The Fractional CFO Show with Adam Cooper – Details, episodes & analysis

On this week’s episode, I had a brilliant conversation with Harv Nagra, Head of Brand Communications at Scoro and host of The Handbook: The Operations Podcast. 

Harv brings a unique mix of insight from marketing, operations, and systems design, particularly for growing agencies and professional service firms.

If you’ve ever felt like your business is spinning too many plates, this one’s for you.

🌟 Some of the highlights we dig into:

✅ Collaborating with finance: How operations + CFOs can lead smarter system rollouts.
✅ The Business Maturity Model: 5 stages of growth from “chaotic era” to “innovation era.”
✅ Burnout warning signs: Why broken internal systems silently sabotage leadership teams.
✅ The reality of accidental founders: Growing beyond creative chaos without losing identity.
✅ Infrastructure for scale: Getting the right tech, people and processes in place to grow cleanly.

This week, I’m joined by Oliver Tuffney, Founder & Head Coach at Sales Velocity, a framework designed to bring discipline, structure, and predictability to SME sales teams.

Some of my favourite takeaways from our conversation:

✅ How to avoid sales teams getting stuck in boom and bust cycles;
✅ How EOS can guide sales, but why Ollie feels it still needs a deeper “sales layer”;
✅ What great compensation plans actually look like, and how to build them without risking your cashflow;
✅ Why sales and finance leaders must collaborate on modelling if growth is going to be sustainable;
✅ And, the Charlie Munger quote that Ollie swears by when building out sales compensation structures. 

This week, I had a fascinating conversation with @Rajeev Nandan, founder and CEO of @Pierian, about the evolution of Marketing technology and the impact of AI on digital marketing strategies.

We covered:

✅ The move from traditional marketing to AI-driven, data-led strategies.
✅ The transition from a consulting business model to a scalable SaaS offering.
✅ The financial metrics that drive e-commerce success and sustainable growth.
✅ How businesses, big and small, can use AI to improve customer acquisition and retention.
✅ The importance of balancing creativity and data in a world increasingly shaped by automation.

This week, I sat down with @Alistair Roman, Founder and Managing Partner of @Cost Optimisation Consultancy, to explore cost optimisation for small businesses and discuss how you can reduce costs in your business sustainably.

We discuss the model that Alistair has developed - the cost transformation maturity map - why most businesses fail to retain cost savings, and explore how SMEs can build cost efficiency into their company culture.

🌟 Some of my favourite parts from our conversation:

✅ How Alistair helped John Lewis drive major cost efficiencies - and what smaller businesses can learn from it.

✅ Understanding the difference between cost optimisation and cost savings and why one is more sustainable.
 ✅Why Finance Teams must be front and centre leading cost optimisation efforts, regardless of their size. 
 ✅ How cost optimisation fuels growth rather than just being a defensive strategy.
 ✅ How SMEs can leverage technology to streamline finance and operations.
 
 ACCA Scale Up Success Article: https://www.accaglobal.com/content/dam/ACCA_Global/professional-insights/Scale-up/pi-scale-up-success-SMEs.pdf

Alistair Roman Contact Details:

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alistairroman/
• Website:  https://www.costoptimisationconsultancy.com

This week, I had a fascinating conversation with St John Dalgleish, CEO of Perlon AI, about the reality of building AI-driven solutions that actually deliver results.

We explored how Perlon AI went from consulting to product, the challenges of scaling AI in diverse industries, and what the future holds for businesses using AI.

🌟 Some of my favourite parts of our discussion:

✅ Custom AI at scale: The challenges of tailoring AI models across 15 different industries while staying efficient.
✅ From consulting to SaaS: How Perlon AI transitioned from strategy consulting to a scalable AI product.
✅ AI adoption & scepticism: How businesses are embracing AI—and the fears they still have.
✅ The AI future: Where AI is heading in 2025 and how businesses should prepare.

Business Book Bonus:

https://www.hubspot.com/startups/podcast

https://mistral.vc/the-product-market-fit-show/

https://www.saastr.com/podcasts/

The Road to Conscious Machines by Michael Woolridge: https://amzn.eu/d/07iIzKN

James by Percival Everett: https://amzn.eu/d/gCDVYb2

On this one I had the pleasure of speaking with Paul Sherratt, founder and CEO of gloveglu – an innovative brand that’s reshaped the goalkeeping product category with products sold in 55 countries and over 1.1m followers on social media.

This conversation was a real lesson to me in entrepreneurial courage, strategic pivots, and turning challenges like Brexit and COVID into opportunities for growth. 

Paul’s journey from a corporate career to creating a globally recognised brand is inspiring, and definitely a great conversation to start the new year with.

