Podcast
CFO Bookshelf
Hosted by Mark Gandy · EN
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.
28episodes
Episodes
Newest firstAll episodes
What Are Visual Thinking Tools?
Apr 12, 202500:46:41Tap to summarizeAs 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.
Transcribe →Beyond the Boxes and Lines with a Chief People Officer
Apr 5, 202500:41:41Tap to summarizeWe 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.
Transcribe →My Favorite John Wooden Coaching Basketball Story
Mar 29, 202500:09:08Tap to summarizeI'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?
Transcribe →Warren Buffett's Early Investments
Mar 29, 202500:40:33Tap to summarizeBefore 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.
Transcribe →A Pragmatic Approach to Sensemaking
Mar 22, 202500:46:50Tap to summarizeWhen 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.
Transcribe →The Rise and Fall of the Match King
Mar 15, 202500:56:38Tap to summarizeCFO Bookshelf had never heard of Ivar Kreuger until the former Managing Director of CFO.com suggested we discuss the book, The Match King.Andy Burt joins Mark Gandy to explain why Ivar Kreuger is a financial mastermind worthy of studying and what led to his downfall.At one time, Kreuger was worth billions in today's dollars, but his empire, built on a house of debt, could not withstand the Great Depression or a subsequent audit when he tried to raise cash by liquidating a key asset.A story made for Hollywood reveals what drove Kreuger and why U.S. securities laws were created after his downfall.
Transcribe →CEO Empire Builder
Dec 8, 2023Tap to summarizeOne 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 knowa simple example using a mowing company and its unit economicsthe industry traits for empire buildingthe 30:1 rule for managersthe rule of 130price escalation clausesSandy OggFinancial diligence and proctology examsthe best way to read this five-hour bookImportant Links:Adam's websiteLinkedIn profileAdam's Forbes articlesShow Notes page at CFO Bookshelf
Transcribe →Distressed Debt Investing Gone Wrong
Sep 25, 2021Tap to summarizeIf you liked the book, Barbarians at the Gate, then you'll like The Ceasars Palace Coup.Max Frumes is one of the co-authors of the book, and we learn more about what went wrong when the investors levered Harrah's with nearly $27 billion in debt when they took the gaming business private.
Transcribe →