Ready for an adrenaline rush? Come on, you deserve it. Let’s start with sports and music. The two just go together. Add a high-performing, part-time CFO to the mix, and you’ve got a powerful combination. And if you agree, you need a theme song for your practice. Tell me you haven’t at least driven down…
Are CFO firms like the cobbler without shoes–good at teaching and delivering strategy but not good at applying it to themselves? If you run or are part of a CFO firm, does that describe your organization? Words of Wisdom from the Dean of Consultants I consider David Maister (now retired) as the Peter Drucker version…
Is it possible to be an amateur CFO? If you’re reading this, here’s betting you are the ultimate professional CFO, right? Let’s do some quick comparing and contrasting. Shane Parrish Knocked it Out of the Park I’m a big fan of Shane Parrish and the Farnam Street blog. One of my favorite posts is The Difference…
You’ve heard of Topgrading®, right? The objective of Topgrading® is all about finding, acquiring, onboarding and keeping A-players. What is the Topgrading® equivalent of entrepreneur A-players? I don’t think there is one, but Entrepreneur Upskilling is top of mind. So what is it? Meet Dr. Tom McKaskill Every CFO should be familiar with the great writing of…
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…
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…
Since I have CFO clients who read this blog, I probably need to watch what I write. But I have to be truthful. That’s because my first consulting project occurred while I was holding down a full-time job. Does that mean I think it’s okay for a CFO to be moonlighting by performing occasional consulting services?…
I never come right out and ask it, but I find out from every CEO what keeps them up at night or what pains they wish they could eliminate immediately. Without fail, that’s why they typically hire me almost on the spot after I start giving them solutions to their concerns. You see, I’m helping…
Several years ago, I served a client who appeared to be carrying the weight of the world on his shoulders. This CEO was running a business passed down from his father. While the company was stable, his personal life was not. I was more than his part-time CFO. I was more his priest. A 2012 survey…
End of content
End of content