🌟 Some of my highlights from our discussion were:

✅ Leap of faith: How Paul managed the risk of starting again at 50, remortgaging his house to go all in on gloveglu.
✅ Turning obstacles into opportunities: How Brexit and COVID shaped his business strategy.
✅ Category creation: Building a market where none existed and the benefits of becoming the “category king” in a niche category.
✅ Scaling smartly: Leveraging existing B2B relationships before pivoting to a successful B2C model.
✅ R&D insights: The role that product development played, and how Paul used quiet periods to innovate and stay ahead of the competition.

Paul’s story is packed with lessons for anyone looking to scale a business, navigate uncertain times, or simply turn a great idea into reality.

On this one I was delighted to be joined by Erika Robinson, the UK General Manager of Constant Contact, a leading platform for small business marketing solutions.

This was a cracking conversation with Erika where we had a wide ranging chat discussing AI tools, career pivots, lean team leadership and some tips on how small businesses can give themselves the best chance of achieving those big ambitions.

🌟 Some of the most interesting parts of our conversation were:

✅Risk vs. reward: How to assess the financial and personal risks of a career pivot.
✅Emerging tools: The newest AI-powered tools and technologies transforming small business marketing.
✅Cultural alignment: Balancing a US company ethos with the expectations of UK customers and stakeholders.
✅Future-proofing your career: Staying adaptable and continually learning to navigate evolving career landscapes.
✅Lean team leadership: Scaling operations with a small team and external support while maintaining effectiveness.
✅Market differences: Understanding and adapting to the specific needs of UK small businesses compared to the US market.
✅Transitioning mid-career: Key differences between the corporate, entrepreneurial, and startup environments that shaped Erika’s leadership style.

A sneak peek for you here below with Erika giving some words of advice on how small businesses should start thinking about and experimenting with AI.

On this one I was delighted to be joined by Lizzie Allen Phillips, the founder of IWant2Network, who is on a mission to become London's number one premium business networking organization with her networking group, IWant2Network.

This was a fascinating conversation with Lizzie where we discussed the power of networking for financial success.

🌟 Some of the most interesting parts of our conversation were:

✅Common networking mistakes and how to avoid them;
✅Addressing imposter syndrome and other common networking fears;
✅Cost-effective networking strategies for start-ups and small businesses; 
✅Managing follow-ups and maintaining meaningful connections over time;
✅Turning networking connections into long term collaborations or partnerships; 
✅How to identify and approach the right networking opportunities for small businesses.

Business Book Bonus:

Zero to 100: The Gold Standard of Global Networking - https://amzn.eu/d/cYgOrjj
We Can All Make It - https://amzn.eu/d/3efQ8sj

On this one I was delighted to be joined by Francesca Hodgson, MBA, the successful entrepreneur and Founder of We are Ambition, a business consultancy offering fractional leadership, growth services, mentoring and coaching.

This was a fascinating conversation with Francesca where we explored the need for clarity of mind, as it relates to the entrepreneurial journey.

🌟 Some of the most interesting parts of our conversation were:
✅The power of authenticity, how it helps build confidence, and acts like a rocket ship for motivation;
✅The work that Francesca has been doing around the promoting of mental resilience as a positive tool to achieve your goals.
✅How everything is fighting for our attention and clarity of mind allows you to engage and articulate what it is that you're doing;
✅That it all starts with values and taking time to understand what matters to you and in what order, can really help inform why we do what we do;
✅Why coaching and mentoring combined can be such a powerful way to help people understand what is important to them and what to prioritise to execute their vision;

Business Book Bonus:

Shoe Dog: A Memoir by the Creator of NIKE:  https://amzn.eu/d/4l3ZZOM
Trillion Dollar Coach: https://amzn.eu/d/5WEHeVS

On this one I was very pleased to be joined by @Jon Reay and @Tim Seddon, the Co-Founders OF @Room 42, a start-up that facilitates effective change and innovation through the use of Design Thinking based programmes, to help businesses tackle the most challenging of live business problems.

I really enjoyed this conversation with Jon and Tim where we dived into how they went on the journey to start Room 42 and specifically how they have seen Design Thinking used to improve Financial Performance.

🌟 Some of my favourite parts of our conversation were:

✅ How, if you can break up and disrupt day to day thinking, it provides the opportunity to inspire different interactions that can be the key to unlocking new thinking and ideas;

✅ How, if you get the right direction of travel, with a small team, Design Thinking can offer opportunities for small businesses to leapfrog larger competitors;

✅ Having a CFO or Finance professional within any change management program from the outset is really critical to help projects succeed more quickly;

✅ Their experience of imposing change top down, leads to a demotivated business that's struggling to adapt to change, while engaging with everyone leads to a much more highly motivated and agile business;

✅ How one of my favourite books, Douglas Adams, The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy helped inform both their company name and their approach to business.