Readings for founders and executives who decide with numbers.
Notes, models and reflections from a CFO's desk.
Your business is doing well… or so you think. Why you need a budget.
Imagine driving a car with no dashboard. No speedometer, no gas gauge. That's exactly what happens when you run a business without a budget.
Your numbers exist. Is anyone reading them?
There's a silent problem in many companies: they have the information, but nobody uses it. The data is in the system, but it's not organized to tell management anything useful.
You want to retire. Your company can't depend on you forever.
You have someone in mind to replace you. But one question keeps you up at night: how do I know if they're doing a good job? It's one of the worst-managed processes in founder-led companies.
Multiple companies, multiple countries, multiple currencies. How not to lose control.
If you have subsidiaries in different countries, you know the headache: consolidating when every company runs in its own currency, accounting standards and systems. By month-end it's already too late to act.
Your office also affects your productivity. Small changes, big results.
It's not all about finance. If you spend 8+ hours in front of a screen, the ergonomics and tidiness of your workspace matter more than you think. Here are simple changes with real impact.
Are you going to sell your company? What nobody tells you about the process.
Selling your company is the most important transaction of your professional life. Most founders arrive unprepared, without proper advisors, leaving money on the table.
A profitable business can still go broke. Here's how it happens.
A company can be profitable on paper and run out of cash to operate. It sounds contradictory, but it happens more than you'd think. It almost always has the same cause: a weak financial structure.
AI is already in finance. Is your company taking advantage of it?
It's not science fiction. AI is already transforming how companies manage their finances, and not just big corporations. Today an SME can access tools that only banks had five years ago.
How much money does your company really have today? If you hesitate, keep reading.
It's a simple question. But for many SME and startup owners, answering it takes days or weeks. Financial visibility is a basic necessity, not a luxury.
What does a CFO actually do? And why your company probably needs one.
You probably picture a suited executive at a multinational. The reality is that a CFO's role is much more practical, and much more relevant to companies of every size.
Your company sells well. So why is there never any cash?
It's one of the most frustrating paradoxes in business: you have customers, sales and profits on paper, but the bank is always tight. The answer is almost always in working capital.
The worst investment is the one you didn't analyze before making.
We all know someone who opened a restaurant because they love food. The story rarely ends well, not because the idea was bad, but because the decision was made with optimism, not analysis.
The market changes. Is your company looking forward or backward?
Most companies manage their finances by looking in the rear-view mirror. Companies that grow in volatile environments do something different: they look ahead.
EBITDA: the word everyone uses and few really understand.
If you've been in a business meeting recently, you've probably heard the word EBITDA. Someone said it confidently, everyone nodded, no one asked what it meant. Here's the plain explanation.
You need capital. Whose door do you knock on, and how?
Raising capital is one of the most important and most exhausting processes a founder lives through. Part of the exhaustion comes from not knowing whom to approach or how.
5 finance books every founder should read. Summaries and key takeaways.
You don't need an MBA to understand how money works. Sometimes a good book does more than a semester of classes. Here are five that are worth your time.
A full-time CFO costs more than you think. There is a better option.
When a company starts to grow, there comes a point when the founder can no longer carry finance alone. The question is how to take that step without taking on the cost of a full-time executive.
How much is your company worth?
It's one of the most important and worst-answered questions in business. How you get to that number, how you defend it, and how you know if the offer you have is fair.