CFO Bookshelf

Jonathan Stark needs no introduction in the value pricing world. Many years ago, Jonathan came to the realization that hourly billing was not a workable solution for him and his software development clients. He eventually ditched the billable hour in favor of value pricing. Flash forward to the present, and he's recorded more than 500 episodes on his podcast, Ditching Hourly, and he's impacted well into the thousands of people he's coached, mentored, and spoken to as they have transformed their billing practices as Jonathan once did. On this show, we discuss Jonathan's short and impactful book, Hourly Billing is Nuts. Even if you do not work in professional services, you'll learn much from this conversation. At the end, Mark has a surprise as he retells one of his favorite stories of all time, which is about hourly billing that winds up having a positive ending.

The subtitle of Ehsan Ehsani's new book Finding Value in Numbers is The Essential Investing Toolkit to Win on Wall Street. If I may, I'm adding my subtitle too, which is Learn a Handful of Key Financial Concepts for Your Small and Growing Enterprise. Accordingly, this book is not just for Buffett-like value investors but for CEOs, finance directors, operating managers, and board members. In this conversation we hit on some new ways to approach ROIC, which goes far beyond some of the conventional thinking and math found in finance textbooks. We also bust a few sacred cows, such as discounted cash flow analysis. Finding Value in Numbers is far from a finance book for value investors with repackaged recycled content found in other similar books. The content is fresh, interesting, and even entertaining at times. The Fresh Patch Podcast - Where Good Pets Get It. Welcome to the Fresh Patch Podcast where we talk about everything, from dog... Listen on: Apple Podcasts

They called him 'Chainsaw Al.' In 1996, Al Dunlap took over a struggling Sunbeam and did what he did best: he cut. He let go 6,000 employees and closed 18 factories. The stock price? It nearly quadrupled in less than two years. To Wall Street, he was a superstar. But the 'turnaround' was a house of cards. To meet impossible targets, Dunlap used 'cookie-jar' accounting and 'channel stuffing'—basically booking future sales today to hide massive losses. By 1998, the board fired him, the SEC banned him for life, and Sunbeam was headed for bankruptcy. So, was he a genius who saved companies, or a corporate 'psychopath' who destroyed them for a quick buck? In this episode, I bring back my friend Gordon Graham, the author of The Intrepid Brotherhood, who knows what it's like to work for a psychopathic leader. We explore this topic as we go through some of the key ideas in John Byrne's book, Chainsaw. The Path to Exit Founders—thinking of selling or raising capital? Here's what you should know... Listen on: Apple Podcasts Spotify

Kyle Hegarty is a gifted, story-centric writer, as evidenced by his first book, The Accidental Business Nomad. Kyle's newest book describes the sales recession B2B sales teams are facing and offers remedies to overcome sales ineffectiveness rooted in an outdated playbook. The book is Sales Punks, and in this easy-to-follow narrative, Kyle explains the difference between the seller's journey and the buyer's journey and why that mindset shift is required. We also learn why most reps don't hit sales quotas, why that trend continues to drop, and why training is being scrapped throughout sales organizations. You do not need to work in sales to enjoy this conversation or the book. At the end, Mark treats us to his seven favorite sales-centric books of all time.

He helped to navigate a violent and catastrophic economic crisis in Argentina. He helped shape the playbook for a Dominican Republic bank bailout, which nearly brought the country to its knees, and he was at the helm of this international bank during the financial crisis, which made money during that time period. Howard Green's book, Gimme A Crisis, is a roadmap for becoming a CEO, understanding the differences between liquidity and capital, learning the essentials of risk management, and the role of people skills at the CEO level. Howard is making his second appearance on the show, and if you like Railroader, you will not be disappointed with his newest book.

Over the past thirty years, Kevin Boehm has opened forty restaurants, been awarded the highest honor in his profession, and served everyone from Mick Jagger to President Obama. Kevin's new book is a memoir entitled The Bottomless Cup. During this conversation, we hear how Kevin endured a chaotic relationship with his surrogate father and what it was like to learn of his biological father when he was a college student. Despite many obstacles and hardships, Kevin was a successful restaurant flipper until he hit a snag in Nashville. We learn what success looks like in the restaurant industry. More importantly, Kevin shares his insights about success beyond the kitchen.

If you like the topics of organizational performance, personal and professional excellence, and thought-provoking mental models, then Superperformance by George Pesanky is worth reading. In this conversation, we'll learn about The Golden Hour, Root Cause Success, the Thomas-Kilman Conflict Model, the Prison of Expectations, and the Kano Model.

I am a customer of Bull Market Gifts, and when I spend time on their website, I'm hooked and have a difficult time leaving. Last year, I purchased some vintage annual reports, and I bought another before I interviewed the co-founder and owner of this niche retailer. Their product offering also includes old stock certificates and a deep assortment of New York Stock Exchange memorabilia. During this conversation with Mike Oaklief, you will hear about Gordon Gekko, Enron's Code of Ethics, and a story about an American Exchange stock certificate that can be yours for more than $3,000.

When I began studying the root causes of business failure early in my career, I believed that faulty cognitive limitations and weaknesses were the primary drivers of poor decisions, ultimately leading to business failure. Taras Wayner is the producer and host of a new podcast called A Case Study in Corporate Fear, where he addresses one of the central emotions in the affective mindset: fear. During this conversation, we learned how fear impacted the decision makers at Yahoo!, Atari, and Jaguar. We also address the areas of red teaming, resulting, and other biases that contribute to the fear-based mindset.

