It’s been now 3 years since I published my book “Financial model Detective”. I looked at it the other day and laughed inside myself, remembering the journey that took to make it happen. Not just to publish the book but my journey to become the financial model detective.

To learn more about my journey, follow this link:

The write up of the book was done in 2017 but it was never perfect for me. I was never satisfied with the content. The book was ready but I was never ready to release it. In 2019, through series of personal events and circumstances, I realized that perfection is a myth and everything is relative. So I worked on the design and published it.

The book was out in summer 2019. I received a lot support and positive messages from people I know and also others who discovered me through this book. the positive comments that touched me were ” It is easy and fun to read given the complexity of the subject. “, “I have your book in my shelve and it’s my reference when I am reviewing project finance models”…

But of course and thankfully I also received criticism and specially on the design of the book. People told me that the title “Financial Model Detective” and graphics in the book make it look non serious and a serious executive or analyst would be inclined to show it off in their bookshelves. I thought about and I blamed myself for it. I thought It would have been better if I had named it something else like ” Project Finance Model Review Guide” and used a plain dark blue color for the cover. But today, when I look at my book, it make me smile to see the cover with the cartoon character of me sitting behind my desk drafting a list of questions on a model. And you know what? I had loads of images and graphics that I didn’t include in the final version. My idea was to make it like a graphic novel but I didn’t have the right team or courage to do it (I’ll do it in 2023).

Some also didn’t like the choice of the size of the book. It’s a typical magazine size. I can change it with a click but I like it. It was my vision to have it like a magazine. I love magazines and I still buy magazines from time to time. it makes it more informal.

Now about its content, some said I don’t go deep into the subjects. I agree, the book is a good starting point for someone who wants to quickly get conformable when reviewing project finance models and learn the basics. But as an experienced financial modeler, myself I still use the book and that is because in the annex of the book, I have a list of 235 typical questions that I collected from real discussions and Q&A sessions in the deals that I was involved throughout years of working in project finance transactions. For example, when I am reviewing the tax and accounting in a model, I go to the tax questions in my book and see if there’s any topic that I missed when I reviewed the model or sometimes I get inspired for wording of questions because how to ask questions will affect the answer you get. For more on this you can read my post “How to Say it”.

I self published it on Amazon and I am very happy with this decision. It gives me the freedom to modify it whenever I want and however I want.

If you want to learn more about my book, you can buy it in paperback, Kindle or Pdf format from the below links: