Entrepreneurs are passionate about their products and services. Their strengths are often in those business disciplines closest to the customers and product: sales, marketing, engineering, and production. Financial management and accounting are often viewed as necessary evils. As a result, small business owners often postpone investments in strong financial management practices until the company reaches some mythical milestone in the future. And that can cost them dearly in the long run.

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Just released from the private vault of CFO.University, this article on an interview with Bryan Roberts when he was CFO at Lyft.

I was invited by the NYU’s Stern School of Business for an interview with Brian Roberts, a past Chief Financial Officer of Lyft. In this interview Bryan discusses business models, valuations, autonomous vehicles, the impact of Covid, his biggest challenges and more.

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Several years ago, at an Oregon Society of CPAs event, I gave a talk to a room of about 30 CFOs. The title was something like, “How to Determine if Your Sales-Department’s Sales Forecast is in Touch with Reality.”

During the talk I polled the audience with two questions.

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This video was produced as part of the Washington State University MAP Alliance program on Strategic Planning for Your Business Exit. It covers the role of financial management in creating a successful exit.

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Talent acquisition, development and retention have always been an ingredient for business success. Since the 1970s a transition has taken place. Talent has universally become the essential ingredient responsible for corporate success.

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