Donald King
Fractional CFO & M&A Advisor | $350M+ in Transactions for Construction, Manufacturing & Distribution Companies ($5M–$100M) | Author, Finding True North | COMPASS Diagnostics™ Founder
Donald King teaches B2B professional services owners how to diagnose and fix hidden business problems through financial and operational frameworks. His distinctive move is the problem-agitation-reframe pattern, where he names a symptom (cash flow), reveals the real cause (receivables, inventory, capital structure), and positions his firm's assessment as the diagnostic tool.
5/wk
65 posts in 30d
8
avg per post
24.2%
comments / total
7.1%
reposts / total
story
Wed · 1 PM CET
Voice & tone
Direct, slightly provocative, and grounded in operator experience. King speaks as someone who has seen the same mistakes 100 times and is tired of watching owners treat symptoms instead of diseases. He uses short declarative sentences followed by uncomfortable truths. The tone is confident without being arrogant, and deeply practical. A reader should imitate his willingness to contradict conventional wisdom and his habit of naming what owners won't admit to themselves.
Signature phrases
- “That's not a [surface problem]. That's a [root problem].”
- “Nobody is [specific action that should happen but doesn't].”
- “He treated the symptom and paid for the privilege of never diagnosing the disease.”
- “Random Excellence. Not because the talent is random. But because it landed in one domain and the rest never caught up.”
- “That's not a finance problem. That's a visibility problem.”
- “Profitable on paper, tight on cash, and no clean answer for where it went.”
Top 3 posts, dissected
Their highest-engagement posts, broken down line by line. Steal the structure.
Proud to share some news. Jim Edmondson has joined CMG Financial Solutions™ as our Operations Partner and a CMG 360™ Certified Advisor. For more than 30 years, Jim has helped founders and CEOs build the operational infrastructure that lets a business grow without breaking. He has done it from the operating seat and the board seat, been through two exits, and worked both sides of M&A. He knows what turns a good company into one that scales. It also rounds out what we do for owners. Our CMG 360™ Assessment reads a business inside and out and shows what is holding it back. Jim brings an operations and organizational development perspective to the firm that complements the financial and strategic advisory we already deliver. When the assessment surfaces operational gaps, we now have the experience and depth to address them. Welcome aboard, Jim. Privately held companies are going to be glad you are here. Jim Edmondson
The hook leads with pride and news, which is a soft opening, but it immediately backs it up with a specific credential (Operations Partner, CMG 360 Certified Advisor) and a name. This is not a generic announcement. It signals that someone important just joined, and the reader's brain wants to know why that matters.
The post follows a four-part architecture: (1) Announcement with credential, (2) Proof of Jim's track record (30 years, two exits, M&A experience), (3) Explanation of how Jim's expertise fills a gap in the firm's service offering (operations + organizational development complements financial and strategic advisory), (4) Closing statement that positions the hire as a win for the audience (privately held companies are going to be glad you are here). This is not a list. It is a narrative that builds from who to why to what it means.
- Specific credential stacking - 30 years, two exits, M&A background, operating seat and board seat. Each detail adds credibility without feeling like a resume.
- Problem-solution bridge - The CMG 360 Assessment surfaces gaps, and Jim now has the depth to address them. This ties the hire to a tangible business outcome.
- Audience-centric close - The final sentence shifts focus from the firm to the reader (privately held companies), making the announcement feel like good news for them, not just for the firm.
The post ends with 'Privately held companies are going to be glad you are here.' This is not a call to action in the traditional sense. It is a statement of inevitability that positions the hire as a win for the reader's business, which drives comments from owners who want to learn more about how Jim can help them.
When announcing a hire or partnership, lead with the credential that solves a specific problem your audience has, not just the person's title or years of experience.
95% of companies under $50 million don't have a strategic CFO. They have someone who closes the books. Someone who tells them what happened last month. Nobody is telling them what's going to happen next quarter. Nobody is benchmarking their margins against their industry. Nobod…
The hook is a statistic shock (95% of companies under $50 million don't have a strategic CFO) that immediately creates a gap between what the reader thinks they have and what they actually have. The number is specific enough to feel researched, and the implication is clear: if you're under $50M, you probably don't have this either.
