Mark Gandy

Name a work of fiction that centers around a stock picker. Alternatively, provide three fictional titles related to personal finance.. If you can’t, this episode offers a synopsis of five works of fiction that revolve around personal finance and investing. One of the titles is new. Three have been written in the past twenty years, and one is a classic you might want on your bookshelf. This promises to be a show where such lists don’t exist.

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Many in the magazine industry will tell you that print is not dead. Try telling that to the writers who used to produce those beautiful glossy annual reports that are now published in the form of PDF documents. Robert Roth is making his first-ever appearance on a podcast to discuss how a report writer secures gigs, the time commitment required, and other fascinating insights into the behind-the-scenes process of conceptualizing and creating annual reports.

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Every financial executive should either have the book Valuation or have a physical or digital copy in their antilibrary. CFO Bookshelf is thrilled and honored to have the lead author of all eight editions of this foundational valuation book, which is used in many financial curricula across the nation. In this conversation, we hit on ROIC, growth, economic profit, long-term thinking, and the best way to read this book.

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In CFO Bookshelf’s 250th episode, we feature a book that embodies the heart and soul of what this show stands for. The book is Lead by Greatness by our guest, David Lapin. David addresses eight vital leadership traits, defining a spiritual fingerprint and why it matters, the reason the Siberian prisoner perished, and what it means for both leaders and staff. He recommends that we read more fiction, sharing some of his favorite authors and titles.

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Why has Taylor Swift trademarked her and her cats’ names? As Kary Oberbrunner tells us, we’re just like Taylor in that we’re all IP companies. In this conversation about IP, we learn about Instant IPᴵᴾ, the role blockchain plays in IP, the reason good fences make good neighbors, and IP holding companies. The book title we’re discussing is Kary’s, You Are an IP Company, which was kickstarted by one of the triggering events he addresses in his TEDx presentation. 

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Howard Schultz thought Starbucks was all about the coffee. Howard Behar knew better, despite having no college education and never having worked in the coffee or restaurant industry. Howard Behar worked one week for free before joining Starbucks, where he helped to shepherd the growth from a few stores to 15,000. Howard shares the lessons he discovered, practiced, and taught before and during his leadership at Starbucks, who is always preaching, “We’re in the human service business.”

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I know nothing about rowing, yet I like reading books about this sport because the necessary ingredients for success are similar in business and for the leaders who steer them to never-ending finish lines. Accordingly, CFO Bookshelf was thrilled to interview author and rowing coach, Dan Boyne.

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There are only four books on performance measurement that I recommend to peers. My favorite is Transforming Performance Measurement by Dean Spitzer. Dean started his performance measurement journey while doing research at IBM. Like many innovators, he first found out what didn’t work. Ultimately, he discovered the four performance measurement success factors.

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I owe a debt of gratitude to long-time pricing expert, author, speaker, and podcast host, Ron Baker. On the Soul of Enterprise podcast, Ron and his co-host Ed Kless mentioned Matthew Stewart and his book, The Management Myth. I immediately listened to it and then read it (and a few more times since). I require every consultant I coach and mentor to read it.

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