Bearings
The Tin Man's Oil Can: Small Financial Maintenance Prevents Big Repairs
Businesses rarely fail in one dramatic moment. They rust, one skipped close and unfinished reconciliation at a time. Five simple financial routines keep a company moving.
To Those That Are Present: George Washington's Rule No. 1 and Veterans Day
Memorial Day honors the fallen. Veterans Day honors the ones still with us. Washington's Rule No. 1, and four moments from 1782 and 1783, show what respect for living veterans looks like, at home and at work.
The Fed Paused. December May Not. Know Your Number Now.
The Fed held in October, but two officials wanted a hike and markets expect one in December. Every 25 basis points is $2,500 a year per $1 million of floating debt.
It's the End of the World as We Know It. Payroll Is Still Due Friday.
The morning after Election Day, customers still buy and payroll is still due. A fractional CFO's guide to separating noise from the assumptions that matter.
The Hatchet Man Always Sends a Bill: What the Election of 1800 Teaches Leaders About Competing on the Record
Today's midterms are the most expensive in history. Attack ads aren't new, though. In 1800, Thomas Jefferson quietly paid a pamphleteer to smear John Adams, and two years later that same writer turned on him. Washington's Rules of Civility explain what went wrong, and why it matters for founders and their companies.
Be No Flatterer: What Hamilton and John Adams Teach About the Numbers You Bring the Board
"Facts are stubborn things." On John Adams's birthday, a lesson from Washington's Rule 17 and the Federalist Papers on why founders need people, and software, that won't flatter them.
Your 2027 Budget Is a Capital Plan. Most Founders Are Building a Forecast.
With the Fed signaling another hike and the 10-year above 5%, a P&L-only budget isn't enough. Five steps to turn your 2027 budget into a capital plan.
Undertake Not What You Cannot Perform: What the Panama Canal Teaches About Raising Capital
George Washington copied out 110 rules of conduct as a teenager. Rule 82 is the best capital-raising advice I know, and the Panama Canal shows why.
Running Your Business Is a Steeplechase, Not a Flat Race
Flat races reward speed. Steeplechases reward pacing, judgment at every fence and having something left for the last jump. So does running a company.
I Read Jules Verne Before I Read a P&L
Long before I ever saw an income statement, I was reading Jules Verne. This week's Moon news reminded me why he's still the best planning teacher I know.
The Off-Site Is Not the Plan
t's October, which means a lot of leadership teams are about to spend two days in a hotel conference room with a facilitator, a stack of sticky notes and a whiteboard full of ideas. There will be a SWOT analysis, a refreshed vision statement and a list of strategic priorities. Everyone will leave energized.
By February, the binder will be on a shelf, and the company will be running exactly the way it ran before.
