Weekly Bookmarks –
168th Edition – October 6, 2024
Don’t hire anyone who doesn’t walk fast. My dad could not stand to see people idle or dawdling.
One of the Sacred Cals as told by Cal Turner, Jr.
1. Cash Is Not King
I suppose cash is king when we worry about it, stress over not having enough, or have money on the brain at all times. But I still believe that cash is not king in the context of business. Instead, the business model is.
Cash is a requirement and a product of the business model that finds, acquires, and serves customers. The business model is king. Cash is subservient to the model, not the other way around.
Peter Kingma believes differently; the author of Cash is King released earlier this year. I agree with the author that few explain working capital and cash management compared to marketing, sales, operations, and strategy. However, I found many instances where I disagreed with him, and he’s missing some critical frameworks in some areas of treasury management.
I still give the book three stars because I cannot recall any author addressing order-to-cash and procurement-to-cash the way he does. Parts of those sections were insightful and helpful.
2. Books on Cash
Are you dealing with insomnia? This list of books will be the perfect cure. The Kingma got me thinking about an entire shelf I have on this topic, and here are six titles to consider if this topic intrigues you.
- Reversing the Slide is the best book written about business turnarounds. Jim Shein’s 13-week cash flow forecast in chapter 4 is the best I’ve ever seen in a book, even though it’s clunky. That chapter alone is worth the price of the book.
- Up Your Cash Flow is only for tiny businesses. The title is funny, and the author has a great sense of humor. I never liked the software he created with the same book title, but the story arc is not bad for small business owners who have never been exposed to budgeting.
- Never Run Out of Cash is good, but it could have been great. Philip Campbell’s book is more advanced than Up Your Cash Flow and pairs nicely with chapter four of Shein’s book mentioned above.
- Cash Rules by Bill McGuiness belongs on the bookshelf of a new cash or treasury manager. Don’t let the low reviews impact your decision to buy it. The author focuses on the drivers that affect money, and it is heavier on pragmatics than theory.
- An honorable mention goes to Guide to Cash Management: How to Avoid a Business Credit Crunch by The Economist.
3. This Author Gets Cash
The cash flow projection is the most important of all the management reports. The Income Statement and Balance Sheet report historical activities and therefore, it is too late to correct something which has already happened. The Budget is a very useful planning and performance management tool but the Cash Projection is the lifeblood of the business. Without cash the business cannot survive.
McKaskill, Tom. Financial Information For Entrepreneurs And Managers
4. Jeff Bezos on Cash
Perhaps Jeff Bezos needs to write a book on cash flow. For now, we’ll keep quoting him as the author of True Profit did:
growth. Jeff Bezos, the founder of Amazon, got straight to the point when he said: “Percentage margins are not one of the things we are seeking to optimize. It’s the absolute dollar free cash flow per share you want to maximize, and if you can do this by lowering margins, we would do that. Prioritizing free cash flow will allow you to experiment and innovate quickly.”
Simon, Hermann. True Profit!: No Company Ever Went Broke Turning a Profit
The book pleads for a reconsideration of profit as the guiding concept of management and entrepreneurship, and it showcases how profitability can ensure the long term health of a business.
5. Can This Football Book Make You a Better Leader?
If I were a speechwriter for anyone in the Patrick Lencioni consulting culture machine, I’d provide them with about 12-13 short stories from the book The Score Takes Care of Itself by the late and great NFL football coach Bill Walsh.
The book meanders sometimes because it lacks a narrative or timeline arc. Since it is based on the leadership teachings of this iconic coach at Stanford University, some fantastic stories apply to CEOs and managers of any kind.
The story that stands out the most is the mindset of two coaches. When Walsh experienced success as an assistant in Cincinnati, the head coach (Paul Brown) took credit for Bill’s genius and bad-mouthed him across the league so he would not leave and have to stay put in Cincinnati.
When Walsh eventually left for a similar position in San Diego, Stanford called, asking him to be their head coach. Unlike Paul Brown, San Diego pulled Walsh aside and said, “You have to take the job.” The San Diego coach was not thinking about his success; he was thinking about Bill’s.
Could Walsh go on to win three Super Bowls and be considered one of the greatest NFL coaches of all time? I’m not sure. But I sure do like the leadership mentality of that San Diego coach.
Prior to his death, Bill Walsh granted bestselling author Steve Jamison a series of exclusive interviews, which became his ultimate lecture on leadership. Hall of Fame quarterback Joe Montana and others provide additional insights and perspectives.
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Thank You
Thank you for reading. If you like the content above and the posts at CFO Bookshelf, may I ask a favor? Feel free to share this with other readers and comment on your favorite LinkedIn, Twitter, or Facebook.
Take care, and have a great week. Always be learning.
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