Eric Ries and Steve Blank, move over. My new favorite book on startups is by Brett Fox, and the title is Learn How to Take a Punch: Building Your Startup Isn’t a Marathon, It’s a Prizefight. One of my first takeaways in the book is the mental stamina required for a startup CEO. I also learned the importance of hiring right and startup cultures.
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Adam Coffey Demystifies Private Equity
In the next four years, CEO, author, and private equity expert Adam Coffey will create $2 billion in new wealth for his investors through just 6 initiatives with only a small team while maintaining a great culture of 3,000 employees. Adam is also the author of The Private Equity Playbook. In this episode, Adam breaks down the basics of private equity funds.
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A Deep Dive Into Open Book Leadership
There’s a 14-year-old who started his first business with a buddy mowing lawns in Farmington, Missouri. His second business was servicing coffee and cappuccino machines after graduating from college. He and his wife traded the coffee business for chicken which ultimately resulted in a business with a 20-year run of double-digit sales growth.
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The Real Peter Lynch and A Simple Model
I’m a huge fan of Peter Lynch. No, not the mutual fund manager, the other one – the private equity guy who thinks he’s a nerd, but he’s not. He also created the Excel-based A Simple Model which is growing by leaps and bounds. We also talk about private equity and acquisitions. He’s our guest on the CFO Bookshelf podcast.
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Are You Hyper-Learning at the Speed of Change?
One of my all-time favorite business authors is Professor Edward Hess of one of the top business schools around the world – The Darden School of Business at the University of Virginia. He’s written 12 books and his newest is Hyper-Learning: How to Adapt to the Speed of Change. We’ll find out that hyper-learning is far more than applying a few tactics.
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Ron Baker Discusses Pricing, NPS, Metrics, and Much More
Not only is Ron Baker a long-time member of my mental board of mentors and experts but he’s also seated at the head of the table. When he walks into my thought process, I stand. This revolutionary thinker on value pricing for professional services firms is that good. Accordingly, you are in for a treat.
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Connecting the Dots between Rowing and Business with Dan Boyne
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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Porter’s Five Forces on the Political Stage
When I saw the book, The Politics Industry, pop up in my LinkedIn feed authored by Katherine Gehl along with Michael Porter, I skimmed the viewable pages on Amazon. Brilliant content and creative – using Porter’s Five Forces on the political stage. More than brilliant – genius thinking. Within minutes, I was reaching out to Katherine Gehl on LinkedIn for an interview request.
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2 CFOs Break Down the Kolbe A™ Index
Bruce and I enjoyed our recent conversation with Amy Bruske, the president of Kolbe Corporation who educated us about our conative strengths. This week, Bruce and I wanted to dive deeper into this topic because it’s practical, actionable, and predictable. We also explored why many teams are stuck and can’t get projects moving along.
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Dryrun’s Blaine Bertsch Talks Cash Flow
One of the early presidents of Sun Microsystems nearly 30 years ago said enterprise servers were like teenage sex – everybody talks about it, but no one does it right. I could say the same thing for short-term cash flow forecasting. Cash flow forecasting doesn’t need to be hard, especially when using the right tool.
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