Turning 2025 Into a Win Reader! A few weeks ago I caught myself remedying a P&L issue to an $800k/yr business owner at a kidās birthday partyā¦ while standing in a VR arcade room. Thatās when I realized that all founders need better financial insights, not just after they pass Astero's $2M revenue threshold to get a fractional CFO. And standard LLMs like ChatGPT can help but they make guesses and can often give wrong info. So we built something to solve this and I'm very excited to share more...
2 months agoĀ ā¢Ā 4 min read
The founders who win arenāt lucky ā theyāre prepared. Hey Reader! Safe to say the below post broke my LinkedIn record. š I wrote a post that stirred up more opinions than I expected. (268k impressions and counting) It started with a conversation I had with a family member who said, āIām thinking of selling the business in four or five years.ā When I asked, āWhatās your plan?ā they didnāt have one. No roadmap, no numbers, no plan to increase value. In the post, I pointed out that most private...
4 months agoĀ ā¢Ā 3 min read
A lesson I shared with my son that every founder should hear. To Reader the magnificent! Hope you're enjoying this second day of Fall. About 14-weeks until 2026. Not long ago, I was talking with my 13-year-old son about the habits that really shape us. Out of that conversation came a simple phrase that I ended up writing on a wall in my house: create more than you consume. Itās advice I want him to carry into life, but itās also something I try to live out myself, and itās just as true for...
5 months agoĀ ā¢Ā 4 min read
Break the cycle before it breaks your margins. Hey there Reader the game-changer. Feast. Famine. Panic. Pitch. Repeat. Itās the cycle we fall into without realizing it. Slammed with work, revenueās up, you feel unstoppableā¦ so you stop prospecting as youāre too busy working and eating lobster. š¦ Then the big project ends. Suddenly the pipelineās empty and youāre in scramble mode. Pitch decks, late nights, big promises, hoping the next client lands. If it does, the whole thing starts again....
6 months agoĀ ā¢Ā 4 min read
If you want to scale, a fear-based mindset wonāt get you there. To Reader the Great! Iād spend every minute on growth if I could. This month, Iāve been paying attention to how often āplaying it safeā gets praised in business circles. Founders saying things like: āWeāre staying lean.ā āWeāre being conservative right now.ā āWeāre holding off, just in case.ā And sometimes thatās smart. But a lot of the time, these are decisions made from a place of fear. āThe man who chases two rabbits catches...
7 months agoĀ ā¢Ā 4 min read
Slayer? To Reader the Splendid! I just got back from a much-needed break in Cabo with my family. Mexican meals dominated the agenda with ocean activities mixed in. It was the kind of trip where you stop hearing your phone buzz because you stopped checking it. And funny enough, that occasional stillness was exactly what I needed. As we are soon to head into another holiday weekend, I want to remind you of something: āAlmost everything will work again if you unplug it for a few minutes,...
8 months agoĀ ā¢Ā 4 min read
Let's Hit Refresh Hey Reader! Hope you're Memorial Day Weekend has been a good one! I have important info to share, a thing to give you and, as always, I will deliver everything as concisely as can be. This weekend, I'm reflecting on how the most successful business owners know when to pivot and especially how we, as a CFO firm, can help position them to do so. It became really clear that knowing your cash flow, at least for the next 13 weeks, is that crucial variable. Without it, you wonāt...
9 months agoĀ ā¢Ā 3 min read
April Showers Reader, the magnificent! Really hope you took some time off since last month's email. My fam and I took a historical trip to the Midwest (Chi > Springfield > St. Louis) and celebrated my birthday with my larger family in Lake Forest, IL. Great getaway. For this month's email, my recommendation is to stay lean, spend smart and keep your margins strong. Youāll not only survive, youāll outpace those who donāt. Now letās talk about how to do exactly that.š At the entrance to the...
10 months agoĀ ā¢Ā 3 min read
Things Are Moving Hope your March is moving to plan, Reader! Speaking of moving, if you haven't taken time off recently, do it now. It's not always easy to do as a business owner but it's a good test to confirm that your org chart is working. My wife, our 12 13-year-old son and I are flying from LA, CA to my hometown near Chicago in a couple weeks to visit family. We're then driving to St. Louis (where my dad's side was from) with a brief stop in Springfield, IL to visit the Lincoln Memorial....
11 months agoĀ ā¢Ā 3 min read