CFO Bookshelf
348 episodes - English - Latest episode: 1 day ago -The CFO Bookshelf weekly podcast is geared toward global financial leaders who are serious about lifelong learning and reading widely.
The show's 200-plus podcast catalog features well-known authors who are experts in finance, pricing, marketing, sales, operations, organizational health, and leadership.
Episodes are released weekly, and the host responds to every message he gets about the shows on LinkedIn.
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Episodes
Five Inspiring Books for Financial Leaders
July 13, 2024 17:00 - 18 minutes - 13 MBLike the show? Send us a text message on what you liked. Mark provides five titles in this special CFO Bookshelf episode that inspire and educate. Mark wraps up the show with some financial food for thought - what statement do you present first in a reporting package and why?
What is a Fractional CFO?
July 05, 2024 23:00 - 35 minutes - 24.1 MBLike the show? Send us a text message on what you liked. What is a Fractional CFO? That term has become a household name for financial experts who help small business owners in various industries. However, do we have a concise and complete definition for this type of professional services provider? In this special episode, we break down what the fractional CFO is based on their three unique and primary roles to small business owners. We also give the best definition of a CFO you have prob...
Accounting Leadership with Jody Grunden
June 28, 2024 22:00 - 59 minutes - 40.9 MBLike the show? Send us a text message on what you liked. As I think about our next guest, Jody Grunden, he reminds me of the successful business leader who Mixergy's Andrew Warner should feature. Jody co-founded Summit CPA Group in the early 2000s and decided to focus on financial leadership instead of offering the conventional services many small firms provided. This discussion addresses the accounting shortage, effective accountants, and why accounting professionals have nothing to fea...
A Visit With the Founder of Excel University
June 21, 2024 19:00 - 41 minutes - 28.8 MBLike the show? Send us a text message on what you liked. When did you start using Excel, and how did you learn it? Jeff Lenning is the founder of Excel University, and he joins us to discuss the biggest mistakes he sees in Excel workbooks, the differences between formal and informal training, and why both are critical. We also walked down memory lane, discussing when we started using Excel and some of our favorite functions inside this powerful application. Finally, we tip our cap to two...
The Power and Practicality of Microsoft Excel
June 21, 2024 19:00 - 43 minutes - 29.7 MBLike the show? Send us a text message on what you liked. When did you start using Excel, and how did you learn it? Jeff Lenning is the founder of Excel University, and he joins us to discuss the biggest mistakes he sees in Excel workbooks, the differences between formal and informal training, and why both are critical. We also walked down memory lane, discussing when we started using Excel and some of our favorite functions inside this powerful application. Finally, we tip our cap to two...
The Aliveness Mindset
June 14, 2024 18:00 - 43 minutes - 29.7 MBLike the show? Send us a text message on what you liked. What would you be willing to do to feel alive in your work every day? Jack Craven asks executives from all walks of life this question. Jack is the author of Aliveness Mindset: Lead and Live with More Passion, Purpose, and Joy. His book includes more than a dozen tools and frameworks for starting the journey of aliveness. Some topics we hit in this conversation include where aliveness starts, David Robsen's expectation effect, the a...
The Venture Mindset
June 07, 2024 17:00 - 1 hour - 54.6 MBLike the show? Send us a text message on what you liked. I list the top business books I've read over the previous year each January. At the end of 2024, The Venture Mindset by Ilya Strebulaev and Alex Dang will easily be in my top three and possibly my overall favorite. The Venture Mindset reads fast and reminds me a little of Kahneman, Munger, and books about Buffett. Some of the big ideas we cover in this episode with both authors include roof shots vs. moonshots, betting on jockeys vs...
Thinking Like a Venture Capitalist on Investment Decisions
June 07, 2024 17:00 - 1 hour - 53.6 MBLike the show? Send us a text message on what you liked. I list the top business books I've read over the previous year each January. At the end of 2024, The Venture Mindset by Ilya Strebulaev and Alex Dang will easily be in my top three and possibly my overall favorite. The Venture Mindset reads fast and reminds me a little of Kahneman, Munger, and books about Buffett. Some of the big ideas we cover in this episode with both authors include roof shots vs. moonshots, betting on jockeys vs...
