Blog

CFO Behaviors

by Seth

What is your Monday morning routine?I truly enjoy Mondays because for me it's a fresh look from what I call the 5,000 ft view that encompasses the engagement status, the team's position, and the road ahead - which I typically view in 5-day sprints. This is a lean operating characteristic that has stuck with me for years and, for me, it works. The early morning routine is all about assessing, aligning, prioritizing and communicating. My handwritten to-do list on a 5x8 perforated yellow pad and organized chronologically by date is… READ MORE

EOY25

by Seth

The appearance of leadership by ANDREW YANG 10/03/2021 MIT Sloan 2025 CFO Summit Trust is the cornerstone of commerce LLMs Storytelling is Queen Scope creep - Operations !Plethora of piñatas! Black swans - what do they mean? “One of the hardest things that I had to learn as I became a C-suite executive…was, ‘you know the answer, don’t give it’”. “You’ve got to develop people, and let them run.” - Scott Roe, CFO, Coach “There’s really no decision operationally that doesn’t wind up in a financial statement somewhere,” - Gina Goetter,… READ MORE

LLMs and Their Intelligence Tools

by Seth

This weblog is a write up of the LinkedIn post below. LinkedIn Post 9/24/2024 LLMs and their intelligence tools will drive standards across industries in ways that companies have only imagined executing in the past - for better and for worse. Very little discussion on this to date. More on this to come. There is much to unpack here, so let’s call this article 1 of 5. Before we begin, it is important to define the scope of this writing. When I say that, “there is very little discussion on… READ MORE

Time and Circumstance

by Seth

Things I’m doing today that 10 years ago I never thought I would be doing and why: Reading all of my news online.Why? Because news publications never figured out a customer subscription model that would outcompete the internet on cost, convenience, and reliability.Paying for a service to manage all of my internet passwords.Why? Because my passwords are cryptic and I have hundreds of them and as I get older it gets harder to manage them all.Quitting Twitter indefinitely.Why? Because Jack Dorsey and his team of minions have no plan for… READ MORE

Timing Matters

by Seth

The U.S. economy finished it's longest economic expansion in history (128 months) arising out of the great financial crisis of 2007-2008. The run from June 2009 through February 2020 was an impressive feat ignited by accommodative monetary policies of central banks around the world. The world learned a great deal from the last global financial crisis and from the economic policies that were enacted to stem an enduring recession. History has, for the most part, looked favorably upon this time and these interventions. When the pandemic shook the world in… READ MORE

Two Is Better Than One

by Seth

I read two outstanding essays this week that will remain archived in my favorite reads of all time. I would not be at all surprised to see these writings referenced in some of the great business books to come. If not, then the researchers missed it. Read them in the order listed (chronological). Individually they are interesting, read together they are a fascinating revelation of parallel worlds colliding. Jamie Dimon's Letter to Shareholders, Annual Report 2020Paul Graham's "How People Get Rich Now" P.S. I cannot help but wonder if Paul… READ MORE

Forever ’21

by Seth

The Obvious Things The new year is here and I think it's fair to say that we are all looking forward to a fresh start. I found it difficult to write last year due to the pandemic and the U.S. presidential election. While I do appreciate what the internet has done for the distribution of information, last year I found the noise to be particularly excessive and I opted to unplug from most of it. I leave 2020 with much to be grateful for and with a few concerns for… READ MORE