My name is Laurie Chen and I am the author of Risk Worthy. I wrote this book because I kept watching founders, leaders, and high-performers either:

• play too small out of fear, or
• take big swings with no guardrails—blowing up their runway, their teams, or their health in the process.

As a Fractional CFO, CPA, and angel investor, I live at the intersection of numbers, risk, and narrative. I’m in the room when people decide whether to leave corporate, launch a product, raise venture capital, or shut down a company. I’ve seen how the wrong mental model around risk keeps talented people stuck—or pushes them into avoidable disaster.

Risk Worthy is my answer to that problem.

My hope is that, in reading this book, you will discover a way to make decisions that you’re proud of—not just for your personal net worth, but in your health, relationships, and long-term story. I want you to see risk as something you can engineer rather than fear—anchored in who you’re becoming and the future you’re building.

In this book, you’ll learn about concepts like Best Self, Best Possible Future, Start Small and Iterate Fast, Failure Is Part of the Process, and Know Your Numbers.

You’ll see these concepts through real stories, including:

• How I decided to walk away from a safe corporate accounting career into a high-variance startup—and what actually happened on the other side of that leap.
• What Theranos and Elizabeth Holmes got so catastrophically wrong—and how “opposite of Risk Worthy” decisions can look noble on the surface while fast-tracking collapse behind the scenes.
• Why Michael Jordan’s last shot in 1998 and Michael Phelps’ Beijing run in 2008 are masterclasses in risk, preparation, and taking the shot when it counts the most.

You will love this book if you…

• Are a founder, operator, athlete, or ambitious professional constantly facing decisions with incomplete information.
• Feel like you’re meant for more—but you don’t want to blow up your finances, relationships, or health chasing the wrong dream.
• Love to think long-term —you care about long-term numbers and long-term meaning.
• Want a practical decision-making framework to navigate career pivots, big investments, launches, and life-defining choices.
• Are tired of “just trust your gut” advice and want a way to honor your intuition while still honoring your runway and risk profile.

Risk Worthy is a category-defining book that speaks to entrepreneurs and high-performing leaders who are looking at risk and long-term decision-making in a new way.

It’s especially for the person who has already checked most of the traditional boxes—degrees, job titles, revenue milestones—and is now asking: “What risks are actually worth it in this next chapter of my life?”

Although the book is organized into chapters rather than formal “parts,” the journey moves through three big arcs:

1. Redefining Risk & Reframing Failure

• You’ll learn what it really means to be Risk Worthy—not reckless, not paralyzed, but deliberate.
• We’ll reframe failure as data and talk about how to fail fast without scorched-earth consequences.
• You’ll meet founders and athletes who used small, reversible experiments to build toward huge, irreversible wins.

2. Designing Your Best Self & Best Possible Future

• You’ll define your Best Self and Best Possible Future—and use them as filters for big decisions.
• You’ll see how long-term thinking, product quality, customer obsession, and infrastructure investments all tie into the life you actually want.
• You’ll walk through tools for variance engineering: choosing which risks to take, which to decline, and which to stage over time.

3. Executing with Numbers, Integrity, and Mentorship

• You’ll learn how to Know Your Numbers—not as a constraint, but as a way to support bolder moves.
• You’ll see how CEOs illustrate the tension between bold vision and ethical, sustainable execution.
• We’ll end with Determination despite Fear—how to keep going when things are hard, and how not to let fear silently make your biggest decisions for you.
• Throughout, you’ll get questions, checklists, and small experiments you can start this week, not someday.

My Publishing Journey: Where Your Support Goes

I’m publishing Risk Worthy with the support of Manuscripts Press, an innovative publisher that provides me with a full publishing team to bring this book to life. This summer, I’m working closely with:

• A revisions editor, copy editor, and proofreader to refine and elevate every story in the book
• A marketing strategist to help me connect with new audiences and make the book’s message reach those who need it most.
• A cover artist and layout editor who will ensure the final product is visually stunning and professionally produced.

Other Ways to Support Me

Some people just can’t contribute financially right now, but that doesn’t mean you can’t help:

• Share the presale campaign on Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn with your friends, family, and network. Please use #RiskWorthy and tag me so we can help amplify your efforts.
• Recommend the book to five (5) people—friends, family members, or co-workers who you think would enjoy it—via text or direct message on social media.
• Invite your community or team to pre-order together and use the book as a discussion guide for risk, growth, and decision-making.

Every share, every pre-order, and every conversation about Risk Worthy moves this project closer to reality and helps me reach the $25,000 goal for publishing costs.

Thank you so much for all of your love and support.

— Laurie

About the Author

Laurie Chen, CPA, MBA is a Fractional CFO, CPA, and angel investor who helps Founders and CEOs build companies with real runway, real margins, and real lives they are building strategically. She’s the founder of Advanced CFO, a CFO and CPA firm based in Austin, Texas, and host of the Built by Margin podcast, where she interviews CEOs, entrepreneurs, operators, and experts about financial strategy, risk, and long-term thinking.

Laurie has guided startups through everything from their first financial roadmap to multi-million-dollar exits. Her work sits at the intersection of finance, decision-making, and strategic growth, and Risk Worthy is her playbook for anyone who wants to take bigger swings with more confidence and less regret.