Mailbag | CFO Secrets

Mailbag

📬 Jumping ship: Explaining why you left a bad PE sponsor

Jun 16, 2026

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9 min read

📬 Jumping ship: Explaining why you left a bad PE sponsor

And teaching your CEO to think like a CFO.

Mailbag

📬 Bootstrapping: Grow fast, pay yourself, or sleep well?

Jun 9, 2026

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9 min read

📬 Bootstrapping: Grow fast, pay yourself, or sleep well?

And is micro-PE as fun as it sounds?

Mailbag

📬 Ready fire aim: kickstarting finance transformation

Jun 2, 2026

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9 min read

📬 Ready fire aim: kickstarting finance transformation

And how to talk about bad numbers...

Career Management

📬 Gone in sixty seconds: Speed-reading financial statements

May 26, 2026

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9 min read

📬 Gone in sixty seconds: Speed-reading financial statements

And dealing with controlling founders...

Mailbag

📬 Too big to fail: How to manage increasing responsibilities as CFO

May 19, 2026

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7 min read

📬 Too big to fail: How to manage increasing responsibilities as CFO

And how to let future employers know why you're leaving a bad job

Mailbag

📬 Work of art: Designing working capital for growth

May 12, 2026

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8 min read

📬 Work of art: Designing working capital for growth

And how to get friendly with your board

Mailbag

📬 Equal pay: Getting global comp policies right

May 5, 2026

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7 min read

📬 Equal pay: Getting global comp policies right

And reading the news like the Secret CFO

Mailbag

📬 Building blocks: The future tech stack

Apr 28, 2026

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9 min read

📬 Building blocks: The future tech stack

And using the internet to grow your career, Secret CFO-style

Mailbag

📬 Running on empty: What to do when burnout catches up with you

Apr 21, 2026

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11 min read

📬 Running on empty: What to do when burnout catches up with you

And putting storytelling tactics into action

Mailbag

📬 First steps: Folding-in AI without breaking what works

Apr 14, 2026

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19 min read

📬 First steps: Folding-in AI without breaking what works

And can wartime and peacetime leaders coexist?

Career Management

📬 Sticker shock: Repricing without blowing customer relationships

Apr 7, 2026

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17 min read

📬 Sticker shock: Repricing without blowing customer relationships

And what to do when your CEO breaks a promise

Mailbag

📬 CEO or CFO: Who's responsible for startup fundraising?

Mar 31, 2026

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17 min read

📬 CEO or CFO: Who's responsible for startup fundraising?

And how to manage budget transparency

Mailbag

📬 Feeling anxious: is it time to refinance your debt?

Mar 24, 2026

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18 min read

📬 Feeling anxious: is it time to refinance your debt?

And sticking it out vs abandoning ship in a struggling business

Career Management

Mar 17, 2026

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18 min read

📬 Balance of power: weighing centralized vs. decentralized finance functions

And how to deal with a CEO hellbent on paying themself first

Mailbag

📬 Treading water: How tech CFOs can survive the AI squeeze

Mar 10, 2026

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16 min read

📬 Treading water: How tech CFOs can survive the AI squeeze

And protecting your sweat equity

The Board Room

📬 Tone at the top: Dealing with a CEO who fiddles their expenses

Mar 3, 2026

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18 min read

📬 Tone at the top: Dealing with a CEO who fiddles their expenses

And how to move beyond the "nice but s**t" coworker

Treasury

📬 Marginal Impact: Contribution Margin vs. Absorption Costs

Feb 17, 2026

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18 min read

📬 Marginal Impact: Contribution Margin vs. Absorption Costs

And making the most of FX strategy

Career Management

📬 One Helluva Drug: The Invoice Financing Trap

Feb 10, 2026

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15 min read

📬 One Helluva Drug: The Invoice Financing Trap

And what SMB CFOs can learn from PE

Mailbag

📬 Watch your back: Protecting yourself during insolvency

Feb 3, 2026

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18 min read

📬 Watch your back: Protecting yourself during insolvency

And managing complicated leadership politics

The Board Room

Jan 27, 2026

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17 min read

📬 From CFO to CEO: Are you ready?

And making MFCF sing...what's in and what's out

Mailbag

📬 Fudging gross margin: Honest economics

Jan 20, 2026

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17 min read

📬 Fudging gross margin: Honest economics

Scaling won't fix numbers games.

Mailbag

📬 Chief Influencer: Getting buy-in for AI investments

Jan 13, 2026

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16 min read

📬 Chief Influencer: Getting buy-in for AI investments

Spoiler alert: Small and easy does it.

Career Management

📬 Accountant-in-chief: Should the CFO or controller own the books?

Jan 6, 2026

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20 min read

📬 Accountant-in-chief: Should the CFO or controller own the books?

And where to get those accounting skills (if you don't have them)

Teams & Hiring

📬 Bonus structures for finance: What's the scorecard?

Dec 30, 2025

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15 min read

📬 Bonus structures for finance: What's the scorecard?

And fixing core AR and AP problems

The Board Room

📬 Transformation Urgency: Creating action without turnaround adrenaline

Dec 23, 2025

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18 min read

📬 Transformation Urgency: Creating action without turnaround adrenaline

And navigating the fundamentally different VC board

📬 Jumping ship: Explaining why you left a bad PE sponsor

📬 Bootstrapping: Grow fast, pay yourself, or sleep well?

📬 Ready fire aim: kickstarting finance transformation

📬 Gone in sixty seconds: Speed-reading financial statements

📬 Too big to fail: How to manage increasing responsibilities as CFO

📬 Work of art: Designing working capital for growth

📬 Equal pay: Getting global comp policies right

📬 Building blocks: The future tech stack

📬 Running on empty: What to do when burnout catches up with you

📬 First steps: Folding-in AI without breaking what works

📬 Sticker shock: Repricing without blowing customer relationships

📬 CEO or CFO: Who's responsible for startup fundraising?

📬 Feeling anxious: is it time to refinance your debt?

📬 Balance of power: weighing centralized vs. decentralized finance functions

📬 Treading water: How tech CFOs can survive the AI squeeze

📬 Tone at the top: Dealing with a CEO who fiddles their expenses

📬 Marginal Impact: Contribution Margin vs. Absorption Costs

📬 One Helluva Drug: The Invoice Financing Trap

📬 Watch your back: Protecting yourself during insolvency

📬 From CFO to CEO: Are you ready?

📬 Fudging gross margin: Honest economics

📬 Chief Influencer: Getting buy-in for AI investments

📬 Accountant-in-chief: Should the CFO or controller own the books?

📬 Bonus structures for finance: What's the scorecard?

📬 Transformation Urgency: Creating action without turnaround adrenaline

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