Ask most founders what their KPI dashboard tells them, and you’ll get some version of: “Revenue, and roughly where we stand on cash.” That’s not a KPI dashboard. That’s a bank balance with a chart around it. A real KPI...
Design firms win awards; meanwhile, builders win margins. As a result, moving from one to the other changes a business’s entire financial profile. Revenue gets bigger, cash gets tighter, and a single estimating error can erase a year of design...
Most founders start thinking about fundraising strategy the moment they need capital. However, by then, it’s too late to build the case that gets you the best terms. The businesses that raise efficiently, at strong valuations, with clean terms, and...
One of the most common hesitations founders have before starting a fractional CFO engagement isn’t cost; it’s the unknown. What actually happens in week one? Who has access to what? How long until there’s something tangible to show for it? ...
AI is making software features faster and cheaper to copy. Founders can defend valuation by building durable advantages in proprietary data, distribution, customer trust, workflow integration, and capital-efficient execution.
Four decades old, with real revenue and loyal customers. On paper, this looked like a straightforward exit. In practice, it was anything but that. The company was a founder-owned industrial equipment business built around two entities operating as a single...
Most growth-stage companies I work with don’t have a data problem; they have a data location problem. The numbers exist, but they’re scattered across two ERPs, a handful of spreadsheets, a payments processor, and someone’s personal tracking file, and...
“Is this too expensive for a company our size?” It’s the question we hear most, and it’s the wrong question. The right question is what it costs you not to have strategic financial guidance when you’re making a pricing decision,...
My experimentation with AI for workflows and analysis leads me into some really interesting discussions. The ones I enjoy very much are comparing the "crazy good" and "crazy bad" things that AI can do. Today, I want to talk about...
Most founders come to me thinking about cash flow forecasting only when they're worried about making payroll, paying vendors, or making sure there's enough in the bank to cover next month. Those are legitimate concerns. But they're a small fraction...