Can you name a work of fiction that centered around a stock picker? Alternatively, can you provide three fictional titles related to personal finance? If both answers are no, this episode provides a brief synopsis of four works of fiction revolving around personal finance and investing. One of the titles is new. Three have been written in the past twenty years, and one is a classic you might want on your bookshelf.

Many in the magazine industry will tell you on the mountaintops that print is not dead. Try telling that to the writers who used to produce those beautiful glossy annual reports that are now published in the form of PDF documents. Robert Roth is making his first-ever appearance on a podcast to discuss how an annual report writer secures gigs, the time commitment required, and other fascinating insights into the behind-the-scenes process of conceptualizing and creating annual reports. Robert is also the author of The Writer’s Guide to Annual Reports, published in 2009.

Every financial executive should either have the book Valuation or have it on their physical or digital bookshelf in their antilibrary. CFO Bookshelf is thrilled and honored to have the lead author of all eight editions of this foundational book on valuation, which is used in many financial curricula around the nation on college campuses. In this conversation, we hit on ROIC, growth, economic profit, long-term thinking, and the best way to read this book.

In CFO Bookshelf's 250th episode, we feature a book that embodies the heart and soul of what this show stands for. The book is Lead by Greatness by our guest, David Lapin. During this conversation, David addresses eight vital leadership traits, defining a spiritual fingerprint and why it matters, the reason the Siberian prisoner perished and what it means for both leaders and staff, and the reason behind burnout and fatigue. David also recommends that we read more fiction and novels, sharing some of his favorite authors and titles.

Why has Taylor Swift trademarked her and her cats' names? And how does she protect the approximately three hundred trademarks she owns? As Kary Oberbrunner tells us, we're just like Taylor in that we're all IP companies. In this engaging conversation about IP, we learn about Instant IPᴵᴾ, the role blockchain plays in IP, the reason good fences make good neighbors, and why you should consider an IP holding company. The book title we're discussing is Kary's, You Are an IP Company, which was kickstarted by one of the triggering events he addresses in his TEDx presentation.

We have read many stories about the magical growth of Starbucks. However, did you know that one of its first presidents had a background in furniture sales and did not hold a college degree? Our guest is the author of It's Not About the Coffee, and Howard Behar saw store units grow from a small handful to more than 15,000 during his two stints as one of its presidents. In this conversation, we'll learn why Mark's favorite line is, "If you grow people, the people grow the business. That’s it. That’s the number-one priority." Howard discusses the Monday night meetings, dealing with crises, and why he had to stop wearing his feelings on his sleeve.

As my consulting practice started taking off about twenty years ago, I started reading everything I could by Fred Nickols, who blogged regularly for the software vendor, SmartDraw. Fred's articles were short, to the point, and always included a simple visual framework that was easy to comprehend. I ultimately read every post on that blog. Fred is a long-time consultant who calls himself a solutions engineer. In this conversation, we talk about his favorite frameworks and the origins of those mental models. The New Manager Playbook with Lia Garvin The old rules of management are broken. Get the new playbook for today's workplace. Listen on: Apple Podcasts Spotify

We live in a small business world where the Chief Fractional Officer is becoming indispensable. Before even considering hiring the Fractional Sales Manager, the Fractional Marketing Officer, or even the Fractional CFO, I'd start one hundred percent of the time with the Fractional Chief People Officer. Susannah Robinson has worked in big-company HR for more than twenty years. Now, as the head of a fractional people agency called Partnership for Talent, she has written a simple and pragmatic guide on organizational design for small businesses. In this conversation, we discuss her new book, Beyond the Boxes and Lines. Big Talk About Small Business Empowering entrepreneurs with the insights to succeed in their ventures. Listen on: Apple Podcasts Spotify Property Investing Roadmap Property expert Damian Collins explores strategies for building your property portfolio. Listen on: Apple Podcasts Spotify

I'm betting that over half the CFO Bookshelf listenership participate in an NCAA tournament basketball pool at the office. Accordingly, I thought I'd share a story from a basketball legend I don't think I've ever heard retold from a leadership expert during a speaking event. I end this special episode on my three favorite basketball movies. What are yours?

Before I start reading a book on Warren Buffett, and there are many, I want to know if this book has been written before—the ones where the narratives essentially state the same thing about Buffett's investing style. In the case of Brett Gardner's new book on Buffett, he checks all the boxes of a fascinating investment book. It's informative, inspiring, and even entertaining. More importantly, the book Buffett's Early Investments is not a rehash of Buffett material you've read before. Instead, Brett takes us on a journey involving several of Buffett's early stock acquisitions, how they shaped and molded his later investment style, and how these deals inspired the Berkshire Hathaway business model as we know it today. Property Investing Roadmap Property expert Damian Collins explores strategies for building your property portfolio. Listen on: Apple Podcasts Spotify

When I first experienced the Cynefin Framework in an HBR article many years ago, I never tried to adapt it to my work until I interviewed Bryce Hoffman, author of American Icon and Red Teaming, a few years ago. While Bryce made the Cynefin Framework seem more understandable and accessible, Kevin Eikenberry has gone further to show leaders how to act when surrounded by varying problems they are trying to navigate with this sensemaking framework. Kevin has written nearly 20 books, and his newest title is Flexible Leadership which includes a better approach to holistic thinking, the Cynefin Framework and the use of flexors. Exploring Workplace Mental Health with Dr. Bill Howatt Learn the why, what and how of fostering a mentally healthy workplace with Dr Bill Howatt