The post uses a problem-agitation-solution architecture with a built-in framework introduction. (1) Hook with statistic, (2) Agitation through repetition (Nobody is telling them, Nobody is benchmarking, Nobody is forecasting, Nobody is showing them), (3) Reframe (That's not a finance problem, that's a visibility problem), (4) Cost implication (It's costing them more than a strategic fractional CFO would), (5) Soft CTA (Want to know where the gaps are? Five minutes. Seven domains. Link in the comments). The repetition of Nobody creates a rhythm that feels like a checklist of failures.
- Agitation through anaphora - The repeated 'Nobody is' structure builds frustration and makes the problem feel systemic.
- Problem reframe - Shifting from finance problem to visibility problem redefines the solution space and positions the firm's assessment as the diagnostic tool.
- Specificity in the CTA - Five minutes, seven domains. This is concrete and low-friction, which drives clicks and comments.
The close is a soft CTA that offers a specific outcome (know where the gaps are) in a specific timeframe (five minutes) using a specific framework (seven domains). This drives comments because owners want to know what the seven domains are and how to access the assessment.
Use repetition of a short phrase (Nobody is) to build frustration about a gap, then reframe the problem in a way that positions your solution as the diagnostic tool, not the fix.
Your P&L says you made money. Your bank account disagrees. Almost every owner I work with has lived this month. Profitable on paper, tight on cash, and no clean answer for where it went. It went somewhere specific. It usually went into receivables that stretched from 30 days t…
The hook creates a paradox: Your P&L says you made money. Your bank account disagrees. This is a two-sentence contradiction that every owner has experienced, making it instantly relatable and creating urgency to understand the gap. The simplicity of the language (P&L, bank account) makes it accessible to all business owners, not just finance people.
The post follows a problem-diagnosis-symptom-treatment-consequence architecture. (1) Hook with paradox, (2) Diagnosis (the money went somewhere specific), (3) Specific examples of where it went (receivables, inventory, principal payments), (4) Reframe (Cash & Capital problem, not a profit problem), (5) Symptom treatment (factoring), (6) Consequence of treating the symptom (factoring becomes a recurring fee that never fixes the root cause). The post is long (350+ words) but it reads quickly because each section builds on the previous one with specific examples.
- Paradox opening - Creates cognitive dissonance that demands resolution.
- Specific examples - Receivables stretched from 30 to 52 days, inventory bought ahead of work that slipped, principal payments. These are concrete enough that owners recognize their own situation.
- Symptom-vs-disease distinction - The factoring example is the centerpiece of the post. It shows how owners treat symptoms and pay for the privilege of never diagnosing the disease.
- Repetition of consequence - He factors again next month, and the month after that, and a few points per invoice becomes hundreds of thousands of dollars. This shows the compounding cost of treating symptoms.
The post ends mid-sentence (truncated in the data), but the structure suggests it closes with a restatement of the root cause and an implicit CTA to diagnose the problem correctly. The lack of a hard CTA is intentional. The post is designed to create discomfort and curiosity, not to drive immediate action.
Use a paradox to open, then walk through specific examples of where the money went, then show how owners treat the symptom (factoring) and pay for the privilege of never fixing the root cause. This structure builds credibility through specificity and creates urgency through consequence.
What drives their engagement
King's posts drive comments by creating a gap between what owners think they know and what they actually know, then offering a specific framework or assessment as the bridge. The 'Nobody is' pattern and the problem-reframe structure make owners want to respond with their own experience or ask for more details about the framework. Posts with soft CTAs (Want to know where the gaps are? Link in the comments) also drive comments because the CTA is low-friction and the promise is specific.
Reposts are low (7.1% of engagement) because King's content is highly specific to business owners and financial advisors. The posts are designed to create discomfort and curiosity within a niche audience, not to inspire broad agreement or viral sharing. Reposts happen when the post introduces a new framework (Random Excellence) or makes a contrarian claim that advisors want to share with their own networks.
Low. King optimizes for reach and comments, not saves. His posts are designed to create immediate discomfort and curiosity, not to be reference material. Owners save posts about frameworks or checklists, but King's posts are diagnostic and provocative, not prescriptive. The lack of numbered lists or downloadable frameworks suggests this is intentional.
Content pillars
Hidden Cash & Capital Problems
28%Exposes the gap between P&L profitability and actual cash position, teaching owners why receivables, inventory, and debt structure matter more than accounting profit.
The Strategic CFO Gap
22%Argues that 95% of companies under $50M lack forward-looking financial leadership, positioning fractional CFO services as the antidote to reactive accounting.
Random Excellence Framework
18%Teaches that founders excel in one domain (sales, ops, engineering) but neglect the six other critical domains, preventing scale until all six align.
Firm Announcements & Social Proof
16%Celebrates new hires and partnerships that expand service offerings, using credentials and track records to build trust with owner audience.
Root Cause vs. Symptom Diagnosis
16%Teaches owners to distinguish between surface problems (factoring, tight cash) and underlying causes (slow receivables, weak systems), positioning diagnosis as the first step to fixing business.
Hook patterns
Statistic Shock
Specific percentage or number that contradicts owner assumptions, followed by a one-sentence implication.
“95% of companies under $50 million don't have a strategic CFO.”
→ The number is credible enough to stop scroll, and the gap between what owners think they have and what they actually have creates immediate cognitive dissonance.
Profitable-But-Broke Paradox
Two contradictory statements about the same business metric, creating tension that demands explanation.
“Your P&L says you made money. Your bank account disagrees.”
→ Every owner has lived this month, so the hook is instantly relatable and creates urgency to understand the gap.
Bold Capability Statement
Announce a new hire or service expansion with specific credentials and the exact problem it solves.
“Proud to share some news. Jim Edmondson has joined CMG Financial Solutions as our Operations Partner and a CMG 360 Certified Advisor.”
→ Combines social proof (30 years experience, two exits, M&A background) with a clear value add (operations perspective complements existing financial advisory), making it feel like a genuine business milestone rather than self-promotion.
Universal Owner Truth
Start with 'Every [owner/business/founder] I've ever worked with' followed by a specific observation about their talent or blind spot.
“Every business owner I've ever worked with was exceptional at something.”
→ The universal claim feels like insider knowledge, and it positions the creator as someone who has seen patterns across hundreds of businesses.
Contrarian Reframe
Accept the conventional wisdom, then immediately contradict it with research or experience.
“82% of businesses that fail blame cash flow. The research says they're wrong. Cash was where they felt the pain. It wasn't what caused it.”
→ Validates the owner's experience (yes, cash was the problem you felt) while repositioning the diagnosis (no, that wasn't the root cause), creating curiosity about what the real cause is.
Nobody Is Doing This
Repeat the phrase 'Nobody is [specific action]' three to four times to build frustration about a gap in the market or in the owner's business.
“Nobody is telling them what's going to happen next quarter. Nobody is benchmarking their margins against their industry. Nobody is forecasting cash 90 days forward.”
→ The repetition creates a rhythm that feels like a checklist of failures, making the problem feel systemic and urgent.
Top-performing hooks
“Proud to share some news. Jim Edmondson has joined CMG Financial Solutions™ as our Operations Partner and a CMG 360™ Certified Advisor.”
→ The post establishes authority by highlighting Jim's 30+ years of experience and specific credentials while clearly articulating how his expertise fills a gap in the firm's service offering, making it
“95% of companies under $50 million don't have a strategic CFO.”
→ The post opens with a shocking statistic that creates immediate relevance for the target audience, then systematically agitates the pain of poor financial visibility before positioning the fractional
“Your P&L says you made money.”
“82% of businesses that fail blame cash flow.”
→ The post challenges conventional wisdom by reframing a commonly accepted belief, creating cognitive dissonance that compels readers to reconsider their assumptions. By segmenting the audience (owners,
“Every business owner I've ever worked with was exceptional at something.”
→ The post validates founder strengths while introducing a proprietary framework (Random Excellence™) that positions the author as an expert in scaling businesses beyond founder-driven excellence, creat
“Yesterday I wrote about Course Made Good. A few of you asked what that actually looks like.”
→ The post uses a compelling Tiger Woods anecdote as a relatable metaphor for non-obvious business decisions, building authority through pattern recognition while making abstract business concepts concr
“Most businesses are world-class at a few things and fragile in the rest.”
“The bank did not reject your business. It rejected your financials.”
→ The post reframes a common rejection as a fixable problem rather than a business failure, positioning the author as someone who understands the gap between business reality and financial documentation
“The best contractor in town is often the one sweating payroll.”
→ The post establishes authority by naming a specific problem (Random Excellence™) that resonates deeply with the target audience, then positions the author as having the solution through a proprietary
“A business owner told me everything was fine. Growing. Profitable. Customers happy.”
