This week, Carl talked with finance wiz Barry Pincus about his long career as a CFO for dozens of very different organizations. His client list reads like a “Who’s Who” in America. He’s worked closely with The New York Yankees, Martha Stewart, Sportsrocket, IMG Artists, Dennis Publishing (Maxim Magazine) and more. Whether he’s readying an organization to go public, bringing cost centers into line, or building rock solid infrastructure for clients, Barry’s goal is always to identify the pain points, find solutions and improve the bottom line.
While working in Manhattan in his 20s, Barry would see rows and rows of accountants in office buildings, all working side-by-side in unison, and he thought… “Not for me!” Instead, he dove into the world of strategic operations and finance. “Sports is the world’s oldest reality show,” he told us, explaining that all the operations (such as concessions, hospitality, media rights, etc.) around the actual game drive revenue. Barry worked for the New York Yankees during the George Steinbrenner days. He’s got some great stories!
Barry loves working with creative people in diverse situations. He worked with Martha Stewart after she took back her company from Times Warner and Barry helped the organization get ready to go public. He says that Martha, in addition to being a brilliant creative, surrounded herself with the most creative team she could find. She insisted on new, creative ideas.
Flash forward to now: Companies shift and change, there are often buyouts and mergers and jobs get eliminated. Often Barry would go into an organization, turn it around and then move on. Barry’s “Aha!” moment came when he realized that at 67, he didn’t want to work full-time anymore and definitely didn’t want to work any longer at someone else’s whim. “I wanted to choose who, when and how I worked.”
So Barry created a business plan for his “second act.”. Through experience, Barry has the wisdom and knowledge to know what he is good at—storytelling and selling. “You are always doing those two things: to investors, the Board, everyone. I love helping companies with that.” He knew he wanted to work in a way that was less stressful, more diverse, without becoming bogged down in company politics.
Barry is now a “Interim & Fractional CFO, COO and Board Advisor”, specializing in finance and operations for TechCXO, a network of C-Suite level people who form teams based on the client's specific needs. “I get to come in and help people. It’s like sometimes companies need a grown-up in the room.” Barry started this venture recently and still gets the excited-anxious butterflies of beginning something new. (He most likely gets his work ethic from his accountant father, who at 99 years of age still has one client!)
Key takeaways from the interview with Barry Pincus:
1) “When you do something new, you have to have a certain amount of patience.”
2) “Figure out what makes you happy. Does this work fit with your personality, your lifestyle? Do you want to work more, or less?
3) “Consider how a new venture will fit with your spouse during this stage of your life. Are you both still working and do you want to continue?
4) “Anxiety is motivational. It keeps me going! “
P.S. It so happens that superstar Barry Manilow’s birth name is Barry Pincus. “I’m still waiting for my royalties from “Mandy”! Barry laughed.
Learn more about Barry at Barry Pincus Tech CXO.
For the full interview, listen to I Used to be Somebody, Episode #8 with Barry Pincus.
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Diana Landau is the Content Wrangler for Pickleball Media. After 15 years in corporate marketing, in 2012 she pivoted to write and wrangle content for Niche Media's weekly blog. She now manages the I Used to Be Somebody weekly blog.
The best part of my new gig is the actual interviewing of the guests. Because of the pandemic almost all my interviews are done via an online recording service. My favorite part of my weekly conversation is actually after I stop recording and talk to that week's guest for a few minutes. The guest can relax and usually will talk about something personal or something really funny that they publicly don't want to say.
This week I was talking to Barry Pincus who is highlighted in this week's newsletter. I was telling Barry that if I wasn't doing this new gig, I would never have met him or the other really cool guests we've had. I even look forward to doing the prep for the interviews every week and learning something new from each guest.
After 8 episodes, I’ve: laughed so hard with Joe Pulizzi, the godfather of content marketing; met best selling author Moira McGarvey Black: reunited with former high school friend Bob Tuschman about his Food Network days: met (in person, at a distance!) hometown Sacramento hero Richard Turner; conversed with pioneering sports columnist and book author-- the legend Joan Ryan: learned from media giant Michela O'Connor Abrams about how to deal with tough life events; and relived my sports dreams with author and all around good guy Jim Roddy.
And then amazingly-- I just interviewed one of my personal heroes. Former SF Giants' star pitcher and broadcast royalty Mike Krukow is my guest for next week's episode. I was an awe-struck, nervous fan!
I feel so lucky these days. And have learned to challenge myself and of the power of doing something new and putting yourself out there!
