Run the Numbers

CJ Gustafson
  • 5.0 (7)
  • Management
  • Twice a week

Run the Numbers is a business podcast about financial metrics and business models for CFOs, aspiring CFOs, finance leaders, and ambitious people operating tech startups. Hosted by CJ Gustafson, CFO and writer of Mostly Metrics, the show shares lessons, frameworks, and operator insights from the trenches as a tech exec. Think of it as a playbook for the things CJ wishes he knew earlier in his career, covering SaaS metrics, annual budgeting, forecasting, headcount, equity, dilution, fundraising, and the decisions that drive performance and growth.

  1. 2 days ago

    Anthropic's Historic IPO Has Arrived | S1 Breakdown

    In this episode of Run the Numbers, CJ breaks down Anthropic’s S-1: the revenue growth, 900% net revenue retention, compute costs, gross margin, and whether the company is actually profitable. We also cover the risk factors, the five-class share structure, executive pay, and what a roughly $2 trillion valuation implies next to other recent IPOs. — SPONSORS: RightRev is a revenue recognition platform built for the AI economy, helping finance support usage-based pricing, credits, hybrid contracts, seats plus consumption, and whatever commercial model comes next. It gives product teams the freedom to keep innovating without outdated revenue systems slowing them down. Learn how RightRev can help at https://rightrev.com/cj Fidelity Private Shares gives founders the structure and simplicity to focus on what actually matters - building your company. If your startup needs a little extra support (and let’s be honest, who doesn’t need a little help now and then), then you’re in for a pleasant surprise with Fidelity. If you stay investor ready, you don’t have to get investor ready. Check out www.fidelityprivateshares.com Rillet is an AI-native ERP built for modern finance teams that want to replace NetSuite and close faster. With revenue recognition, close management, multi-entity support, and native Stripe and Salesforce integrations, Rillet helps scaling companies run their finance stack in one place. Hundreds of teams, including Windsurf and Mercor, use Rillet to make the zero-day close real. Book a demo at https://www.rillet.com/cj Cloud Capital helps you say goodbye to on-demand rates for cloud. Committing more cuts the rate you pay for cloud infrastructure by 20–60%. Commit wrong and you pay for capacity you'll never use. Cloud Capital underwrites that risk, so you capture the savings of deeper commitments without locking in architecture or putting engineers on it. Go to www.cloudcapital.co Brex is an intelligent finance platform that combines corporate cards, built-in expense management, and AI agents to eliminate manual finance work. By automating expense reviews and reconciliations, Brex gives CFOs more time for the high-impact work that drives growth. Join 35,000+ companies like Anthropic, Coinbase, and DoorDash at https://www.brex.com/metrics Abacum puts your actuals, forecasts, models, and business context in one place, so you can update the plan, run scenarios, and answer "why did this change?" without rebuilding the story from six spreadsheets and a Slack thread. Connect your source systems, keep models and assumptions aligned, and give leaders trusted answers while decisions are still being made. Go to abacum.ai/mostly-metrics. EY works with high-growth tech companies to navigate the messy realities of scaling—from regulatory requirements to IPO readiness. By helping teams get it right early and often, EY lets founders stay focused on building while reducing risk as they grow. Learn more at https://www.ey.com/techstartups — LINKS:  Mostly Talent: https://mostlymetrics.typeform.com/to/cLTxtAsN CJ: https://www.linkedin.com/in/cj-gustafson-13140948/ Mostly metrics: https://www.mostlymetrics.com — TIMESTAMPS: 0:00 Cold Open 1:08 Ticker, Raise, and Valuation 2:02 Three Big Questions 2:21 Key Stats at a Glance 8:04 The Best Shareholder Letter Ever 11:18 Where Anthropic Sits in the AI Stack 15:20 How Anthropic Makes Money 18:02 Run Rate vs. ARR 20:56 Revenue Efficiency 22:48 The Four Financial Drivers 25:16 Are They Profitable? 26:37 Gross Margin 31:29 Cash Flow 35:22 Wallet Share and Too Many Partners 37:18 Red Flags 40:49 The Cap Table 42:08 Exec Pay and the Board 43:33 Valuation 44:50 IPO Comps 45:12 Odds and Ends 45:55 Bull Case and Final Take 46:57 Wrap Up #RunTheNumbersPodcast #Anthropic #IPO #S1 #AI

