of the endowment effect?” Bottom line, working with startups is hard, really hard. Be careful…
Have you figured out the bookkeeping and accounting issues facing small businesses? That’s precisely what I thought. It’s really bad. Back in 2001, I seriously considered never doing consulting work again because every small business bookkeeper or accountant that I encountered thought they were experts. Most were not. I continually observed the gap between their perceived…
Nearly 60 million men and women play fantasy football and one organization estimates the average player spends more than $600 annually on this intoxicating indulgence. Thanks to my youngest son, I too play in a fantasy league. To plagiarize Tony Horton regarding his sadistic Ab Ripper X routine, “I hate it, but I love it.”…
Every year, I say I’m going to quit reading business books. Well, this CFO failed again miserably. I read 41 books and listened to another 47 bringing me to 88 total books, a bit far from my goal of 100 every year. Interested in seeing my partial list of favorite books from the prior year?…
Starting a business is hard. Growing a business is harder. Staying the course following a growth plan that could fail is scary impossible at times. What if there was a way that we could quantify the growing pains of any company that we serve? What if we could use the results of this assessment to…
I read close to 100 books every year. But I’m not sure that I’ve ever read a book on business plans. I probably won’t either. I did, however, enjoy the 1997 classic from HBR, How to Write a Great Business Plan (you’ll need to buy the reprint). Business Plans Are Not Just for Startups When…
I don’t bill by the hour. Hourly billing is just really, really senseless. We’re the best CFOs in the world. Why give away value by becoming a professional services prostitute? Ouch. What side of the bed did I wake up from? The right one, the same as always. Hourly Billing – My Brief History Let’s…
I think I’ve facilitated a grand total of 2 SWOT analyses with small groups. Even with my clients in one-to-one meetings, I can count on one hand the number of times we’ve gone through this exercise. However, I have suggested to several CEOs that they apply some emotion to their SWOT exercises when conducting off-site…
When was it? I believe it was around 1992 or 1993 when I first heard the term EBITDA. I was confused at first because I think I heard at least four different pronunciations of the name. I was skeptical from the very beginning–I saw way too many peers from the financial and operational ranks who…
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