I have a double degree in finance and accounting, and have spent 15 years in corporate finance at Google, Microsoft, and GE.

Here are 16 of the most important finance principles to run your business and investments: Cash Management

Having enough cash in your balance sheet gives you flexibility to address unexpected challenges and capitalize on new opportunities.

Cash reserves can help you handle acquisitions, prioritize R&D, and navigate economic downturns.

Cash flow is king.

Here’s how generative AI will change the roles of finance and the CFO: GenAI is a game changer. Full stop.

Why?

It can revolutionize entire value chains across the organization.

- Marketing campaigns to generate leads.
- Virtual assistants that keep customers happy.

And in the world of finance, these are some of the things that are coming:

If you want to make money, you MUST understand accounting.

Here’s the crash course on financial statements I wish someone gave me when I started out: Any business, big or small, has 3 financial statements.

Each has a key message. Put them together and they tell a powerful story.

• The balance sheet (are you healthy?)
• The income statement (are you making money?)
• The cash flow statement (are you going bankrupt?)

Today, I turn 36.

I managed to overcome poverty in Mexico, graduate from an American university, land prestigious jobs at Google/Microsoft, and visit 30+ countries around the world.

I don't know everything. But ...

Here are 36 lessons I wish someone had told me when I was 18: 1/ Nobody's coming to save you. The only person who's accountable for how your life turns out is YOU. I was born poor. But I was not going to die that way.

2/ Complaining is for losers. It only exacerbates the problem. Action is the most effective remedy to get out of a rut.

What’s wrong with this sentence?

“Drop out of college, start a business, become a millionaire.“

People who say something like this are victims of SURVIVORSHIP bias.

Let’s dive in. Ever wonder why you only hear about success stories?

In World War II, American airplanes would return from battle filled with bullet holes.

Concerned military officials wanted to reinforce the wings, the tail, and the body of the planes, where most of the damage could be

Why is Silicon Valley Bank $SIVB dropping like a meteor?

Here’s what I know … Let’s build some context around this.

Banks don’t work like other industrial companies.

In an industrial company, the bulk of the assets in the balance sheet are property, plant, equipment, inventory, etc.

In a bank, it’s loans and securities (stocks or bonds).

Economics can be a difficult topic to get a grasp on.

Lots of technical lingo, statistics, and crappy news anchors trying to explain them.

But it doesn’t have to be.

Here are 9 economic principles explained in layman terms that will make you better at business: First off, I like to think about the word “economics” in a broader sense than just a monetary one.

Let’s go through it …

A lot of startups don't have access to a CFO or finance support.

This can be disastrous if founders don't know how to read financial statements or what are the key metrics to focus on.

Here's 10 financial KPIs you should focus on if you want to run your business efficiently: 1/ Cash burn rate / runway

It shows how much time the business has before it runs out of cash.

This is critical for startups and one of the main reasons why they go bust.

It will tell you when to cut back on spending or get more funding.

My mom asked me to explain “the cloud” …

So, I explained it to her using pizza.

Here’s a very simplified explanation of how cloud computing works using Italy’s favorite dish. My mom is a good lawyer.

But when it comes to technology … her skills stop at opening a new tab in Chrome.

(Love you, Mom.)

So, how do you explain cloud computing to someone who has no idea what it is?

In 2014, I spent 4 months at an oil and gas facility in Africa.

I spent days and nights trying to come up with a way to reduce the cost to manufacture a subsea tree (that thing behind me).

Here’s a story on how asking the right questions can make you a more operational leader. 1/ Why should you read this?

I think anybody who works in a company will benefit from understanding the business model to its core (especially those like me who work in a support function like finance).

But don’t take it from me. Even Warren Buffett says this.

Steve Jobs was a controversial character.

On one hand, a technologist and businessman ahead of his time.

On the other, an egotistical bully obsessed with getting things done.

Love him or hate him ... we all can learn from him.

Here’s the best advice from the founder of Apple: 1/ Don't live a limited life

Going to college, getting a job, and having a family is the typical instruction manual everybody gets on how to live their lives.

But you can do so much more.

Start a business. A non-profit. Travel. Write a book.

Do something worth remembering.