    Anthropic's Historic IPO Has Arrived | S1 Breakdown

  2. 3 days ago

    Why Databricks’ Sid Kumar is Always Planning

    In this episode of Run the Numbers, CJ welcomes back Sid Kumar, who has led go-to-market through perpetual, cloud, SaaS, and consumption models at CA, AWS, HubSpot, and now Databricks. They cover how consumption changes the sales org, why customer success has an identity crisis, how to build a commission stack, and what ARR actually means. Sid also shares how AI is reshaping capacity planning and why he thinks annual planning is giving way to continuous planning. — SPONSORS: Abacum puts your actuals, forecasts, models, and business context in one place, so you can update the plan, run scenarios, and answer "why did this change?" without rebuilding the story from six spreadsheets and a Slack thread. Connect your source systems, keep models and assumptions aligned, and give leaders trusted answers while decisions are still being made. Go to abacum.ai/mostly-metrics. RightRev is a revenue recognition platform built for the AI economy, helping finance support usage-based pricing, credits, hybrid contracts, seats plus consumption, and whatever commercial model comes next. It gives product teams the freedom to keep innovating without outdated revenue systems slowing them down. Learn how RightRev can help at https://rightrev.com/cj Fidelity Private Shares gives founders the structure and simplicity to focus on what actually matters - building your company. If your startup needs a little extra support (and let’s be honest, who doesn’t need a little help now and then), then you’re in for a pleasant surprise with Fidelity. If you stay investor ready, you don’t have to get investor ready. Check out www.fidelityprivateshares.com Rillet is an AI-native ERP built for modern finance teams that want to replace NetSuite and close faster. With revenue recognition, close management, multi-entity support, and native Stripe and Salesforce integrations, Rillet helps scaling companies run their finance stack in one place. Hundreds of teams, including Windsurf and Mercor, use Rillet to make the zero-day close real. Book a demo at https://www.rillet.com/cj Cloud Capital helps you say goodbye to on-demand rates for cloud. Committing more cuts the rate you pay for cloud infrastructure by 20–60%. Commit wrong and you pay for capacity you'll never use. Cloud Capital underwrites that risk, so you capture the savings of deeper commitments without locking in architecture or putting engineers on it. Go to www.cloudcapital.co Brex is an intelligent finance platform that combines corporate cards, built-in expense management, and AI agents to eliminate manual finance work. By automating expense reviews and reconciliations, Brex gives CFOs more time for the high-impact work that drives growth. Join 35,000+ companies like Anthropic, Coinbase, and DoorDash at https://www.brex.com/metrics EY works with high-growth tech companies to navigate the messy realities of scaling—from regulatory requirements to IPO readiness. By helping teams get it right early and often, EY lets founders stay focused on building while reducing risk as they grow. Learn more at https://www.ey.com/techstartups — LINKS:  Mostly Talent: https://mostlymetrics.typeform.com/to/cLTxtAsN Craig on Linkedin: linkedin.com/in/craig-bealmear-a375573 Oklo: https://oklo.com/ CJ: https://www.linkedin.com/in/cj-gustafson-13140948/ Mostly metrics: https://www.mostlymetrics.com — TIMESTAMPS: 0:00 Cold Open 2:52 Go-to-Market 5:05 Perpetual, SaaS, Consumption 7:01 The Contract Isn’t the Moment of Truth 10:24 A Different Kind of AE 17:41 Customer Success’s Identity Crisis 20:23 Hunter vs. Farmer 22:44 Motion Specialization 23:50 Building the Commission Stack 28:07 CAC and LTV 29:54 What ARR Means 33:44 Pattern Matching With Data 38:13 Forecasting 38:59 Always Be Planning 41:10 AI and Capacity Planning 43:48 Will AI Change Sales Ops? 46:16 The Player-Coach Is Back 46:44 Getting Hands-On With AI 48:08 Hot Take on Annual Planning #RunTheNumbersPodcast #Databricks #GoToMarket #SalesOps #ConsumptionPricing