Thinking Like a Venture Capitalist
June 07, 2024 17:00 - 1 hour - 53.3 MBLike the show? Send us a text message on what you liked. I list the top business books I've read over the previous year each January. At the end of 2024, The Venture Mindset by Ilya Strebulaev and Alex Dang will easily be in my top three and possibly my overall favorite. The Venture Mindset reads fast and reminds me a little of Kahneman, Munger, and books about Buffett. Some of the big ideas we cover in this episode with both authors include roof shots vs. moonshots, betting on jockeys vs...
The Greatest But Most Obscure Banker of All Time
June 01, 2024 02:00 - 52 minutes - 35.8 MBLike the show? Send us a text message on what you liked. I had never heard of Edmond Safra until I read Daniel Gross's informative and inspiring biography, A Banker's Journey. For those who knew him and did business with him, he was everyone's favorite banker. His banks never had to write off loans, and many of his early deals were on a handshake. He never needed a government bailout, nor did he ever head to DC complaining about regulations. While his professional and personal story is u...
Lending Your Way Into Real Estate Investments
May 24, 2024 18:00 - 42 minutes - 28.9 MBLike the show? Send us a text message on what you liked. Our newest guest may not be a best-selling author on real estate yet, but we're already predicting this former World Cup soccer player will soon be a household name in Dave Ramsey's world in a few years. Vaughn Bethell is the founder of REI Junkies based in South Carolina, and in this episode, we learn his unique process of providing real estate investors with a different way to reduce stress and frustration in their investments.
Real Estate Investing Without Tenants, Toilets or Taxes
May 24, 2024 18:00 - 42 minutes - 29.5 MBLike the show? Send us a text message on what you liked. Our newest guest may not be a best-selling author on real estate yet, but we're already predicting this former World Cup soccer player will soon be a household name in Dave Ramsey's world in a few years. Vaughn Bethell is the founder of REI Junkies based in South Carolina, and in this episode, we learn his unique process of providing real estate investors with a different way to reduce stress and frustration in their investments. Mak...
The Effective Executive
May 17, 2024 18:00 - 52 minutes - 36.3 MBLike the show? Send us a text message on what you liked. One of the best management books ever written is The Effective Executive, by Peter Drucker, published in 1966. Managing For Results and The Practice of Management are other favorites of this show. Randy Wooton joins us to discuss the big ideas in The Effective Executive. He's a three-time CEO and has held senior positions at Microsoft and Salesforce. He is also the host of The SaaS Expert Voices Podcast and serves as Maxio's chief ex...
The Usage Economy
May 11, 2024 05:00 - 55 minutes - 37.8 MBLike the show? Send us a text message on what you liked. Consumers and anyone who studies business understand the subscription economy, but what about the usage economy? What is it? How does it differ from the subscription economy? Does it matter? Adam Howatson is the CEO of LogiSense and the author of The Usage Economy. In this conversation, Adam will give examples of companies that got it right with their usage-based pricing models and those that made serious mistakes, such as Wink. We'...
The Myth of Private
May 04, 2024 04:00 - 54 minutes - 37.4 MBHave you ever left a movie theater where a film left you speechless and made you feel like you needed to rewatch parts of it to figure out what you were missing? Jeff Hooke's book, The Myth of Private Equity, left me feeling that way after finishing each chapter of his tell-all book about the exaggerations and overstatements of the private equity marketing machine. During this conversation, we learned much about the myths of PE funds focused on leveraged buyouts. Some of the big ideas in t...
The Myth of Private Equity
May 04, 2024 04:00 - 54 minutes - 37.4 MBLike the show? Send us a text message on what you liked. Have you ever left a movie theater where a film left you speechless and made you feel like you needed to rewatch parts of it to figure out what you were missing? Jeff Hooke's book, The Myth of Private Equity, left me feeling that way after finishing each chapter of his tell-all book about the exaggerations and overstatements of the private equity marketing machine. During this conversation, we learned much about the myths of PE fund...
YouTube's Top Dataviz and Tableau Influencer, Andy Kriebel
April 27, 2024 02:00 - 43 minutes - 29.9 MBLike the show? Send us a text message on what you liked. My favorite go-to person on all matters, Tableau and Dataviz, is Andy Kriebel. Andy was the first person to create a YouTube channel on Tableau. His subscriber base has surpassed 61,000, and his 750+ videos have 7.5 million views and counting. Andy is the co-author with Eva Murray of the book #Makeover Monday, and you can also follow his informative and insightful helpful hints each day on LinkedIn. In this conversation, we find ou...
