Author: inersec
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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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The Accidental CFO — Part 1: Three CFOs, Three Worlds — How the Role Changes By Stage
Stories and lessons from an unexpected journey in finance. If there’s one universal truth about the CFO role, it’s this: the title may stay the same, but the job absolutely does not. Over nearly three decades across startups, PE-backed middle-market businesses, and multi-billion-dollar global enterprises, I’ve learned that a CFO’s world is completely shaped by…
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The Accidental CFO — What I’m Most Thankful for This Thanksgiving
Stories and lessons from an unexpected journey in finance. Thanksgiving has a way of forcing even the busiest leaders to hit pause—if only for a moment. And every year, when I finally stop running from meeting to meeting, board deck to board deck, and crisis to crisis, I’m reminded of just how much there is…
inersec 