    Why Databricks’ Sid Kumar is Always Planning

  3. 22 Oct

    Oklo CFO on Leading Through Deepwater Horizon | Craig Bealmear

    In this episode of Run the Numbers, recorded live at Brex Mode in Chicago, CJ sits down with Craig Bealmear, CFO of Oklo, who spent nearly 30 years at BP before moving into nuclear. They cover raising billions before meaningful revenue, why cash matters more than the P&L, and how he hires the finance team Oklo will need two years from now. Craig also looks back at leading through the Deepwater Horizon crisis. — SPONSORS: Brex is an intelligent finance platform that combines corporate cards, built-in expense management, and AI agents to eliminate manual finance work. By automating expense reviews and reconciliations, Brex gives CFOs more time for the high-impact work that drives growth. Join 35,000+ companies like Anthropic, Coinbase, and DoorDash at https://www.brex.com/metrics Abacum puts your actuals, forecasts, models, and business context in one place, so you can update the plan, run scenarios, and answer "why did this change?" without rebuilding the story from six spreadsheets and a Slack thread. Connect your source systems, keep models and assumptions aligned, and give leaders trusted answers while decisions are still being made. Go to abacum.ai/mostly-metrics. RightRev is a revenue recognition platform built for the AI economy, helping finance support usage-based pricing, credits, hybrid contracts, seats plus consumption, and whatever commercial model comes next. It gives product teams the freedom to keep innovating without outdated revenue systems slowing them down. Learn how RightRev can help at https://rightrev.com/cj Fidelity Private Shares gives founders the structure and simplicity to focus on what actually matters - building your company. If your startup needs a little extra support (and let’s be honest, who doesn’t need a little help now and then), then you’re in for a pleasant surprise with Fidelity. If you stay investor ready, you don’t have to get investor ready. Check out www.fidelityprivateshares.com Rillet is an AI-native ERP built for modern finance teams that want to replace NetSuite and close faster. With revenue recognition, close management, multi-entity support, and native Stripe and Salesforce integrations, Rillet helps scaling companies run their finance stack in one place. Hundreds of teams, including Windsurf and Mercor, use Rillet to make the zero-day close real. Book a demo at https://www.rillet.com/cj Cloud Capital helps you say goodbye to on-demand rates for cloud. Committing more cuts the rate you pay for cloud infrastructure by 20–60%. Commit wrong and you pay for capacity you'll never use. Cloud Capital underwrites that risk, so you capture the savings of deeper commitments without locking in architecture or putting engineers on it. Go to www.cloudcapital.co EY works with high-growth tech companies to navigate the messy realities of scaling—from regulatory requirements to IPO readiness. By helping teams get it right early and often, EY lets founders stay focused on building while reducing risk as they grow. Learn more at https://www.ey.com/techstartups — LINKS:  Mostly Talent: https://mostlymetrics.typeform.com/to/cLTxtAsN Craig on Linkedin: linkedin.com/in/craig-bealmear-a375573 Oklo: https://oklo.com/ CJ: https://www.linkedin.com/in/cj-gustafson-13140948/ Mostly metrics: https://www.mostlymetrics.com — TIMESTAMPS: 0:00 Cold Open 2:38 What Oklo Does 3:38 From BP to Nuclear 6:03 The Power Behind the AI Stack 7:47 Unconstrained Demand 12:38 Risks 13:50 Running a Pre-Revenue Company 14:57 The Say-Do Ratio 17:41 Asking the Dumb Questions 18:13 Raising Capital Before the Projects 21:15 Cash Management Pillars 25:05 One-Way vs. Two-Way Decisions 26:11 Defining Capability 27:35 Hiring for Two Years Out 28:07 Forecasting the Team 8 Quarters Out 30:07 Deepwater Horizon 31:46 Leading Through a Crisis 32:19 Wrap Up #RunTheNumbersPodcast #Oklo #Nuclear #CFO #BrexMode