The Best Book On Deming I've Ever Read
April 20, 2024 14:00 - 1 hour - 43.2 MBI have my theories on why W. Edwards Deming is not a household name in 'all' business circles. Many view him as the 'quality' guy who had an impact on Japanese manufacturing after the Second World War. That view is limiting as Deming's management mindset was complete with four central tenets: Pragmatism The Law of Variation Human psychology Systems Thinking I used to recommend Mary Walton's book to start learning about Deming. That book gave way to a new title by Edward Martin Baker. A...
The Best Book About Deming I've Ever Read
April 20, 2024 14:00 - 1 hour - 43.2 MBLike the show? Send us a text message on what you liked. I have my theories on why W. Edwards Deming is not a household name in 'all' business circles. Many view him as the 'quality' guy who had an impact on Japanese manufacturing after the Second World War. That view is limiting as Deming's management mindset was complete with four central tenets: Pragmatism The Law of Variation Human psychology Systems Thinking I used to recommend Mary Walton's book to start learning about Deming. T...
The Red Team Forensic Accountant
April 12, 2024 23:00 - 56 minutes - 39 MBLike the show? Send us a text message on what you liked. Cory Doctorow is a science fiction author, technology activist, and journalist. He has written many books, most recently The Bezzle, a follow-up to Red Team Blues, which are the two books we'll discuss in this episode. These two books are the beginning of a series featuring the fictional forensic accountant Martin Hench. Hench is self-employed, loves being on the red team, and rakes in 25% of the assets he can recover. Cory's books ...
Martin Hench, Not Your Typical Forensic Accountant
April 12, 2024 23:00 - 56 minutes - 39 MBCory Doctorow is a science fiction author, technology activist, and journalist. He has written many books, most recently The Bezzle, a follow-up to Red Team Blues, which are the two books we'll discuss in this episode. These two books are the beginning of a series featuring the fictional forensic accountant Martin Hench. Hench is self-employed, loves being on the red team, and rakes in 25% of the assets he can recover. Cory's books are fast-paced and entertaining but also deeply thought-pr...
The Harvey Firestone Story
April 06, 2024 16:00 - 56 minutes - 39 MBLike the show? Send us a text message on what you liked. Alfred Sloan's My Years with General Motors was an immediate success and is considered one of the best management books written by CEOs of his era. Before his book, we'd probably have to go back to Henry Ford's autobiography to find a management book of this popularity. And then there's Harvey Firestone's book, which CFO Bookshelf considers a gem. Originally published in 1926, the great people behind the Farnam Street blog have repub...
The Trading Game
March 29, 2024 21:00 - 52 minutes - 36.3 MBLike the show? Send us a text message on what you liked. Gary Stevenson grew up in an impoverished area of East London where he could hold his life's belongings in two arms. About three years after graduating from the London School of Economics, Citibank made him a millionaire at a very young age. Gary was 'all in' on winning the trading game. But did overnight success bring him happiness? And why did he want to leave the Citibank trading floor? Gary tells his story in his new book, The T...
Wiring the Winning Organization
March 23, 2024 01:00 - 1 hour - 42.9 MBLike the show? Send us a text message on what you liked. Agile, DevOps, TPS, TOC, Deming's System of Profound Knowledge. Is there a mental construct or latticework that connects these robust systems? In Wiring the Winning Organization, Gene Kim and Steve Spear introduce the concepts of the three layers of work and social circuitry. The book also explains the author's three biggest learning pillars: Simplification, Slowification, and Amplification.
A Novel Approach to In-house Lawyers
March 16, 2024 01:00 - 53 minutes - 37.1 MBLike the show? Send us a text message on what you liked. Readers of Corporate Counsel do not need to be legal professionals to enjoy this short book writen as a business fable. Anna is leaving a prestigious law firm to become the first in-house lawyer at a regional real estate firm in the Midwest. The book includes drama, conflict, and a grey beard, Anna's guide throughout the story. Our guest is the author, Peter Carayiannis, and some of the topics we address include: Anna's first 100 ...
