Author: inersec
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The Accidental CFO — 2025: A Year in Review
“Stories and lessons from an unexpected journey in finance.” Before we tackle 2026, let’s reflect on the foundation we built last year. What began in August as a way to share lessons from an unexpected finance journey has become a true community. Across 40 posts, we moved beyond balance sheets to explore leadership, strategy and…
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The Accidental CFO – Three Priorities and Resolutions for 2026 🥂
Stories and lessons from an unexpected journey in finance. Happy New Year. The books are closed on 2025. It is tempting to roll forward last year’s habits, but 2026 demands a different approach. Drawing from the trenches and my advisory work, here are three strategic priorities and three personal resolutions for the year ahead. The…
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𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗔𝗰𝗰𝗶𝗱𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗮𝗹 𝗖𝗙𝗢 — 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟱: 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗢𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗼𝗿, 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗔𝗱𝘃𝗶𝘀𝗼𝗿, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗦𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘆𝘁𝗲𝗹𝗹𝗲𝗿
𝘚𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘭𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘢𝘯 𝘶𝘯𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘫𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘯𝘦𝘺 𝘪𝘯 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦. They say to be successful, pick a lane. In 2025, I decided to drive the whole highway. It was a masterclass in the “Portfolio Career”, balancing three distinct identities. 𝟭. 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗢𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗼𝗿: I spent most of 2025 in the trenches serving as an Interim CFO for high-stakes organizations. At a SaaS portfolio company, “strategy” wasn’t a…
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𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗔𝗰𝗰𝗶𝗱𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗮𝗹 𝗖𝗙𝗢 — What Christmas Teaches Us Every Year 🎄
𝘚𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘭𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘢𝘯 𝘶𝘯𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘫𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘯𝘦𝘺 𝘪𝘯 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦. Every December, I relearn the same lessons. No matter how many years you’ve spent in leadership, control is mostly an illusion. Plans change. Forecasts break. Markets move. Life does too. You can do everything “right” and still be surprised—and that’s not a failure. It’s reality. What Christmas gives me, every year, is perspective. And…
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𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗔𝗰𝗰𝗶𝗱𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗮𝗹 𝗖𝗙𝗢 — 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗟𝗶𝗲 𝗪𝗲 𝗧𝗲𝗹𝗹 𝗢𝘂𝗿𝘀𝗲𝗹𝘃𝗲𝘀 𝗔𝗯𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝗚𝗿𝗼𝘄𝘁𝗵
𝘚𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘭𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘢𝘯 𝘶𝘯𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘫𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘯𝘦𝘺 𝘪𝘯 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦. There is an old punchline that has circulated through businesses for decades. It usually comes up when a salesperson is defending a discount, or a founder is justifying a cash-burning growth strategy: “Sure, we lose a little money on every unit we sell… but don’t worry, we’ll make it up in volume.” It always…
inersec 