Built by Margin with Laurie Chen
Built by Margin is the podcast at the intersection of risk, numbers, and decision-making for founders, CEOs, and high performers. Hosted by CPA, fractional CFO, and author of the upcoming book Risk Worthy, Laurie Chen, CPA, MBA, the show explores how better decisions create better businesses, stronger leadership, and more meaningful long-term outcomes. From financial strategy and entrepreneurship to intelligent risk-taking and growth, each episode helps you think sharper and build with intention.
Built by Margin with Laurie Chen
The Risk of Not Deciding: How Founders Navigate Controlled Chaos with David Niccolini
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What’s more dangerous for a founder: making the wrong decision, or waiting too long to make one? In episode 52 of Built by Margin, David Niccolini joins Laurie Chen to explore how founders can manage risk without allowing fear or overanalysis to stall progress. They discuss the three major threat surfaces facing modern organizations—physical, virtual, and human—and how artificial intelligence has expanded both the opportunities and vulnerabilities available to businesses.
David has spent nearly three decades working across enterprise risk management, entrepreneurship, investing, and board advisory. After launching eight companies and helping leaders navigate everything from cybersecurity threats to early-stage uncertainty, he has learned that the greatest danger is not always making the wrong decision—it is failing to make one at all.
David also shares the story of a small NASA subcontractor who nearly lost $24,000 through an AI-enabled wire fraud attempt, explains why startup life is best understood as “controlled chaos,” and offers a practical framework for distinguishing a calculated risk from one that could destroy a business.
The conversation also examines why visionary founders need financial and operational counterbalances, what effective boards do differently, how investors evaluate coachability, and whether venture-backed, for-profit companies can help combat human trafficking at scale.
This episode is about making decisions with imperfect information, understanding the consequences behind the probabilities, and building the systems required to keep moving when certainty is impossible.
Quotes
- " I can’t guarantee that choosing A or B is the right decision. What I can tell you is your inability to make that decision will kill you." – David Niccolini
- “You’ve got to make the decision, collect the data, and then let the data inform what your next step should be." - Laurie Chen
Laurie Chen
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lauriechencpamba/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lauriechen/
Risk Worthy: https://www.riskworthy.co/
David Niccolini
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/davidniccolini/
StatCrux: StatCruxLLC.com