→ The post uses concrete before/after metrics (42% to 71%) and tangible business outcomes (bank approval, visible pipeline) to establish credibility while positioning the CMG 360™ Assessment as a diagno
What works
- Statistic shock hooks outperform all others at 37 avg engagement. King uses specific numbers (95%, 82%) that contradict owner assumptions and create immediate cognitive dissonance. Example: '95% of companies under $50 million don't have a strategic CFO' stops scroll because every owner under $50M wonders if they're in that 95%.
- Problem-agitation-reframe format drives 10 avg engagement and positions the creator as a diagnostician, not a salesperson. King names the symptom (cash flow), reveals the real cause (receivables, inventory, capital structure), and reframes the problem in a way that positions his firm's assessment as the solution. This structure builds trust because it validates the owner's experience before repositioning the diagnosis.
- The 'Nobody is' repetition pattern creates rhythm and frustration. King repeats 'Nobody is telling them, Nobody is benchmarking, Nobody is forecasting' to build a checklist of failures. This pattern is easy to scan and creates a sense of systemic neglect that drives urgency.
- Announcement posts with specific credentials and service gaps drive high engagement (138 eng). King leads with a new hire's track record (30 years, two exits, M&A experience) and immediately explains how that hire fills a gap in the firm's service offering. This ties the announcement to a tangible business outcome, making it feel like good news for the reader, not just for the firm.
- Soft CTAs with specific frameworks drive comments. King closes with 'Want to know where the gaps are? Five minutes. Seven domains. Link in the comments.' This is low-friction and specific, which drives clicks and comments because owners want to know what the seven domains are.
- Medium-length posts (80-180 words) outperform micro posts by 10x. King uses this length to set up a problem, agitate it, and reframe it without losing attention. Micro posts are used for consistency and reach, not for driving conversation.
Steal this for your own LinkedIn
- Open your next post with a paradox or contradiction that your audience has experienced. Example: 'Your P&L says you made money. Your bank account disagrees.' This creates immediate relatability and urgency to understand the gap.
- Use the 'Nobody is [specific action]' pattern three to four times in a row to build frustration about a gap in your audience's business. This creates rhythm and makes the problem feel systemic. Example: 'Nobody is forecasting cash 90 days forward. Nobody is benchmarking margins. Nobody is showing them the gaps.'
- Reframe the problem in a way that positions your solution as the diagnostic tool, not the fix. Instead of 'You need a CFO,' say 'That's not a finance problem. That's a visibility problem.' This shifts the conversation from solution to diagnosis, which builds trust.
- When announcing a hire or partnership, lead with the specific credential that solves a problem your audience has, then immediately explain how that hire fills a gap in your service offering. This ties the announcement to a tangible business outcome and makes it feel like good news for the reader.
- Use medium-length posts (80-180 words) for your highest-engagement content. This length allows you to set up a problem, agitate it, and reframe it without losing attention. Save micro posts for consistency and reach, not for driving conversation.
- Close with a soft CTA that offers a specific outcome in a specific timeframe using a specific framework. Example: 'Want to know where the gaps are? Five minutes. Seven domains. Link in the comments.' This is low-friction and specific, which drives clicks and comments.
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Posting patterns
King posts 5 times per week, every week, with 65 posts in the last 90 days. This is consistent, high-volume posting that keeps his content in the feed and builds familiarity with his audience.
Wednesday at 12 UTC performs best. This is midweek, midday, which is when business owners are most likely to be checking LinkedIn during work hours.
Medium-length posts (80-180 words) perform best with 19 avg engagement, nearly 10x the micro posts. This length allows King to set up a problem, agitate it, and reframe it without losing the reader's attention. Micro posts (48% of his content) average only 2 engagement, suggesting he uses them for consistency and reach, not for driving conversation.
Engagement by day
Content mix
avg 2 engagements per post
avg 9 engagements per post
avg 1 engagements per post
avg 5 engagements per post
avg 10 engagements per post
avg 8 engagements per post
King's format mix is deliberately skewed toward micro posts (48%) and medium posts (26%), with very few numbered lists (6%) or long-form stories (11%). This is intentional. Micro posts keep him in the feed and build familiarity, but medium posts drive the conversation and build trust. He avoids numbered lists because his audience is not looking for checklists. They are looking for diagnosis and reframing. His content is designed to create discomfort and curiosity, not to provide prescriptive answers.
