CFO Bookshelf Blog

I had never considered the business aspects of pirating until I read Katherine Howe’s newest book, A True Account: Hannah Masury’s Sojourn Amongst the Pyrates, Written by Herself. Dreams, mission statements, culture building, profit sharing, and a code of conduct and core values are some business aspects we learn in this fast-moving novel I read in two evenings. Katherine discusses the characters and the dual timelines in this historical novel set in the 1600s and 1930s.

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I’d pick The Phoenix Project if I could only recommend one book to a CEO, CFO, or COO about the essentials or the heart of IT in a heartbeat. Gene Kim is one of the co-authors of this remarkable book. In this conversation with Gene, we address The Three Ways, the four types of work, internal audit, the role of IT security, and why this novel has universal appeal across all industries and all professions.

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I cannot count the number of times I’ve heard the following question, “Mark, I’ve heard my industry EBITDA multiple is 5x. What do you think?” Many CEOs think their business value is based on a simple equation. When the book Quick Value by Reed Phillips hit my radar, I bought it immediately. Reed’s process for valuing a private company is a simple but powerful method that should be completed annually by an internal leadership team.

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“Here, Mark, I think this book will help.” I will be forever thankful for Stuart Varner of a small injection molding company in Poynette, WI, recommending The Goal by Goldratt as I started working on my first manufacturing project early in my finance career. For years, I waited for the perfect book on Throughput planning, reporting, and analysis. Not only is Throughput Economics thorough, but it’s readable. Visiting with one of the authors was a treat.

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If you have read any books on pricing, the title that stands out is Hermann Simon’s Confessions of The Pricing Man. However, suppose you are looking for a book that includes nearly every pricing tactic ever used in business. In that case, I’d start with Handbook on the Psychology of Pricing by Dr. Markus Husemann-Kopetzky. While this book is for the hardcore marketer and CMO, CEOs, and CFOs will also gain valuable insights from this highly readable book.

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I’ve read many books on investing, and after reading about a dozen in this genre, the content grows repetitive and even tiresome. Periodically, a new title will rise from the crowd in this busy book category. That’s the case for 100 Baggers by Chris Mayer, published in 2015. In addition to a catchy title, the book hits a home run with its sound business advice and a solid framework that’s even relevant for CEOs, CFOs, and COOs.

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On a personal and professional level, Carnegie’s How to Win Friends and Influence People by Carnegie was transformational. Carnegie would have loved Nick Gray’s The 2-Hour Cocktail Party because it explains how, when, and where to connect with other people, which can lead to lifelong friendships. This book is relevant to any financial and business leader; Nick nails it when he says, “Networking is the key to success in every career or business.”

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As a kid, I listened to hundreds of games of my favorite team, where I repeatedly heard the names Budweiser and Busch over many years. Because of the rise in popularity of TV shows like Riches, Succession, and Yellowstone, I was curious if Bill Knoedelseder’s book Bitter Brew – The Rise and Fall of Anheuser-Busch and America’s King of Beers included a similar story arc. The answer is a resounding ‘yes’ with many previously untold stories.

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Hermann Simon’s Confessions of a Pricing Man is easily the best book ever written on this topic. The author is the Chairman of the global strategy consulting firm Simon-Kucher. He’s also one of this generation’s most prolific business thinkers, whose writing parallels Peter Drucker’s. In this conversation, our topic is Hermann’s 2021 book, True Profit. Topics include profit maximization, why price increases trump volume increases or cost reductions, and profit elasticity.

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