CFO Bookshelf Blog

Derek Sivers was an accidental business founder. He only wanted to sell his music online, which happened to be during the pre-PayPal era. His peers pushed him into the business because they wanted their music online too. This short story of ups and downs ends with a pitch-perfect score when he sells the business for $22 million. In this episode, I’m joined by Hannah Munro, the host of the CFO 4.0 podcast, to unpack Derek’s book, Anything You Like.

[Read more…] about The Story of CD Baby

Dame Stephanie ‘Steve’ Shirley has repeatedly stated, “I want to live a life worth saving.” Those who adore her will quickly say she has lived multiple lives worth saving after being saved from the Holocaust and transported by her mother from Austria to her newly-adopted country in England. Steve later became a visionary entrepreneur and a passionate and ardent philanthropist giving away millions to noble causes. Our topic is her 5-star book, Let It Go.

[Read more…] about A Life Worth Saving

We learned many linear frameworks in college to help us solve simple to complex problems. Yet, systems thinking was probably missing from that curriculum. The Fifth Discipline (Senge) and Systems Thinking (Meadows) are typical starting points for learning systems thinking. However, those books are not written from a business person’s perspective. Simple_Complexity, by Dr. William ‘Willy’ Donaldson, provides a very readable and practical overview of systems thinking, the topic of this podcast episode.

[Read more…] about The Systems Thinking Mindset

A 2009 survey revealed that a fifth of British teens believed Churchill was a fictional character. More than a quarter thought Florence Nightengale was a mythical figure. But two-thirds thought King Arthur was a real person. We need a similar survey showing what management systems are mythical and which provide valuable and enduring benefits in any organization. David Axson is the perfect person to provide feedback; he’s the author of The Management Mythbuster.

[Read more…] about The Management Mythbuster

Behind his back, I call him a Peter Drucker. He’s the co-host of one of my favorite podcasts, 2Bobs. He’s also the author of six business books. His name is David C. Baker, and I could listen to him all day with his pearls of wisdom on accumulating and sharing expertise with others. David’s newest book is Secret Tradecraft of Elite Advisors. Even W-2 knowledge workers can gain insights from this book geared toward third-party experts.

[Read more…] about The Logic and Magic of Expertise and Tradecraft

In the CFO Bookshelf archives, an old audio file was found collecting dust, and it was an interview between Oracle Netsuite and Mark Gandy, the host of this show. The audio is from a pre-recorded webinar for their audience, and the title was called, The Books CFOs Read, and it was hosted by Ranga Bodla, NetSuite’s Head of Industry Marketing. The show also featured opinions on the evolving role of today’s CFO.

[Read more…] about A Podcast for Financial Leaders

Some of my favorite books by business founders include Boss Life by Paul Downs, Anything You Want by Derek Sivers, and Wild Company by the Zieglers. What it Takes by Raegan Moya-Jones, the gritty and successful co-founder of aden + anais is also high on my list. Her book includes many of the typical hurdles we’d expect in a startup story. But few tackle the weighty subject of pioneering women building a global brand in a male-dominated space as Raegan did.

[Read more…] about Building a $100 Million Brand Against Formidable Odds

Do you have any idea what a donor-advised fund is? I didn’t until my conversation with the founder of Groundswell, Jake Wood. Jake is no stranger to charitable giving and non-profits, as he c0-founded Team Rubicon in 2010. In this conversation, Jake explains how any individual or business can give like Bill Gates, be taxed like Warren Buffett, and be recognized like John D. Rockefeller through such a simple giving mechanism–donor-advised funds.

[Read more…] about What is a Donor-Advised Fund?

There’s a Mad Men scene where Harry Crane where learns that a colleague makes $100 a week more than he does. He believes he deserves a raise, and he ultimately receives a slight raise from his intimidating boss. Do you believe he was happy with the outcome? How about you? Are you paid fairly? In this episode, compensation expert David Buckmaster is going to unpack this fascinating topic based on his book Fair Pay. 

[Read more…] about What is Fair Pay?

CFO Bookshelf does not sit in the seat of judgment, nor does it play the role of pundit in the midst of the 2023 banking crisis. We’ll let the regulators and the media handle those duties. Instead, CFO Bookshelf is about old and revolutionary ideas we can test and apply in our organizations. In response to this banking crisis, we share four impactful banking frameworks that can be applied by any senior leadership team in any industry.

[Read more…] about Four Banking Frameworks for Any Industry