Writing on Michael Doan

Claude + Obsidian, A Knowledge Base That Builds Itself

Tue, 28 Apr 2026 21:52:39 -0700

I built a self-maintaining knowledge base for work. Meeting notes, brain dumps, initiatives, and issues compile automatically. Notes link to people, partners, employees, vendors, and clients. Notes also link to initiatives and issues. A dashboard shows emergent patterns and problems across all of it.

My job is to feed it, make the occasional correction, and ask it questions.

Every query gets added back as a note. So if I ask about something today and take action on it next week, the system connects those dots. It knows what I asked. It knows what I did.

Better Decisions With Scenario Planning

Fri, 28 Mar 2025 00:00:00 +0000

Outcomes are not binary. You’ll make better decisions when you consider more than two outcomes.

Simple Company Health Metrics

Fri, 27 Oct 2023 00:00:00 +0000

Only a handful of financial metrics are needed to understand a company’s health.

You can certainly get fancy and go crazy with ratios, charts, and dashboards, but keeping it simple will get you 80% to understand your company.

Cash balance

Knowing the cash balance daily helps you understand if you have enough to fund operations.

It’s a good indicator of whether you must ramp up cash collections or slow down cash expenditures.

Your Expertise Doesn't Run a Business

Tue, 24 Oct 2023 00:00:00 +0000

Here’s why I (naively) thought I had the perfect background to run a business:

I spoke the “language of business” - I even have an accounting degree.
I’m a certified accounting expert - I have my CPA license.
I’m a financial reporting expert - I worked in public accounting as a financial statement auditor. My clients reported their financial statements to the Securities and Exchange Commission. My job was to check the financial statements and say they were good.

When I started Basis 365 Accounting, I thought these would help me master my business. These things helped, but I realized they’re only a small part of running a business.

Hire the Right Bookkeeper

Mon, 23 Oct 2023 00:00:00 +0000

I’ve operated an accounting firm for over a decade, and during that time, business owners have come to us with the same story: “My bookkeeper just quit, and I have two weeks to find a new bookkeeper.” What’s even worse is that there has to be a knowledge transfer between the bookkeepers within those two weeks!

When hiring a bookkeeper, ask these 3 interview questions to minimize the risk of this happening to you.

Financial Statement Buidling Blocks

Tue, 17 Oct 2023 00:00:00 +0000

Financial statements are made of small building blocks. To understand the financial statement and make better business decisions, you must understand how the building blocks fit.

Accounts are the smallest building blocks.

Accounts, sometimes called general ledger accounts, are the smallest building blocks. It’s where your transactions are recorded. For example, when you spend money on office supplies, you’ll record it in an Office Supplies account.

Accounts are grouped in broad categories and numbered:

Make Your Bed

Tue, 25 Oct 2022 00:00:00 +0000

The most straightforward lessons are sometimes the hardest to execute consistently.

Nothing in Make Your Bed, by retired Admiral William H. McRaven, is groundbreaking, but they are backed by McRaven’s stories from his military career, mainly from when he was with the SEALs. They are simple lessons you need to often hear so you can one day apply them when the situation presents itself.

Here are some of my favorite lessons: