Insights / Michael Barry
Ideas for the decisions behind growth.
A working library of Michael’s LinkedIn writing on startup finance, AI, accounting, capital, and leadership, organized by what founders need to decide, not when it was posted.
Follow Michael on LinkedIn ↗Theme 01
AI & transformation
How finance leaders can separate durable capability from AI activity, hype, and vendor-led change.
SaaS is changing faster than its operating model
AI coding tools and agents are reshaping software economics, delivery expectations, and the assumptions leaders use to value SaaS businesses.
Read original on LinkedIn ↗02There is no shortage of AI content, only disciplined execution
New frameworks arrive every week, but enterprise value still depends on clear objectives, economics, accountability, and operational integration.
Read original on LinkedIn ↗03AI is everywhere. That is the problem.
When every conversation starts with AI, leaders risk funding the label instead of defining the business problem and measurable decision first.
Read original on LinkedIn ↗04The transformation failed the moment the vendor demo defined the problem
Finance change should begin with the operating outcome, workflow, data, and decision rights, not with a tool searching for a use case.
Read original on LinkedIn ↗05The AI opportunity no one is talking about
The largest opportunity may be disciplined integration into real work rather than another analytical layer or executive dashboard.
Read original on LinkedIn ↗06Most companies are not really using AI yet
Experimentation at the margins is not the same as an enterprise capability with ownership, economics, controls, and a reliable operating role.
Read original on LinkedIn ↗07Founder versus AI is the wrong contest
AI will not run the startup for the founder; advantage comes from combining machine leverage with human accountability and judgment.
Read original on LinkedIn ↗08AI should increase finance accountability
Automation changes how work is performed, but it should make evidence, ownership, exceptions, and human responsibility more visible, not less.
Read original on LinkedIn ↗09The AI bubble is really a reality bubble
The danger is less the existence of AI than inflated expectations about what unintegrated tools can deliver inside real organizations.
Read original on LinkedIn ↗10AI: a solution looking for a problem?
Leaders should look behind the AI label and define the decision, workflow, evidence, economics, and accountability before selecting technology.
Read original on LinkedIn ↗Theme 02
Finance operations
The accounting, reporting, planning, and information disciplines that make finance useful.
The traditional accounting model is dead
Periodic transaction processing is giving way to continuous, technology-enabled finance, but trust still requires accessible data and accountable people.
Read original on LinkedIn ↗02Year-end is setup, not reflection
A useful year-end process establishes the financial spine, ownership, records, and operating cadence the next year will depend on.
Read original on LinkedIn ↗03Tax season is not the enemy. Mismatched priorities are.
Tax and investor reporting become disruptive when finance work is treated as a seasonal interruption instead of part of one coordinated information system.
Read original on LinkedIn ↗04Excel can make anyone a visionary
Changing one cell can triple projected revenue, which is why a model needs transparent drivers, credible evidence, and scenarios, not spreadsheet confidence.
Read original on LinkedIn ↗05Your chart of accounts should tell the business story
If the accounting structure cannot explain how the company earns, spends, and operates, polished reports will only conceal the underlying design problem.
Read original on LinkedIn ↗06Financial housekeeping makes the next year easier
Clean records, reconciliations, ownership documents, forecasts, and reporting routines reduce avoidable friction before it compounds.
Read original on LinkedIn ↗07Every startup needs an ICE Pack
A maintained investor, compliance, and executive information package lets teams answer recurring questions without rebuilding the evidence each time.
Read original on LinkedIn ↗08Profit is a poor startup cash-management metric
A startup can report profit and still run out of cash; leaders need collected revenue, working capital, commitments, financing events, and liquidity timing.
Read original on LinkedIn ↗09The best startup KPIs preserve context
Early-stage teams need a small set of decision-linked measures without allowing a dashboard to replace customers, drivers, economics, and operating evidence.
Read original on LinkedIn ↗Theme 03
Capital & diligence
Fundraising, deal readiness, dilution, and the details that preserve credibility when capital is in motion.
Good CFOs make deals succeed. Great CFOs also make them fail.
Financial leadership creates value by supporting the right transaction and having the evidence and conviction to stop the wrong one.
Read original on LinkedIn ↗02Diligence begins before the investor asks
Founders should build traceable records, reconciled assumptions, and a coherent financial story as an operating habit rather than a fundraising scramble.
Read original on LinkedIn ↗03Startup messiness is a hidden dealbreaker
Deals often lose momentum because contracts, ownership, records, and financial narratives do not reconcile, even when the product and opportunity remain compelling.
Read original on LinkedIn ↗04Venture capital is not the only capital
Founders often ask for an inside track to VC, but the better question is which financing route fits the company’s economics, milestones, and control objectives.
Read original on LinkedIn ↗05Investor readiness is always on
An investor or lender can ask a consequential question at any time, so readiness should live in the close, model, records, and operating cadence.
Read original on LinkedIn ↗06A smaller slice can create a larger outcome
Dilution should be evaluated against the value and probability created by the capital, not treated as a percentage to minimize in isolation.
Read original on LinkedIn ↗Theme 04
Runway & growth
Cash, complexity, pre-revenue economics, and the operating choices that shape a startup’s route.
