Mark MacLeod
The CFOs Corner
1st things 1st: CFO’s Priorities in the 1st few weeks
Whenever you join a new company in a senior role, it’s important to get off to a good start. That doesn’t mean coming in and implementing big changes. Rather, it means getting a handle on the following items. Use these to give guidance to your finance leader. Or, if you are the CFO, use this to make sure you’re on track during your 1st few weeks.
Darryl Praill
Marketing Mayhem
Canadian technology executives do not get Marketing
Let’s talk about the role of Marketing in technology companies. I liken it to oil meets water. The engineers in the company want to be logical, black and white, empirical, and predictable. Without the technology, there is nothing to market. Engineering is the critical ingredient. We’ll call them oil. Marketing is psychological, grey, uncertain, half gut and half experience. Marketing deals with the human element and how emotional beings will react and engage. We’ll call them water. Unless you shake them vigorously, oil and water don’t mix…
Mark MacLeod
The CFOs Corner
Build Pro Formas like a pro
They say that "plans are useless, but planning is priceless".The same is true of financial forecasting, which is an integral part of the planning process. The actual numbers on your forecast are not really meaningful. However, the process of thinking about your business model and identifying the key assumptions behind it is invaluable.
Robert Hebert
The Talent Jungle
Scope & Spec Creep - The Search for the Really Stupid, Smart Executive
We are occasionally asked by clients to find really stupid, smart people. It usually starts innocently enough as with the following example…
Robert Hebert
The Talent Jungle
So You Want to Raise Your Market Visibility? Step This Way (And Thank You)!
Sometimes candidates pose the most mouth watering questions…
Robert Hebert
The Talent Jungle
Generation ‘Next’ and Karoshi - All in the Same Week
It’s enough to make your head spin…
Robert Hebert
The Talent Jungle
More Nonsense in the Press About Hiring as War ....
One of the reasons that hiring is so frustratingly difficult is the enduring view that it is a zero-sum game of war between employers and candidates where the spoils go to the most cunning and devious…