    Oklo CFO on Leading Through Deepwater Horizon | Craig Bealmear

  4. 20 Oct

    Token Series Part 2 | Finance's ChatGPT moment: MCP, Harness, and Headless Explained (simply)

    In Part 2 of our Token Series with Tabs, CJ and Ali Hussain ask how much AI is too much in finance. They cover why finance may be the most AI-forward function after product and engineering, how MCP became its “ChatGPT moment,” and why headless agents need a leash. They also get into where to start with governance and why deterministic layers still matter. — SPONSORS: Tabs is an AI-native revenue platform that unifies billing, collections, and revenue recognition for companies running usage-based or complex contracts. By bringing together ERP, CRM, and real product usage data into a single system of record, Tabs eliminates manual reconciliations and speeds up close and cash collection. Companies like Cortex, Statsig, and Cursor trust Tabs to scale revenue efficiently. Learn more at ⁠https://www.tabs.com⁠ — LINKS: Mostly Talent: ⁠⁠ https://mostlymetrics.typeform.com/to/cLTxtAsN⁠⁠ Guest: ⁠⁠⁠⁠ linkedin.com/in/ali-hussain786⁠ Company: ⁠⁠ www.tabs.com⁠ CJ: ⁠⁠ https://www.linkedin.com/in/cj-gustafson-13140948/⁠⁠ Mostly metrics: ⁠⁠ https://www.mostlymetrics.com⁠⁠ — TIMESTAMPS: 0:00 Cold Open 1:05 Why CFOs Ask About Org Design 2:25 Finance Is the Most AI-Forward Team 3:43 MCP: Finance’s ChatGPT Moment 5:08 Laying Tracks for Agents 5:53 Vendors, Employees, Customers 6:51 MCP, Harnesses, and Headless Agents 8:34 The New Finance Operating System 11:50 Governing AI in Finance 12:12 Where to Start: Billing and Collections 13:51 Will Deterministic Layers Survive? 14:51 Build vs. Buy 16:28 Why Revenue Work Is So Hard 18:11 Next Up: Who Foots the Bill? #RunTheNumbersPodcast #Tabs #CFO #AI #AITokens

    Token Series Part 2 | Finance's ChatGPT moment: MCP, Harness, and Headless Explained (simply)