The Greatest Warren Buffett Story Ever Told
March 09, 2024 00:00 - 50 minutes - 34.5 MBLike the show? Send us a text message on what you liked. Of all the books written about Warren Buffett, I am unaware of any authors who grew up in Omaha, Nebraska and went to school with his children. Todd Finkle is the author of Warren Buffett: Investor and Entrepreneur, a book that was fourteen years in the making. If you are a Buffett student, perhaps you will have heard several of Todd's stories, but are you aware of Buffett's numerous investing mistakes throughout the years or severa...
Leadership That Bets Big
March 02, 2024 16:00 - 43 minutes - 29.9 MBJohn Rossman is making his second appearance on CFO Bookshelf. We interviewed him two years ago for one of our top 10 books of 2022, The Amazon Way, Amazon's 14 Leadership Principles. John's newest book which he co-authored with Kevin McCaffrey is Big Bet Leadership. Highlights from the conversation include: What is and what is not a big bet A topic for low- and high-tech companies, both Big bets are generally found in Day 1 organizations Small teams vs. R&D labs Thinking, environment,...
Big Bet Leadership
March 02, 2024 16:00 - 42 minutes - 29.1 MBLike the show? Send us a text message on what you liked. John Rossman is making his second appearance on CFO Bookshelf. We interviewed him two years ago for one of our top 10 books of 2022, The Amazon Way, Amazon's 14 Leadership Principles. John's newest book which he co-authored with Kevin McCaffrey is Big Bet Leadership. Highlights from the conversation include: What is and what is not a big bet A topic for low- and high-tech companies, both Big bets are generally found in Day 1 organ...
Built to Beat Chaos
January 27, 2024 17:00 - 59 minutes - 40.9 MBLike the show? Send us a text message on what you liked. Gary Harpst co-founded the ERP solution Solomon Software, which was ultimately sold to Great Plains. The CFO Bookshelf enjoys Gary's work and past books, including Six Disciplines for Excellence and Six Disciplines Revolution. Gary's newest book has been 40 years in the making. The title is Built to Beat Chaos: Biblical Wisdom for Leading Yourself and Others. A few of the themes we cover in this conversation include: addressing the ...
Beautiful Constraints
January 20, 2024 18:00 - 45 minutes - 31.6 MBLike the show? Send us a text message on what you liked. A Beautiful Constraint by Morgan and Barden: is it a marketing, branding, psychology, or management book? Or is it all four? In this episode, Willy Donaldson (Simple_Complexity and Estimated Time of Departure) and I discuss five of the biggest ideas in the thought-provoking book A Beautiful Constraint. The authors state the goal is not to eliminate a constraint but to leverage it. Their book explains how. Below are some of the topic...
What is a Beautiful Constraint?
January 20, 2024 18:00 - 47 minutes - 32.5 MBA Beautiful Constraint by Morgan and Barden: is it a marketing, branding, psychology, or management book? Or is it all four? In this episode, Willy Donaldson (Simple_Complexity and Estimated Time of Departure) and I discuss five of the biggest ideas in the thought-provoking book A Beautiful Constraint. The authors state the goal is not to eliminate a constraint but to leverage it. Their book explains how. Below are some of the topics we addressed: the definition of a constraint Goldratt'...
Our Favorite Books in 2023
January 13, 2024 17:00 - 1 hour - 47.2 MBLike the show? Send us a text message on what you liked. Since starting the CFO Bookshelf podcast, I have released a ‘favorite books’ show each January. I’ve always been reluctant to do so because my reading tastes may differ from yours. However, these episodes are some of the most downloaded in our podcast catalog. In this discussion, I list my Top 10 books, honorable mentions, fiction, and even books that I did not like. Other insights include what and how much to read and if fiction ma...
Pricing Strategy vs. Pricing Tactics
January 07, 2024 17:00 - 1 hour - 44.2 MBLike the show? Send us a text message on what you liked. Many pricing books are heavy in ideas, abstractions, and behavioral science mind-shifting. Others are focused merely on simple tactics. Jean-Manual Izaret's (JMI) book, Game Changer, fills a void by showing readers and pricing practitioners how to approach pricing strategically through cleverly designed frameworks and thought-provoking questions. This conversation starts with who should read this book and why a cover-to-cover readin...
What is the Wisdom of Finance?
