Mailbag | CFO Secrets

Mailbag

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

Teams & Hiring

📬 The Speedrun Rebuild: Achieving Finance Maturity Fast

Dec 16, 2025

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20 min read

📬 The Speedrun Rebuild: Achieving Finance Maturity Fast

And becoming a CFO at IPO

The Board Room

📬 It's a Family Affair: Creating culture change and buy-in

Dec 9, 2025

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16 min read

📬 It's a Family Affair: Creating culture change and buy-in

And becoming a CFO at IPO

Career Management

📬 Exit Strategy: Bringing the story to life

Dec 2, 2025

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15 min read

📬 Exit Strategy: Bringing the story to life

And breaking down the balance sheet in plain English

M&A

📬 Prepping for exit: Real earnings or short-term optics?

Nov 25, 2025

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19 min read

📬 Prepping for exit: Real earnings or short-term optics?

And how to get back to carrot/stick incentives

Career Management

📬 Proper ZBB: Separating essential from discretionary spend

Nov 18, 2025

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16 min read

📬 Proper ZBB: Separating essential from discretionary spend

And the leap from software to manufacturing finance

Mailbag

📬 “Strategy” or Fraud: Radical transparency in accounting

Nov 11, 2025

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17 min read

📬 “Strategy” or Fraud: Radical transparency in accounting

And a word on hedging interest rates

Mailbag

Nov 4, 2025

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15 min read

📬 Brand First: D2C survival tactics

And wtf is "lights out accounting"

Career Management

📬 The Decade View: Let's get real about AI

Oct 28, 2025

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15 min read

📬 The Decade View: Let's get real about AI

And narrowing your focus on the CFO job search

The Board Room

Oct 21, 2025

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18 min read

📬 Dumpster Fire: Measuring M&A success

And walking up the staircase of financial maturity

The Board Room

📬 Healthy Tension: Handling CEO red flags

Oct 14, 2025

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15 min read

📬 Healthy Tension: Handling CEO red flags

And to MBA or not to MBA?

Teams & Hiring

📬 Speed Running: Spend approval for scale-ups

Oct 7, 2025

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17 min read

📬 Speed Running: Spend approval for scale-ups

And when is a "good enough" employee not good enough?

CFO Role

Sep 30, 2025

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18 min read

📬 VC CFO to PE: Can you make the leap?

And what's with all the PE interest in accounting firms?

CFO Role

📬 Spending Freedom: Managing employee expenses

Sep 23, 2025

•

16 min read

📬 Spending Freedom: Managing employee expenses

And rebranding ... what's the point?

📬 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

📬 The Speedrun Rebuild: Achieving Finance Maturity Fast

📬 It's a Family Affair: Creating culture change and buy-in

📬 Exit Strategy: Bringing the story to life

📬 Prepping for exit: Real earnings or short-term optics?

📬 Proper ZBB: Separating essential from discretionary spend

📬 “Strategy” or Fraud: Radical transparency in accounting

📬 Brand First: D2C survival tactics

📬 The Decade View: Let's get real about AI

📬 Dumpster Fire: Measuring M&A success

📬 Healthy Tension: Handling CEO red flags

📬 Speed Running: Spend approval for scale-ups

📬 VC CFO to PE: Can you make the leap?

📬 Spending Freedom: Managing employee expenses

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