  5. 19 Oct

    Brex's CFO on the Weekend SVB Collapsed | Erica Dorfman

    Episode Description:  In this episode of Run the Numbers, CJ sits down with Erica Dorfman, CFO of Brex, to trace her path from capital markets at SoFi to product to the CFO seat. They cover why Brex moved away from lending, what happened behind the scenes during the SVB collapse, and how Erica keeps reinventing her role and her team as the company scales. — SPONSORS: Cloud Capital helps you say goodbye to on-demand rates for cloud. Committing more cuts the rate you pay for cloud infrastructure by 20–60%. Commit wrong and you pay for capacity you'll never use. Cloud Capital underwrites that risk, so you capture the savings of deeper commitments without locking in architecture or putting engineers on it. Go to www.cloudcapital.co Brex is an intelligent finance platform that combines corporate cards, built-in expense management, and AI agents to eliminate manual finance work. By automating expense reviews and reconciliations, Brex gives CFOs more time for the high-impact work that drives growth. Join 35,000+ companies like Anthropic, Coinbase, and DoorDash at https://www.brex.com/metrics Abacum puts your actuals, forecasts, models, and business context in one place, so you can update the plan, run scenarios, and answer "why did this change?" without rebuilding the story from six spreadsheets and a Slack thread. Connect your source systems, keep models and assumptions aligned, and give leaders trusted answers while decisions are still being made. Go to abacum.ai/mostly-metrics. RightRev is a revenue recognition platform built for the AI economy, helping finance support usage-based pricing, credits, hybrid contracts, seats plus consumption, and whatever commercial model comes next. It gives product teams the freedom to keep innovating without outdated revenue systems slowing them down. Learn how RightRev can help at https://rightrev.com/cj Fidelity Private Shares gives founders the structure and simplicity to focus on what actually matters - building your company. If your startup needs a little extra support (and let’s be honest, who doesn’t need a little help now and then), then you’re in for a pleasant surprise with Fidelity. If you stay investor ready, you don’t have to get investor ready. Check out www.fidelityprivateshares.com Rillet is an AI-native ERP built for modern finance teams that want to replace NetSuite and close faster. With revenue recognition, close management, multi-entity support, and native Stripe and Salesforce integrations, Rillet helps scaling companies run their finance stack in one place. Hundreds of teams, including Windsurf and Mercor, use Rillet to make the zero-day close real. Book a demo at https://www.rillet.com/cj EY works with high-growth tech companies to navigate the messy realities of scaling—from regulatory requirements to IPO readiness. By helping teams get it right early and often, EY lets founders stay focused on building while reducing risk as they grow. Learn more at https://www.ey.com/techstartups — LINKS:  Mostly Talent: https://mostlymetrics.typeform.com/to/cLTxtAsN Erica on Linkedin: linkedin.com/in/erica-dorfman-4034b717 Brex: www.brex.com CJ: https://www.linkedin.com/in/cj-gustafson-13140948/ Mostly metrics: https://www.mostlymetrics.com — TIMESTAMPS: 0:00 Cold Open 2:24 Swimming and the CFO Mindset 6:03 The Columbia Finance Mafia 7:48 The Physics of a Business 11:16 VP of Cash at Brex 12:40 How Banking Partnerships Work 17:58 Why Brex Moved Away From Lending 19:23 Great Adjacency vs. Distraction 21:31 AI Auditing Every Transaction 23:00 Operating Through Chaos at SoFi 25:45 The SVB Weekend 29:00 Crisis Meets Opportunity 37:31 Asking “Stupid” Questions 39:44 Rebuilding the Team 43:33 Killing Meetings 46:05 Erica’s Biggest Mistake 47:08 Advice to Her Younger Self 47:36 Brex’s Finance Tech Stack 48:37 Craziest Expense Ever #RunTheNumbersPodcast #Brex #CFO #Building #FinanceLeadership

