Author: inersec
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The Accidental CFO — Your Numbers Are Perfect. That’s Why You Aren’t CEO Yet
Stories and lessons from an unexpected journey in finance. CFOs trade in precision. CEOs trade in possibility. I recently witnessed an exchange that perfectly captures the gap between the two. CEO: “Why should the market bet on us right now?” CFO: “Because our EBITDA margins are top quartile.” CEO: “That’s a result, not a reason.” This is the trap. We…
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The Accidental CFO — Why the Best CFOs Make People Uncomfortable
Stories and lessons from an unexpected journey in finance. I didn’t become a CFO to be a decision architect. Like many in this seat, I earned the role through reliability. My numbers were accurate, the close was tight, and the narrative always reconciled. Yet, despite the competence in the room—smart boards, talented executives, and endless…
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The Accidental CFO — Part 4: The Public/Global Enterprise CFO — Scale, Risk, And Strategic Steering
Stories and lessons from an unexpected journey in finance. When you step into a large public company or global enterprise, the CFO role transforms again—this time into one defined by scale, governance, and orchestration. During the years I led multi-billion-dollar business units, the complexity was unlike anything earlier in my career. You’re no longer building…
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The Accidental CFO — Part 3: The Middle-Market PE/VC CFO — The Transformation Architect
Stories and lessons from an unexpected journey in finance. If startups require building from scratch and public companies require navigating scale, the PE/VC-backed middle market sits in the most demanding place of all: transformation. In these environments, I’ve often been brought in when the business is behind plan, burning cash, or lacking operational discipline. Sometimes…
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The Accidental CFO — Part 2: The Startup CFO — Builder, Translator, SometimesTherapist
Stories and lessons from an unexpected journey in finance. If the middle market and public-company CFO roles are about refinement, the startup CFO role is raw creation. I’ve stepped into venture-backed environments where the company had tremendous product vision but very little financial structure. It’s not unusual. Startups grow around opportunity, not process. When the…
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