Run the Numbers

CJ Gustafson
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Run the Numbers is a twice-weekly podcast about financial metrics and business models, designed for ambitious people operating tech startups. It's a collection of things host CJ Gustafson (CFO at Partstech and writer of Mostly Metrics) has learned and thought about in the trenches as a tech CFO. This show is meant to serve as a playbook of sorts for the stuff CJ wishes he knew earlier in his career, both from experience and from copying people smarter than himself. Topics frequently touch upon Startup SaaS Metrics, Annual Budgeting, Financial Forecasting, Headcount, Equity, Dilution, and Fundraising – and how all of these drive business performance and growth.

  1. AI Pricing and the Hidden Growth Lever Most CFOs Ignore

    11 HR AGO

    AI Pricing and the Hidden Growth Lever Most CFOs Ignore

    In this episode of Run the Numbers, CJ sits down with Kunal Agarwal, CFO of Gorgias, to unpack how AI is reshaping pricing and operations. They discuss outcome-based pricing, how to forecast LLM-driven costs, and why order-to-cash isn’t just back-office plumbing—it can be a true growth lever when designed correctly. — 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/run Abacum is a modern FP&A platform built by former CFOs to replace slow, consultant-heavy planning tools. With self-service integrations and AI-powered workflows for forecasting, variance analysis, and scenario modeling, Abacum helps finance teams scale without becoming software admins. Trusted by teams at Strava, Replit, and JG Wentworth—learn more at https://www.abacum.ai 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 Metronome is real-time billing built for modern software companies. Metronome turns raw usage events into accurate invoices, gives customers bills they actually understand, and keeps finance, product, and engineering perfectly in sync. That’s why category-defining companies like OpenAI and Anthropic trust Metronome to power usage-based pricing and enterprise contracts at scale. Focus on your product — not your billing. Learn more and get started at https://www.metronome.com RightRev is an automated revenue recognition platform built for modern pricing models like usage-based pricing, bundles, and mid-cycle upgrades. RightRev lets companies scale monetization without slowing down close or compliance. For RevRec that keeps growth moving, visit https://www.rightrev.com Rillet is an AI-native ERP built for modern finance teams that want to close faster without fighting legacy systems. Designed to support complex revenue recognition, multi-entity operations, and real-time reporting, Rillet helps teams achieve a true zero-day close—with some customers closing in hours, not days. If you’re scaling on an ERP that wasn’t built in the 90s, book a demo at https://www.rillet.com/cj — LINKS:  Mostly Talent: https://mostlymetrics.typeform.com/to/cLTxtAsN Guest: https://www.linkedin.com/in/agarwalk/ Company: https://www.gorgias.com/ CJ: https://www.linkedin.com/in/cj-gustafson-13140948/ Mostly metrics: https://www.mostlymetrics.com — TIMESTAMPS: 0:00 Preview and Intro 2:14 PE to venture incubator 4:39 Operational empathy from zero-to-one 4:45 First paying user feeling 5:40 Jet ski customer support story 8:49 Hanging with IC sales reps 12:24 Sponsors — Tabs | Abacum | Brex 15:44 Finance as the decision engine 17:36 Gorgias overview 20:20 Pricing structure and iteration 22:11 Outcome based / resolution pricing 24:48 AI success rate as key metric 25:33 Sponsors — Metronome | RightRev | Rillet 28:57 Pricing value split — $1 per resolution 31:17 Vertical specificity as AI moat 33:27 Managing LLM costs 35:41 Falling token costs and model mix 39:28 Order to cash as growth engine 43:31 Auditing order to cash at 25M ARR 44:09 Manual choke points 46:32 Learning density over titles 48:30 SurveyMonkey as the most formative period 50:07 Lightning round 50:17 Listening to respond vs. listening to learn 51:04 Advice to younger self 52:02 Finance software stack 52:45 Cortex — internal AI decision tool 54:21 Craziest expense story 54:52 Credits

    55 min
  2. What It Takes to Go Public Today | Inside the IPO Process with RBC’s Federico Acabbi

    3 DAYS AGO

    What It Takes to Go Public Today | Inside the IPO Process with RBC’s Federico Acabbi

    In this episode of Run the Numbers, CJ sits down with Federico Acabbi, investment banker at RBC, to break down what’s happening across cybersecurity, infrastructure, and the broader software market. They cover why horizontal software is under pressure while security spend holds up, what it really takes to go public today, and how the IPO process actually works behind the scenes—from diligence to pricing. — SPONSORS: Rillet is an AI-native ERP built for modern finance teams that want to close faster without fighting legacy systems. Designed to support complex revenue recognition, multi-entity operations, and real-time reporting, Rillet helps teams achieve a true zero-day close—with some customers closing in hours, not days. If you’re scaling on an ERP that wasn’t built in the 90s, book a demo at https://www.rillet.com/cj 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/run Abacum is a modern FP&A platform built by former CFOs to replace slow, consultant-heavy planning tools. With self-service integrations and AI-powered workflows for forecasting, variance analysis, and scenario modeling, Abacum helps finance teams scale without becoming software admins. Trusted by teams at Strava, Replit, and JG Wentworth—learn more at https://www.abacum.ai 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 Metronome is real-time billing built for modern software companies. Metronome turns raw usage events into accurate invoices, gives customers bills they actually understand, and keeps finance, product, and engineering perfectly in sync. That’s why category-defining companies like OpenAI and Anthropic trust Metronome to power usage-based pricing and enterprise contracts at scale. Focus on your product — not your billing. Learn more and get started at https://www.metronome.com RightRev is an automated revenue recognition platform built for modern pricing models like usage-based pricing, bundles, and mid-cycle upgrades. RightRev lets companies scale monetization without slowing down close or compliance. For RevRec that keeps growth moving, visit https://www.rightrev.com — LINKS:  Mostly Talent: https://mostlymetrics.typeform.com/to/cLTxtAsN Federico: https://www.linkedin.com/in/federicoacabbi/ rbccm.com CJ: https://www.linkedin.com/in/cj-gustafson-13140948/ Mostly metrics: https://www.mostlymetrics.com — TIMESTAMPS: 0:00 Preview and intro 2:36 Software investability right now 6:46 Cyber — CFO's #2 investment priority 8:17 AI turbocharging attacks 9:08 DevOps disruption 10:30 Sponsors — Rillet | Tabs | Abacum 13:55 IPO landscape overview 14:33 Revenue and market cap benchmarks 19:24 Founder share sales at IPO 22:28 Secondary market vs. IPO market 23:14 How many IPOs can the market digest? 24:20 Investor mix for larger vs. smaller IPOs 25:04 Sponsors — Brex | Metronome | RightRev 28:23 Role of mutual funds in IPOs 30:00 What banks actually do on an IPO 31:49 Book building and allocation 32:43 Research coverage 35:52 NDRs and testing the waters 38:59 Roadshow format — then vs. now 40:41 Direct listings explained 43:57 How banks make money on IPOs 44:56 Fee splits between banks 47:36 IPO vs. M&A — which is more attractive? 51:02 Junior banking story — Nokia and the Vespa 54:31 Craziest expense story 56:08 Credits

