Category: The Accidental CFO

Stories and lessons from an unexpected journey in finance. Your S-1 filing and your roadshow investor narrative are the single most consequential communications you will make as a first-time public CFO. They permanently establish the financial story of the business, define the performance expectations against which you will be measured for years, and signal to institutional…

Read article →

Stories and lessons from an unexpected journey in finance. The informal, conversational reporting cadence that works perfectly in a PE-backed environment absolutely does not translate to the public markets. The governance expectations of a public company board are structurally different, and the CFO who does not adapt their communication model before the IPO will spend their…

Read article →

Stories and lessons from an unexpected journey in finance. One of the most consequential decisions you will make as a first-time public CFO is sizing your finance function for the company you are becoming, not the company you have been. Transitioning to the public markets means every line item is under a microscope. Over-building your team…

Read article →

Stories and lessons from an unexpected journey in finance. The most common and expensive failure in an IPO journey is discovering late that your financial close and reporting infrastructure cannot support SEC-required timelines. This trap catches both corporate carve-outs and standalone private companies. If you are a business unit inside a large parent, you are…

Read article →

Stories and lessons from an unexpected journey in finance. IPOs have been in the news a lot recently. Transitioning from a private or business unit finance leader to a public company CFO is not a gradual evolution. It is a massive, structural step change. Too many finance teams treat their initial public offering as merely a…

Read article →