Mark as Read

“Have you tried just, ya know, reading something else?”

It couldn’t be that simple. Could it?

This book had been recommended to me, and I was finding it hard work. Painfully dense.

I’d got about a third of the way through, and I’d complained about it one too many times for Mrs. Secret CFO’s liking.

I liked business books. And wanted to read them all. Or so I thought.

The idea that I could simply give up on this book, and read a different one hadn’t occurred to me. Until Mrs. Secret CFO’s intervention, at least.

I objected: “Stopping now would be a waste of time and money.”

As I said it aloud, I realized this was nothing more than a classic ‘sunk cost fallacy.’

I was reading things because I felt I should read them, not because they were interesting or useful.

I realized I was yet to read a book that suddenly turned brilliant after 150 pages.

I either liked it or I didn’t.

This was a light bulb moment.

I was now irritated about the time spent trudging through mediocre books over the last couple of years. That time could have been spent reading good books.

At that moment, I made 3 promises to myself:

1. If I ever found myself reading a book I didn’t enjoy, I would simply stop. And try a different one.

2. My book budget would be unlimited. If I wanted a book. I’d just buy it.

3. But if I bought a book, I had to start it. Even if just the first chapter. No buying books just to sit on the shelf (another thing I’d been guilty of).

This transformed my approach to reading.

I got exposed to more books, and authors, and was able to double down on the writing that engaged me. I learned faster.

If I spent $1,000 on 50 books, and only 5 of them were good. I didn’t look at it as $900 wasted. Instead I saw it as:

a) $200 per good book. Which I was happy with.

b) Avoiding time wasted reading bad books.

I also noticed one other thing. Many business books give most of the value in the first 50 pages. So, occasionally I would even quit good books a few chapters in.

This changed the rate at which I ingested insight, and 10x’d my enjoyment of reading.

I’m grateful for both… thanks to Mrs. Secret CFO!

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This is special edition sharing some of the most career (and life) changing books I’ve head the pleasure to pick up.

Net Book Value: Secret CFO’s 13 Must Reads

Whilst I have started or scanned many business books, there are only a handful I have read cover to cover.

And those that meet that grade, I have read many times. Each time finding new gold nuggets.

Here are the 13 books that have changed how I think and work:

1) 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen Covey

This is not a fashionable choice. Nowadays, most people see Covey’s masterpiece as dated, or cringy.

Whilst those criticisms might be fair, the principles outlined in the book are timeless.

I read it first in my mid-20s and could feel my brain rewiring as I sped through it. It changed how I looked at myself, and how I approached relationships with others.

Covey’s left-brained approach to problems that are typically right-brained appealed to my sense of logic. It will give you simple frameworks for getting the best from yourself and others. I still use them everyday, at work and at home.

It also fueled a hunger to find other books as impactful as this one.

I’m still looking…

2) The Boron Letters by Gary Halbert

Gary Halbert is considered the most persuasive writer in history. He is credited with generating $1bn+ of revenue using nothing more than his pen and paper.

This book is a series of 25 short letters written by Halbert to his young son while he served 10 months in Boron Prison for tax fraud. Yes, that’s right, I have put a tax fraudster on my reading list…

CFO jobs are about influencing people to influence numbers. Halbert’s letters are a masterclass in writing for influence.

As you read them, you may also see their impact on my writing style.

3) Outsiders by William Thorndike

Outsiders by Thorndike chronicles eight CEOs with an unusual, but radically successful, approach to capital allocation. They ignored vanity acquisitions, and other corporate ego plays to focus on the one thing they are paid to do: optimize shareholder return.

The CEOs in this book are wonderful capital allocators. But from my experience, most are not. If the CEO is not a disciplined capital allocator, you damn well better be as CFO…

This book has helped me become a better CFO. It influenced the development of the Maintainable Free Cashflow measure, and how I approach allocating capital generated from MFCF.

Series to come on capital allocation soon. This would be a great pre-read.

4) Never Split the Difference by Chris Voss

Chris Voss is a former FBI hostage negotiator. In this book he shares the art and science he used to secure results in the most high-stakes negotiations imaginable.

Each chapter starts with a story from the field, and then a walk-through of each actionable negotiation technique.

Most finance pros have experience in low-stakes negotiations (i.e.software suppliers, advisor appointments, internal budget allocations). But once you hit the CFO chair, the stakes ramp up quickly. M&A deals, refinancing, JVs.

You suddenly find yourself in the hot seat.

I found that transition stark, and this book helped me catch up.

5) Entrepreneur Revolution by Daniel Priestley

Daniel Priestley is my favorite thinker and commentator on the digital age. His simple first principle explanations of how the nature of work is evolving are eye opening.

Daniel captures the entrepreneurial mindset in ways I haven’t seen anyone else do. And whatever your aspiration, a little more of that mindset will help you get there faster.

It was a toss-up between this book and his first book ‘Key Person of Influence’ (which inspired the birth of The Secret CFO).

Both are fun reads with challenging ideas for the traditional finance professional.

6) Berkshire Hathaway Letters to Shareholders 1965 - 2014 by Warren Buffett

There are so many things to learn from Buffett. He’s:

• One of the greatest investors to ever live

• A wonderful writer and storyteller

• A wise old owl

This book chronicles his first fifty shareholder letters, in order. In a massive bright yellow coffee table centerpiece. They are entertaining and educational. Not to mention a piece of history.

If you want to experience his writings as they were intended, this is the way. Every CFO will get better with just a little sprinkle of Buffett dust. And this book is as close as you’ll get.

