An article by ChatGPT

Every few weeks we get an urgent email asking for help from a company that is in dire straits. Of course some of these might be scams, but for the most part, we have found them to be real. And for the most part they are about to run out of money, get taken over by a loan they cannot pay off when called, or otherwise lose years of effort and investment. And there is always a financial basis for the problem.

Time is of the essence

In responding to their queries, the first worst indicator of their situation is how much time they have to go. In the business we often call this "runway", as in when you run out of it, you crash and possibly burn.

• Less than 30 days: If you have less than 30 days to go before you crash and burn, there is really only one option. Call Ralph. Ralph is our guy who can Find Funds Faster. We have worked with Ralph for several years and he is sort of the court of last resort for the need cash now crowd in companies (as opposed to individuals with structured settlements and the reverse mortgage folks you hear about on the commercials).
• From 30 days to 6 months: Here's where things get dicey but can be done. In 30 days we can usually help you get into a stasis mode where you burn far less cash and do far less business while we figure out how to get you out of it. Along the way we can also start you into our Investor Push program and help you restructure things to survive for the next several months as we get you back up to at least 6 months of runway with a plan that keeps you going and helps grow your company.
• 6 months or longer: Ideally, this is when you contact us. It allows us to help grow your company with proper financial engineering so you don't run out of cash and crash.

But that's not what this article is about.

The ChatGPTs of advisory services

So naturally, or rather artificially, I asked ChatGPT to provide some assistance on this point... I provided the above portion of this article to it as context. It suggested, after some regurgitation of what I said to it:

...Many business leaders may not know where to turn for help or may not be familiar with the different types of financial services that are available to them. ...

So I asked "What are the "different types of financial services that are available to them"?" in reference to the previous response. And here is what it said:

There are a wide variety of financial services available to businesses, including:
• Financial planning and analysis: This service involves creating a financial plan for the business, analyzing its current financial status, and providing recommendations for improvement.
• Corporate finance: This service includes assistance with raising capital, such as through issuing stocks or bonds, and managing the company's financial assets and liabilities.
• Risk management: This service involves identifying and assessing potential risks to the business and developing strategies to mitigate or manage those risks.
• Mergers and acquisitions: This service includes advising and assisting with the buying, selling, or merging of businesses.
• Investment banking: This service includes underwriting and issuing securities, as well as providing assistance with mergers and acquisitions.
• Tax planning and preparation: This service includes helping the business plan and prepare its taxes in an efficient manner, to minimize tax liability.
• Treasury and cash management: This service includes managing the company's cash flow, currency risk and short-term investment of funds.
• Audit and assurance services: This service includes independent examination of the company's financial statements, to provide assurance that they are accurate and complete.
• Restructuring and turnaround: This service includes advising companies that are experiencing financial difficulties, and helping them to restructure their operations and finances to return to profitability. It's worth noting that these services can be provided by various types of professionals, such as accountants, financial advisors, investment bankers, and management consultants.

In other words, worse than useless drivel

When it comes to giving good advice, conversational AI sucks. In fact, when it comes to giving any advice, this crap only goes one level deep. It has no concept at all of what the actual subject matter is. And that's the point.

To be clear, anyone who knows anything about AI, and in particular the conversational AI we see so dominantly present today, knows that it indeed has no concept at all. Of anything! There are no "concepts" involved in current conversational AI. There are just various forms of regurgitation. And that can look like know-how until you actually try to test it.

An expert

The US Federal courts identify experts as having knowledge, skills, training, education, and/or experience relevant to the matter at hand, and more so than that of the triers of fact (e.g., the jury/judge). Another way I put it is that the definition of an expert is someone who knows more than you do about it.

We rely on experts to advise us on important things. As we see you should not rely on conversational AI of this sort for anything important.

A call to action

Want to engage with real experts to help grow your company? Let's discuss it at our next

In summary

Join us and see how actual expertise can help grow your company.