Scaling fails from complexity before ambition
Growth adds handoffs, systems, obligations, and decision latency; infrastructure must evolve before accumulated complexity becomes the constraint.
Read original on LinkedIn ↗02When zero looms, runway stops being abstract
Runway is not cash divided by burn; it is a changing route shaped by collections, hiring, one-time events, financing timing, and decisions still available.
Read original on LinkedIn ↗03Pre-revenue is not a dirty word
The absence of revenue is a stage, not a verdict; the real questions concern learning velocity, evidence, milestones, and capital required to reach them.
Read original on LinkedIn ↗04Founders can save their way into failure
Cost discipline matters, but starving commercial, financial, or operating capability can reduce the probability of reaching the milestone the capital was meant to fund.
Read original on LinkedIn ↗05You cannot save your way to success
Efficiency protects runway only when it preserves the investments required to learn, sell, deliver, and create enterprise value.
Read original on LinkedIn ↗Theme 05
Founder leadership
Time, communication, co-founders, judgment, and the human realities of building a company.
An unboxing video belongs on LinkedIn, too
Professional writing does not need to erase personality; sometimes showing the human moment creates the most useful connection.
Read original on LinkedIn ↗02The bullet point is eating written communication
Efficiency can make communication easier to scan while quietly removing context, nuance, and the reasoning leaders need to make good decisions.
Read original on LinkedIn ↗03The most expensive startup resource is founder time
Cash matters, but fragmented attention is often the scarcer constraint; support should return decision capacity, not create another workflow to manage.
Read original on LinkedIn ↗04Goodbye, em dash
Language is a precision tool, and even small stylistic choices can signal how technology is reshaping the way people write and recognize one another.
Read original on LinkedIn ↗05What looks smart is not always what creates value
Loud, fast, and extroverted contributions are often mistaken for judgment, while quieter analytical work can be what actually improves the decision.
Read original on LinkedIn ↗06When to bring in a co-founder
A co-founder decision should begin with the capability, capacity, relationships, and commitment the company cannot reasonably supply another way.
Read original on LinkedIn ↗07Leadership communication is measured by what lands
Intent is not enough; leaders need to understand what the audience heard, what context was missing, and what action the message actually produced.
Read original on LinkedIn ↗08Why Startup Partners exists
Startup Partners was created to give emerging companies strategic finance leadership and hands-on execution without forcing founders into a fragmented provider model.
Read original on LinkedIn ↗Theme 06
Industry & professional services
A practical critique of startup finance providers, market conditions, and what founders should expect.
If accounting fees did not fall, ask why
Automation should change the cost and shape of routine accounting work, while professional value shifts toward judgment, structure, and decision support.
Read original on LinkedIn ↗02A startup CFO is not a normal CFO, only lighter
Early-stage finance requires a distinct mix of ambiguity tolerance, hands-on execution, capital judgment, and comfort building the baseline while it moves.
Read original on LinkedIn ↗03When public data becomes cloudy, investors pull back
Capital markets price uncertainty, so weakened or confusing economic information can delay decisions even before underlying fundamentals change.
Read original on LinkedIn ↗04The in-between CFO stage
Companies outgrow bookkeeping before they can justify a full-time CFO, creating a need for senior judgment paired with practical execution.
Read original on LinkedIn ↗05What tariffs mean for startups
Trade policy reaches startups through input costs, demand, pricing, supply chains, capital confidence, and the operating assumptions hidden inside forecasts.
Read original on LinkedIn ↗06Why we built the Startup Suite
Founders need practical tools that turn recurring finance questions into structured decisions without adding enterprise overhead.
Read original on LinkedIn ↗07The hidden cost of cheap bookkeeping
A low monthly fee becomes expensive when the structure is wrong, decisions arrive late, records are not portable, or missed issues consume founder time.
Read original on LinkedIn ↗08What the collapse of Bench teaches founders
Outsourcing does not transfer accountability; companies still need control of their data, continuity plans, transparent systems, and people who can explain the result.
Read original on LinkedIn ↗09A turbulent year changes the planning baseline
A difficult venture market should change assumptions about fundraising timing, capital efficiency, milestones, and the evidence investors require.
Read original on LinkedIn ↗10What exactly is an administration fee?
In an age of automated workflows and SaaS delivery, professional firms should be able to explain what every recurring charge funds and why it creates value.
Read original on LinkedIn ↗11Interest rates, market stability, and startup growth
Changes in rates and political certainty affect venture allocation, valuation expectations, financing timelines, and the operating plans founders can responsibly support.
Read original on LinkedIn ↗12Private-equity ownership of your accounting firm does matter
Ownership incentives can shape pricing, staffing, service models, data choices, and whose interests are prioritized when the relationship becomes difficult.
Read original on LinkedIn ↗13Finding the first startup CFO
The right CFO brings agility, resourcefulness, capital judgment, and a willingness to build, not merely experience inside a larger finance organization.
Read original on LinkedIn ↗14Startup professional services must adapt or die
Founders should expect technology-enabled delivery, transparent value, faster insight, and senior judgment rather than legacy processes at legacy prices.
Read original on LinkedIn ↗The through-line
Finance should improve the decision, not merely document it.
Across technology, capital, accounting, and operations, the same discipline applies: define the problem, make the economics visible, keep accountability human, and build only the structure the company can use.
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