December 16, 2023 05:00 - 51 minutes - 35.6 MBCFO Bookshelf considers The Wisdom of Finance one of its favorite 25 business books. Mihir Desai combines abstract and obtuse finance concepts with literature, history, movies, and poems in his book, which was released in 2017. In this bookclub-style episode, we cover several of the themes Mihir highlighted in his educational and entertaining book: Bankruptcy (the history of Robert Morris) Options and Diversification (Pride and Prejudice) Value Creation (The Parable of the Talents) Cor...
The Wisdom of Finance
December 16, 2023 05:00 - 50 minutes - 34.7 MBLike the show? Send us a text message on what you liked. CFO Bookshelf considers The Wisdom of Finance one of its favorite 25 business books. Mihir Desai combines abstract and obtuse finance concepts with literature, history, movies, and poems in his book, which was released in 2017. In this bookclub-style episode, we cover several of the themes Mihir highlighted in his educational and entertaining book: Bankruptcy (the history of Robert Morris) Options and Diversification (Pride and Pr...
Empire Builder
December 08, 2023 23:00 - 51 minutes - 35.2 MBOne of the best books we've read on private equity is by Adam Coffey. The title is The Private Equity Playbook. Adam's newest book is based on a two-day presentation he gave on how to roll up an industry purposely and effectively. He turned his 300-plus page slide deck into the book Empire Builder: The Road to a Billion. Some of the topics we cover include: investing in what you know a simple example using a mowing company and its unit economics the industry traits for empire building ...
Empire Builder Basics
December 08, 2023 23:00 - 51 minutes - 35.2 MBOne of the best books we've read on private equity is by Adam Coffey. The title is The Private Equity Playbook. Adam's newest book is based on a two-day presentation he gave on how to roll up an industry purposely and effectively. He turned his 300-plus page slide deck into the book Empire Builder: The Road to a Billion. Some of the topics we cover include: investing in what you know a simple example using a mowing company and its unit economics the industry traits for empire building ...
The CEO Empire Builder
December 08, 2023 23:00 - 51 minutes - 35.3 MBLike the show? Send us a text message on what you liked. One of the best books we've read on private equity is by Adam Coffey. The title is The Private Equity Playbook. Adam's newest book is based on a two-day presentation he gave on how to roll up an industry purposely and effectively. He turned his 300-plus page slide deck into the book Empire Builder: The Road to a Billion. Some of the topics we cover include: investing in what you know a simple example using a mowing company and its...
The Dunkin' Donuts Growth Story
December 02, 2023 00:00 - 41 minutes - 28.4 MBSince I am not a customer of Dunkin' Donuts, I know very little about their origin story. When Around the Corner, Around the World hit my reading radar, I was intrigued and was compelled to read it. I was pleasantly surprised because the book was a mini MBA on how to grow a small business into an international brand. Bruce Reed joins the host to uncover some of the big ideas in this book, including: working for a father after graduation knowing when and how to turn down a $7.5 million off...
The Growth Story of Dunkin' Donuts
December 02, 2023 00:00 - 39 minutes - 27.5 MBLike the show? Send us a text message on what you liked. Since I am not a customer of Dunkin' Donuts, I know very little about their origin story. When Around the Corner, Around the World hit my reading radar, I was intrigued and was compelled to read it. I was pleasantly surprised because the book was a mini MBA on how to grow a small business into an international brand. Bruce Reed joins the host to uncover some of the big ideas in this book, including: working for a father after gradua...
The Entrepreneurship of Pirating
November 25, 2023 14:00 - 56 minutes - 39.1 MBLike the show? Send us a text message on what you liked. I had never considered the business aspects of pirating until I read Katherine Howe's newest book, A True Account: Hannah Masury's Sojourn Amongst the Pyrates, Written by Herself. Every ship's captain had a vision, as did the crew. A mission steered each voyage. The crew was kept in line with its bylaws or code of conduct. Loot was allocated based on a profit-sharing plan. In this conversation, Katherine reveals why moviegoers roman...
The Business of Pirating
November 25, 2023 14:00 - 56 minutes - 39.1 MBI had never considered the business aspects of pirating until I read Katherine Howe's newest book, A True Account: Hannah Masury's Sojourn Amongst the Pyrates, Written by Herself. Every ship's captain had a vision, as did the crew. A mission steered each voyage. The crew was kept in line with its bylaws or code of conduct. Loot was allocated based on a profit-sharing plan. In this conversation, Katherine reveals why moviegoers romanticize the golden era of pirating. Not only do we get a sn...