    Brex's CFO on the Weekend SVB Collapsed | Erica Dorfman

  6. 15 Oct

    Former Netflix CFO Breaks Down Return on Compute | Jim Cook

    In this episode of Run the Numbers, CJ welcomes back Jim Cook, a multi-time CFO (Intuit, Netflix, Mozilla) turned coach, author, and newsletter writer. They dig into “return on compute,” the metric Jim believes every finance leader needs in their vocabulary, and why surprise AI bills echo the early days of the cloud. They cover how to budget for tokens, the “frontier convergence” idea for ramping compute spend by role, and why revenue per compute may join revenue per headcount on the CFO scorecard.  — SPONSORS: Rillet is an AI-native ERP built for modern finance teams that want to replace NetSuite and close faster. With revenue recognition, close management, multi-entity support, and native Stripe and Salesforce integrations, Rillet helps scaling companies run their finance stack in one place. Hundreds of teams, including Windsurf and Mercor, use Rillet to make the zero-day close real. Book a demo at https://www.rillet.com/cj Cloud Capital helps you say goodbye to on-demand rates for cloud. Committing more cuts the rate you pay for cloud infrastructure by 20–60%. Commit wrong and you pay for capacity you'll never use. Cloud Capital underwrites that risk, so you capture the savings of deeper commitments without locking in architecture or putting engineers on it. Go to www.cloudcapital.co Brex is an intelligent finance platform that combines corporate cards, built-in expense management, and AI agents to eliminate manual finance work. By automating expense reviews and reconciliations, Brex gives CFOs more time for the high-impact work that drives growth. Join 35,000+ companies like Anthropic, Coinbase, and DoorDash at https://www.brex.com/metrics Abacum puts your actuals, forecasts, models, and business context in one place, so you can update the plan, run scenarios, and answer "why did this change?" without rebuilding the story from six spreadsheets and a Slack thread. Connect your source systems, keep models and assumptions aligned, and give leaders trusted answers while decisions are still being made. Go to abacum.ai/mostly-metrics. RightRev is a revenue recognition platform built for the AI economy, helping finance support usage-based pricing, credits, hybrid contracts, seats plus consumption, and whatever commercial model comes next. It gives product teams the freedom to keep innovating without outdated revenue systems slowing them down. Learn how RightRev can help at https://rightrev.com/cj EY works with high-growth tech companies to navigate the messy realities of scaling—from regulatory requirements to IPO readiness. By helping teams get it right early and often, EY lets founders stay focused on building while reducing risk as they grow. Learn more at https://www.ey.com/techstartups Fidelity Private Shares gives founders the structure and simplicity to focus on what actually matters - building your company. If your startup needs a little extra support (and let’s be honest, who doesn’t need a little help now and then), then you’re in for a pleasant surprise with Fidelity. If you stay investor ready, you don’t have to get investor ready. Check out www.fidelityprivateshares.com — LINKS:  Mostly Talent: https://mostlymetrics.typeform.com/to/cLTxtAsN Jim on Linkedin: linkedin.com/in/cookflix Benchboard: https://www.benchboard.com/ CJ: https://www.linkedin.com/in/cj-gustafson-13140948/ Mostly metrics: https://www.mostlymetrics.com — TIMESTAMPS: 0:00 Welcome Back, Jim Cook 2:56 Return on Compute 5:51 The $500K Surprise Bill 8:25 Do Execs Know Their Token Usage? 10:05 Tagging Compute Like Cloud Costs 12:03 Budgeting for Tokens 13:19 Revenue per Compute 14:45 The Modern CFO Framework 15:50 What Strategy Really Means 17:44 Communication and Influence 22:27 Lead With a Thesis 24:05 Speaking Up in the Boardroom 26:04 Better Questions with EY 28:11 Where to Find Jim #RunTheNumbersPodcast #ReturnOnCompute #CFO #AI #FinanceLeadership