Warren Buffett built Berkshire Hathaway to a $700 billion company.

He documented his investment philosophy in his annual shareholder letters.

I read more than 1,000 pages spanning 56 years, so you don't have to.

Here's the 10 best investing lessons from "The Oracle of Omaha": 1/ 1996: Buy stocks as if you owned the company, not as a speculator

Anytime you consider buying stocks, perform rigorous due diligence. As rigorous as if you were buying a business (because you are).

Change your mindset from "I'm buying a stock" to "I'm buying a company".

I work in Finance & Strategy at Google.

I've created hundreds of financial models in Google Sheets using SQL and AI to help the company sell billions of dollars.

If you want to use Sheets like a PRO, start learning these 10 things (last one shows you how to integrate ChatGPT): 1/ ARRAYFORMULA

This formula lets you calculate a range of cells by entering it ONLY once.

This gives you a spreadsheet less prone to error and prevents people from deleting formulas accidentally.

• Ex. Calculate total daily sales:

=ARRAYFORMULA(D3:D29*E3:E29)

Everyone is using ChatGPT.

But 99% of people don't understand how you can use it in your daily life.

Here are 9 things you can do right now to improve your life with AI: 1/ Connect ChaGPT with Whatsapp

Imagine having the power of artificial intelligence next to your conversations in WhatsApp.

Download the instructions from GitHub (whatsapp-gpt). It might take you a couple of tries, but this is one of the coolest applications I've found.

99% of people don't ask good questions at the end of a job interview.

This is what separates mediocre candidates from the must-hires.

Here are 10 questions I used to land jobs at Google and Microsoft: 1/ If we were doing my performance review right now, what would I have done this year for you to say I excelled in my role?

This question shows that you care about exceeding expectations.

Additionally, it will give you some context on what your manager cares about.

This year, you'll be able to speak with your dead uncle using AI.

Here's 7 technologies coming in 2023 that will make you feel like you're living in a science fiction movie: 1/ Digital clones of your dead relatives

Last year, Joe Rogan interviewed Steve Jobs.

Not really.

Their voices and conversation were created by using AI voice cloning. And it was incredibly realistic.

Apps like @HereAfterAI might let you speak to someone in the afterworld.

12 half-crazy and semi-controversial predictions for 2023: 1/ Apple enters the VR space and eats Meta's lunch

Apple's VR headset delivers a seamless user experience integrated with its ecosystem, better third-party apps and games, and solid privacy settings.

Apple manages to capture 5%-10% of Meta's current 90% market share.

The 50 toughest questions you never ask yourself, but should.

Do this and start 2023 on the right foot.

1. If I die tomorrow, am I comfortable with how I lived my life? 2. When in my life have I repeated the same mistakes over and over again?

3. How do I define a purposeful life? How is my definition influenced by others?

4. Am I living the same day every day?

5. What habits and behaviors are holding me back, and how can I change them?

83% of business owners would not pass a basic finance test.

But it doesn't have to be this way.

Here are 9 tips to make you financially smarter (in less than 5 minutes): 1. Read financial statements

Accounting is the language of business.

If you want to be successful, know these by heart:

• Balance sheet
• Income statement
• Cash flow statement

Make your life easy and download my FREE Accounting Essentials guide.
theantonioreza.com/guide

Climbing the corporate ladder is painful.

95% of the time you feel like your boss is out to get you and he's handing out promotions to people who don't deserve it.

I wish someone had told me what to focus on when I started.

Here's 11 principles on how to manage your career: 1/ Acknowledge that it will require blood, sweat, and tears.

Many people will tell you to only work smart. But the reality is that you have to work hard, smart, and long.

I once spent 56 hours straight in the office to finish an audit.

Did it suck? Yes. But I learned a ton.

I was a Senior Finance Manager at Microsoft from 2019 to 2021.

I built hundreds of complex financial models in Excel that helped close billion-dollar deals.

If you want to use Excel like a PRO, start by learning these 10 things: 1/ SUMIFS

Use it to add up values that meet one or two criteria.

In English:

SUMIFS(values you want to add, condition 1 range, condition 1)

Ex: Give me the total downloads for each podcast.