The Phoenix Project
November 18, 2023 16:00 - 57 minutes - 39.3 MBLike the show? Send us a text message on what you liked. I'd recommend The Phoenix Project if I could only recommend one book to a CEO, CFO, or COO about the essentials or the heart of IT in a heartbeat. The Phoenix Project is the IT version of The Goal, as both are written as a novel with a protagonist with doubts, worries, and fears. Like The Goal, the main character in The Phoenix project encounters a sage who helps him glean insights from the manufacturing plant floor and apply them in...
Quick Value
November 04, 2023 19:00 - 58 minutes - 40.2 MBLike the show? Send us a text message on what you liked. I cannot begin to count the number of times I've heard the following question or something similar, "Mark, I've heard my industry EBITDA multiple is 5x. What do you think?" As much as I want to scream at that question, this type of thinking on business value is prevalent amongst many CEOs of both big and small companies. When the book Quick Value by Reed Phillips hit my radar, I bought it immediately and couldn't put it down as I st...
Throughput Accounting and Economics
October 28, 2023 17:00 - 1 hour - 41.2 MBLike the show? Send us a text message on what you liked. As much as I enjoy reading the Goldratt books and his theory of constraints (TOC), I never considered his early book, The Race, a solid and readable primer on throughput for financial minds. Several books have been published on throughput accounting since The Race was released in the early 1990s. In 2019, three TOC experts finished what I believe is now the best work on throughput accounting that even CEOs should read. The title is T...
The Psychology of Pricing
October 21, 2023 15:00 - 52 minutes - 36.1 MBLike the show? Send us a text message on what you liked. If you have read any books on pricing, the title that stands above the rest is Hermann Simon's Confessions of The Pricing Man. However, suppose you are looking for a book that includes nearly every pricing tactic ever used in business. In that case, I'd start with Handbook on the Psychology of Pricing by Dr. Markus Husemann-Kopetzky. The subtitle is 100+ effects on persuasion and influence every entrepreneur, marketer and pricing man...
100 Baggers
October 14, 2023 17:00 - 46 minutes - 31.9 MBLike the show? Send us a text message on what you liked. One of my favorite books in the value investing niche is 100 Baggers by Chris Mayer, a title that is also worth reading for CEOs, CFOs, and all other business managers. During this conversation, Chris explains how small acorn businesses become large and strong oak trees. Other topics we hit include: the coffee can portfolio the reluctant seller owner-operators John Kelly's formula SQGLP - a power framework for finding 100 Bagger...
The 2-Hour Cocktail Party
October 07, 2023 17:00 - 38 minutes - 26.3 MBLike the show? Send us a text message on what you liked. When I finished Nick Gray's The 2-Hour Cocktail Party, I immediately thought that this was the perfect follow-up book to start applying all of the teachings of Dale Carnegie in his classic, How to Win Friends and Influence Others. Beyond Nick's practical advice in teaching readers how to host a party for friends and casual acquaintances, one of my favorite insights is the power of loose connections. Nick provides the perfect device o...
The Rise and Fall of the Anheuser-Busch Dynasty
September 30, 2023 15:00 - 56 minutes - 38.6 MBLike the show? Send us a text message on what you liked. As a child growing up in rural Missouri who listened to countless baseball games on the radio of my favorite baseball team, I heard the names Budweiser and Busch repeatedly over the course of many years. Because of the rise in popularity of TV shows like Riches, Succession, and Yellowstone, I was curious about the Busch family--the Kennedys of St. Louis. What became of that dynasty? How did it get started? How did it grow in fame and...
True Profit
September 23, 2023 00:00 - 54 minutes - 37.6 MBLike the show? Send us a text message on what you liked. Confessions of a Pricing Man is easily the best book ever written on this topic. The author is Hermann Simon, the Chairman of Simon-Kucher. He's also one of this generation's most prolific business thinkers, whose writing parallels Peter Drucker's. In this conversation, our topic is Hermann's 2021 book, True Profit. Topics include profit maximization, the reason why pricing as a profit lever trumps volume increases or cost reduction...