    Former Netflix CFO Breaks Down Return on Compute | Jim Cook

  7. 12 Oct

    Inside the Food52 Bankruptcy | Heidi Robinson

    In this episode of Run the Numbers, CJ sits down with Heidi Robinson, former CFO and COO of Food52, for one of the wildest CFO stories the show has featured. Heidi joined expecting to lead a modest turnaround and within weeks realized the company was in far deeper trouble than anyone understood. She walks through being the newest executive in the room and having to deliver that news and the Monday evening a lender swept the company's cash without warning. — SPONSORS: Fidelity Private Shares gives founders the structure and simplicity to focus on what actually matters - building your company. If your startup needs a little extra support (and let’s be honest, who doesn’t need a little help now and then), then you’re in for a pleasant surprise with Fidelity. If you stay investor ready, you don’t have to get investor ready. Check out www.fidelityprivateshares.com Rillet is an AI-native ERP built for modern finance teams that want to replace NetSuite and close faster. With revenue recognition, close management, multi-entity support, and native Stripe and Salesforce integrations, Rillet helps scaling companies run their finance stack in one place. Hundreds of teams, including Windsurf and Mercor, use Rillet to make the zero-day close real. Book a demo at https://www.rillet.com/cj Cloud Capital helps you say goodbye to on-demand rates for cloud. Committing more cuts the rate you pay for cloud infrastructure by 20–60%. Commit wrong and you pay for capacity you'll never use. Cloud Capital underwrites that risk, so you capture the savings of deeper commitments without locking in architecture or putting engineers on it. Go to www.cloudcapital.co Brex is an intelligent finance platform that combines corporate cards, built-in expense management, and AI agents to eliminate manual finance work. By automating expense reviews and reconciliations, Brex gives CFOs more time for the high-impact work that drives growth. Join 35,000+ companies like Anthropic, Coinbase, and DoorDash at https://www.brex.com/metrics Abacum puts your actuals, forecasts, models, and business context in one place, so you can update the plan, run scenarios, and answer "why did this change?" without rebuilding the story from six spreadsheets and a Slack thread. Connect your source systems, keep models and assumptions aligned, and give leaders trusted answers while decisions are still being made. Go to abacum.ai/mostly-metrics. RightRev is a revenue recognition platform built for the AI economy, helping finance support usage-based pricing, credits, hybrid contracts, seats plus consumption, and whatever commercial model comes next. It gives product teams the freedom to keep innovating without outdated revenue systems slowing them down. Learn how RightRev can help at https://rightrev.com/cj EY works with high-growth tech companies to navigate the messy realities of scaling—from regulatory requirements to IPO readiness. By helping teams get it right early and often, EY lets founders stay focused on building while reducing risk as they grow. Learn more at https://www.ey.com/techstartups — LINKS: Mostly Talent: https://mostlymetrics.typeform.com/to/cLTxtAsN Guest: linkedin.com/in/heidilrobinson CJ: https://www.linkedin.com/in/cj-gustafson-13140948/ Mostly metrics: https://www.mostlymetrics.com — TIMESTAMPS: 0:00 Cold Open 2:29 Joining Food52 3:45 Food52's Three Brands 6:14 Building a Cash Flow Model 7:25 Delivering the Worst News 8:09 A Path Without Bankruptcy? 9:05 The Cash Sweep 13:44 The Scramble 18:30 Selling at 60% Off 19:45 Working Through the Holidays 20:10 Filing Chapter 11 21:48 Chapter 7 vs. 11 23:05 The Headline Objective 23:33 The Stalking Horse Bidder 26:17 Meet the Cast29:41 Testifying Under Oath 30:50 The Independent Board Member 35:27 The Live Auction 39:06 Bidding Like Poker 40:50 The Payout Waterfall 44:24 Better Questions with EY 44:41 Rethinking Risk 46:00 CFO/COO Convergence #RunTheNumbersPodcast #CFOs #Food52 #Bankruptcy #FinancePodcast

