A Founder’s Conversation with a Fractional CFO distills William McNarland’s 25 years in private equity and valuation into a founder-friendly series presented as direct Q&A. Each concise chapter opens with a single question he has fielded thousands of times from real founders, whether it is how to interpret unit economics, when to refresh a valuation, or what investors expect in a data room, and then delivers a practical answer you can apply in minutes. The format let's busy leaders jump straight to the topic that keeps them up at night without wading through theory, while the cumulative arc builds a solid grasp of finance that turns board meetings from stressful to strategic. Clear language, concrete examples, and a focus on decision costs over jargon make the series a reliable desk reference whenever cash, capital, or control comes into play.

Inside this volume you will learn how to build a living Business Plan that converts vision into dated, dollar based milestones, tests the assumptions that decide runway, and keeps pace with investors, lenders, and market changes. Each chapter opens with a real founder question such as “How Does a Business Plan Guide Capital Raise Amount and Timing?” so you can flip straight to the answer you need today. You will practice checking price, churn, and unit cost against hard evidence, creating simple scenario tables that protect valuation, and matching hiring waves to cash rather than optimism. Step by step checklists show which documents earn credibility, when to refresh forecasts, and how to adjust plans for new regions or loan covenants, letting you catch red flags months before they hit the bank balance. With these tools you can size raises with discipline, control burn in real time, and walk into every board meeting with numbers that hold up under scrutiny. Steady command of your plan lifts valuation, trims dilution, and keeps funding talks on your terms.