BONUS: It is also heavy enough to flatten warped vinyls back into shape.

7) Freakonomics by Steven Levitt and Stephen Dubner

Freakonomics explores incentives, and causation in an extraordinary way.

It shows how everyday phenomena can be explained by seemingly unlinked incentive structures. When I first read this book, it became an idea I immediately internalized. In every important interaction, I would look deeply at motive and incentives from a first principles perspective.

Whether it’s crafting bonus schemes, improving labor efficiency, or driving a better sales mix. I started to see opportunities everywhere to improve business performance through incentive design.

The Freakonomics brand has extended to many books, podcasts, and more, but this is the original and best.

8) The Most Important Thing by Howard Marks

Howard Marks is the co-founder and co-chair of Oaktree Capital. Oaktree invest in distressed debt and equity. Whilst I have never met Howard, as a turnaround CFO, I have experience with Oaktree.

They are always the smartest people in the room, with a deep focus on value and market fundamentals.

Today, these macro and market fundamentals are more important than ever. They are laid out in simple terms in this book.

Marks’ publishes brilliant memos every few months too. I read every one.

9) Who: The A Method for Hiring by Geoff Smart and Randy Street

I used to think my hiring process was thorough. Then I read this book.

This book sets out the playbook for hiring A Players. It’s detailed 4 step method is brilliant, and Threat of Reference Check (TORC), is the single most effective interview technique I have ever used

I now follow this method pretty much word for word.

It’s especially good for senior hires. Since I read it 5 years ago, I’ve used it to hire maybe 7 or 8 Business Unit CFOs, VPs of Finance, CAOs, etc. Every single one of those turned out to be a rockstar and still works for me now.

They are all competing to retire me… 

It likely won’t be long before one of them does.

10) Corporate Turnaround by Stuart Slatter & David Lovett

I was given this book by someone early in my career. When I read it, I decided it would be far more fun to fix things that didn’t work than babysit things that did.

In that regard, it had real influence over how I chose to build my career.

But even if turnaround isn’t your thing, you never know when it will have to be. Every CFO in the world needed a turnaround mindset to navigate COVID.

11) The Economist Guide to Financial Management by John Tennent

You may have noticed the absence of technical finance books on this list. That’s because I assume you learned the technical skills you needed in school.

If you take one thing from my content, I hope it’s that ‘doing the numbers’ is not the hard bit of being a CFO. It’s table stakes.

The difficult part is managing the interactions between the business and the numbers. There is not much good content on this topic. In fact, most is awful. That’s why I started this newsletter.

But this book is the best existing content I’ve found. With a breezy canter through a range of business finance tools.

12) Zero to One by  Peter Thiel

If you came up through a corporate route as I did, this book will force you to think differently.

It is the startup playbook for Silicon Valley, arguing that founders should seek to do new and different things (not copy others), and why monopolies are a good thing.

The next generation of company founders are building businesses on the principles it contains.

There is a good chance you’ll work for one of them as CFO one day, so read this to get a head start!

13) Liar’s Poker by Michael Lewis

This is the only book on the list I first read as a teenager. It made me laugh out loud and left me with two thoughts:

1. I don’t want to be a banker.

2. But I do want to work in finance.

As I re-read it years later, I realized it was important documentation of Wall Street in the 1980s and the creation of many of the financial instruments that underpin global capitalism.

And those instruments are the things we CFOs use today to fund our balance sheets. Talking a bit of their language can’t do any harm (but not too much).

And one more thing…

I listen to a lot of podcasts (often while I’m writing this newsletter). There are many I could recommend, but my favorites are:

1. Acquired: a deep dive into the history and business models that underpin the world’s most interesting companies. This week’s episode on Renaissance Technology is a must-listen; a company I didn’t know much about. If you want an easier entry point; pick the episode on Costco, or Nike.

2. Prof G: Scott Galloway is for some reason a divisive figure. I love him. His output is prolific, so I don’t listen to every show, but his weekly market update is a must-listen. You can learn a lot from his communication style.

3. My First Million: I hate the name, but love the pod. Two serial founders who think very differently to your typical finance pro. It will challenge your thinking, and make you laugh. Oh, and it turns out the feelings are mutual…

Benji from Ghent asked:

How do you see AI impacting the finance department? Any practical applications you've already seen? Things you are anticipating in the future?

There's been (too) much hype about AI but I haven't found a useful application yet where it can help my day-to-day.

Thanks Benji. I get this question a lot. And I haven’t written about AI yet. There is a good reason for that… I don’t really know the answer. I’m not sure anyone really does. But I definitely don’t!

What I do think we know so far:

• AI is going to have a massive effect on the accounting and finance profession, even if it’s not yet clear how

• AI isn’t going to take your job, but someone who can use AI might one day

• Microsoft Copilot is going to make everyday office work more efficient. Accelerating the production of PowerPoint and Excel files in particular

• There will be a shortage of skills in AI, so start building now

With regards to the practical applications of AI… I remember saying the same thing when my father first showed me the internet in the early 90s. So be careful this doesn’t creep up on you.

Anyone that is looking for career longevity beyond the next five years needs to be embracing AI. I will run a series on AI in due course, but only once I have a clearer view of what I feel it all means for the CFO.

If you would like to submit a question, please fill out this form.

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Stay crispy,

The Secret CFO

Disclaimer: I am not your accountant, tax advisor, lawyer, CFO, director, or friend. Well, maybe I’m your friend, but I am not any of those other things. Everything I publish represents my opinions only, not advice. Running the finances for a company is serious business, and you should take the proper advice you need.