    Inside the Food52 Bankruptcy | Heidi Robinson

  8. 8 Oct

    Robinhood's CFO on Refounding & the Art of Capital Allocation | Shiv Verma

    In this episode of Run the Numbers, CJ sits down with Shiv Verma, CFO of Robinhood, to unpack the company's 2022 "refounding". They dig into why Shiv personally signs off on every headcount and marketing dollar at a $100B+ company, and how Robinhood's capital allocation philosophy — no loss leaders, minimal variable costs, and a hard $100 million ARR bar for new products — shapes everything from prediction markets to private-market investing. — SPONSORS: RightRev is a revenue recognition platform built for the AI economy, helping finance support usage-based pricing, credits, hybrid contracts, seats plus consumption, and whatever commercial model comes next. It gives product teams the freedom to keep innovating without outdated revenue systems slowing them down. Learn how RightRev can help at https://rightrev.com/cj Fidelity Private Shares gives founders the structure and simplicity to focus on what actually matters - building your company. If your startup needs a little extra support (and let’s be honest, who doesn’t need a little help now and then), then you’re in for a pleasant surprise with Fidelity. If you stay investor ready, you don’t have to get investor ready. Check out www.fidelityprivateshares.com Rillet is an AI-native ERP built for modern finance teams that want to replace NetSuite and close faster. With revenue recognition, close management, multi-entity support, and native Stripe and Salesforce integrations, Rillet helps scaling companies run their finance stack in one place. Hundreds of teams, including Windsurf and Mercor, use Rillet to make the zero-day close real. Book a demo at https://www.rillet.com/cj Cloud Capital helps you say goodbye to on-demand rates for cloud. Committing more cuts the rate you pay for cloud infrastructure by 20–60%. Commit wrong and you pay for capacity you'll never use. Cloud Capital underwrites that risk, so you capture the savings of deeper commitments without locking in architecture or putting engineers on it. Go to www.cloudcapital.co Brex is an intelligent finance platform that combines corporate cards, built-in expense management, and AI agents to eliminate manual finance work. By automating expense reviews and reconciliations, Brex gives CFOs more time for the high-impact work that drives growth. Join 35,000+ companies like Anthropic, Coinbase, and DoorDash at https://www.brex.com/metrics Abacum puts your actuals, forecasts, models, and business context in one place, so you can update the plan, run scenarios, and answer "why did this change?" without rebuilding the story from six spreadsheets and a Slack thread. Connect your source systems, keep models and assumptions aligned, and give leaders trusted answers while decisions are still being made. Go to abacum.ai/mostly-metrics. EY works with high-growth tech companies to navigate the messy realities of scaling—from regulatory requirements to IPO readiness. By helping teams get it right early and often, EY lets founders stay focused on building while reducing risk as they grow. Learn more at https://www.ey.com/techstartups — LINKS:  Mostly Talent: https://mostlymetrics.typeform.com/to/cLTxtAsN Guest: linkedin.com/in/shiv-verma-6408249 Company: www.robinhood.com CJ: https://www.linkedin.com/in/cj-gustafson-13140948/ Mostly metrics: https://www.mostlymetrics.com — TIMESTAMPS: 0:00 Intro 2:21 The 2022 Refounding 8:46 Using NPS 17:53 Moving to a GM Model 19:58 Finance Partners 17:49 Killing Committees for DRIs 20:04 Headcount Requests 27:02 RPM Teams and Efficiency 32:27 The Art of Capital Allocation 33:34 Core, Scaling, and New Seeds 37:07 Funding a New Idea 38:17 Killing OKRs 44:59 No Loss Leaders 48:36 Building Prediction Markets Fast 51:26 Why Shiv Hates Variable Costs 53:37 Market Share Over Revenue 55:59 Forecasting a Volatile Business 59:53 Shiv's Biggest Mistake 1:02:03 Lessons from the Oakland A's 1:04:04 Advice to His Younger Self 1:04:48 Finance Tech Stack 1:05:30 Craziest Expense

    Robinhood's CFO on Refounding & the Art of Capital Allocation | Shiv Verma
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Ratings & Reviews

5
out of 5
7 Ratings

About

Run the Numbers is a business podcast about financial metrics and business models for CFOs, aspiring CFOs, finance leaders, and ambitious people operating tech startups. Hosted by CJ Gustafson, CFO and writer of Mostly Metrics, the show shares lessons, frameworks, and operator insights from the trenches as a tech exec. Think of it as a playbook for the things CJ wishes he knew earlier in his career, covering SaaS metrics, annual budgeting, forecasting, headcount, equity, dilution, fundraising, and the decisions that drive performance and growth.

Information

  • Creator
    CJ Gustafson
  • Years Active
    2024 - 2026
  • Episodes
    334
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © CJ Gustafson
  • Show Website
    Run the Numbers

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