From Corporate FP&A to Building The FP&A Guy Business with Paul & Giles

How Paul Barnhurst turned LinkedIn posts into an FP&A business

Paul Barnhurst left FP&A at American Express to build The FP&A Guy, a business of podcasts, training, advisory work and vendor research. He got there by writing for free and posting daily on LinkedIn. He also met hundreds of vendors and guests, which made him a connector in FP&A software. The trade-off is breadth over focus, and he argues self-employment is a different risk, not a bigger one.

Takeaways

• Breadth funds the business but slows growth. Paul's business includes three podcasts, affiliate revenue, training, vendor research and advisory. He says focus would let him grow faster, yet the mix gives him multiple revenue streams and makes him a connector across FP&A.
• Self-employment is a different risk. Employees can be laid off or face age discrimination, and knowing AI does not guarantee security, Paul argues. He sees self-employment as a different risk rather than a bigger one.
• Daily LinkedIn posts built his audience. Paul posted every day for almost two years, growing from 5,000 to more than 60,000 followers. He stopped when the goal no longer made sense, and admits some posts were just memes.
• He acts as an unpaid connector. Paul has talked to 400 podcast guests and met with 400 vendors without pay for first meetings. He points people to the right resource even when he cannot help himself.
• Training matters when it changes work. Paul says the joy comes when a participant says the training saved them hours. He rates himself intermediate at Excel, rarely using Lambdas and almost never VBA, though he knows more formulas than most people.
• AI changes training but trust remains. Paul predicts AI will alter training while human trust is still wanted. He fears thought leadership gets watered down, citing Carl Seidman finding an AI-built model about 90% identical to one from his training.
• Rebuilding a hated model was best training. After a new CFO told FP&A its models sucked, Paul spent six months with an investment banker and a year remapping data. The painful rebuild taught him more than any other project.

How Paul Barnhurst went independent

1. In 2016, Paul worked in FP&A at American Express, supporting traveler's checks, and looked for a new job. He offered Ken Fick a $20 Starbucks gift card for 30 minutes.
2. Ken declined the card and asked Paul to write an article for his website instead. He later paid Paul $100 a month, which led to moderating FP&A Trends discussions on LinkedIn.
3. During COVID, vendors noticed him. In December 2021, three FP&A software vendors contacted him in one week, and two tried to hire him.