---

---

Hi, Reader,

Do you remember your first nightmare as a child?

I do.

I woke up terrified. The dream felt so real that I couldn’t tell where it ended and reality began. My parents had been in it, and I was convinced something terrible had happened.

I ran to my mom and told her everything. She explained that it had all been a dream.

I didn’t believe her. “How do you know?” I asked her.

“Because you can trust me.” she said.

Looking back, that wasn’t just my first nightmare. It was the first time I remember deciding whether to trust someone.

Today, we’re constantly trying to separate what’s real from what’s fake. AI can generate convincing words, images, videos, and even voices. Yet one thing hasn’t changed:

Trust is still one of the most valuable things a person can earn.

The interesting part is that not all trust has to be earned from the very beginning.

Sometimes, you’re fortunate enough to borrow someone else’s.

---

Borrowed Trust

The question I get more than any other from aspiring fractional CFOs is:

“How do I find clients?”

Over the years, I’ve tried just about everything. Content marketing. Paid ads. Cold outreach. Networking.

But one channel consistently outperforms all the others.

Referrals.

In my own business, a referral is roughly four times more likely to become a client than someone I reach through cold outreach.

Why?

Because before I ever join the first meeting, someone has already answered the most important question.

“Can I trust this person?”

That’s the power of borrowed trust.

In finance and accounting, trust sits at the center of everything we do. Clients hand over financial statements, payroll information, tax records, forecasts, and details about some of the biggest decisions they’ll ever make.

Even the most competent professionals in the world are powerless without trust.

---

Earned Trust

Borrowing someone else’s trust is powerful, but eventually you have to earn your own.

One thing I’ve noticed over the years is that trust changes how people interpret your actions.

I’ve experienced this from both sides.

I’ve had people work for me for years. Tasks have been delayed. QA has failed. Deadlines have slipped.

But my first thought is rarely, “They’re incapable.” After hundreds of interactions, the default becomes “something must have happened.”

On the other hand, I’ve had introductory calls with prospects where a few subtle comments completely changed how I felt about working together. I found myself wondering how my team would feel working with them every day.

Trust changes your default assumption.

And as you build more and more trust with those around you, you build a reputation.

One of my favorite frameworks comes from Steven Bartlett’s Five Buckets. The first four buckets are knowledge, skills, network, and resources. The fifth, and the one that takes the longest to build,is your reputation.

Every interaction either strengthens it or weakens it.

So learn. Work hard. Build your skills. Grow your network.

But above all else, become someone people can trust.

Everything else gets easier from there.

Thirty-seven years have passed since that conversation with my mom.

Her advice has held up remarkably well.

Now, when I wake up in the middle of the night to our daughter’s cries after what I can only assume was another bad dream, I find myself thinking about that moment.

I don’t just want to comfort her.

I want to become someone she never has to question.

Someone who shows up. Someone who keeps their word. Someone she knows will always be there.

One day, she’ll have to decide who she trusts.

I hope that when that moment comes, she doesn’t think twice.

Have a great weekend.

Josh

Your CFO Guy