    57 min
  3. The Anatomy of Financial Bubbles | Lessons From 200 Years of Market Panic

    19 MAR

    The Anatomy of Financial Bubbles | Lessons From 200 Years of Market Panic

    In this episode of Run the Numbers, CJ sits down with financial historian and PayPal Mafia member Aman Varejee to explore the recurring patterns behind economic bubbles. Drawing on research from his upcoming book “A Brief History of Financial Bubbles”, Aman explains what defines a bubble, the psychology that fuels speculative manias, and why major technological shifts—from railways to the internet to AI—often coincide with periods of extreme market speculation. — SPONSORS: RightRev is an automated revenue recognition platform built for modern pricing models like usage-based pricing, bundles, and mid-cycle upgrades. RightRev lets companies scale monetization without slowing down close or compliance. For RevRec that keeps growth moving, visit https://www.rightrev.com Rillet is an AI-native ERP built for modern finance teams that want to close faster without fighting legacy systems. Designed to support complex revenue recognition, multi-entity operations, and real-time reporting, Rillet helps teams achieve a true zero-day close—with some customers closing in hours, not days. If you’re scaling on an ERP that wasn’t built in the 90s, book a demo at https://www.rillet.com/cj 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/run Abacum is a modern FP&A platform built by former CFOs to replace slow, consultant-heavy planning tools. With self-service integrations and AI-powered workflows for forecasting, variance analysis, and scenario modeling, Abacum helps finance teams scale without becoming software admins. Trusted by teams at Strava, Replit, and JG Wentworth—learn more at https://www.abacum.ai 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 Metronome is real-time billing built for modern software companies. Metronome turns raw usage events into accurate invoices, gives customers bills they actually understand, and keeps finance, product, and engineering perfectly in sync. That’s why category-defining companies like OpenAI and Anthropic trust Metronome to power usage-based pricing and enterprise contracts at scale. Focus on your product — not your billing. Learn more and get started at https://www.metronome.com — LINKS:  Mostly Talent: https://mostlymetrics.typeform.com/to/cLTxtAsN Aman: https://www.linkedin.com/in/aman-verjee/ https://practicalvc.com/ Aman’s book: https://bigbubbletrouble.com/ CJ: https://www.linkedin.com/in/cj-gustafson-13140948/ Mostly metrics: https://www.mostlymetrics.com — TIMESTAMPS: 0:00 Preview and intro 1:38 Welcome and guest intro 3:48 Defining a bubble 6:03 Cognitive biases behind bubbles 10:27 Sponsors — RightRev | Rillet | Tabs 13:56 Do bubbles produce breakthroughs? 14:35 Dot-com bubble — winners and losers 16:00 UK railway bubble 21:24 Bubble warning signs 25:30 Sponsors — Abacum | Brex | Metronome 28:47 Do bubbles attract grifters? 31:11 Role of government in bubbles 35:59 Bubble duration vs. severity 37:32 2008 — roots go back to 1992 40:27 Are bubbles connected through time? 43:38 Are we in an AI bubble? 45:06 Nvidia vs. Cisco valuation comparison 46:52 Circular finance in AI 49:16 FP&A at PayPal under Thiel and Musk 52:02 PayPal's referral campaign and LTV/CAC 54:40 Book plug 55:09 Credits #RunTheNumbersPodcast #Fintech #EconomicBubbles #FinanceHistory #CFO

    56 min
  4. Marketplace Economics | Faire CFO Jason Lee

    16 MAR

    Marketplace Economics | Faire CFO Jason Lee

    In this episode of Run the Numbers, CJ sits down with Jason Lee, CFO of Faire, to unpack the economics of wholesale marketplaces. They break down how Faire connects independent brands with local retailers, the key metrics that matter in marketplace businesses, and ROI as a decision-making framework. Jason also shares lessons from scaling Square through its IPO and how finance leaders navigate valuation resets in private markets. — SPONSORS: Metronome is real-time billing built for modern software companies. Metronome turns raw usage events into accurate invoices, gives customers bills they actually understand, and keeps finance, product, and engineering perfectly in sync. That’s why category-defining companies like OpenAI and Anthropic trust Metronome to power usage-based pricing and enterprise contracts at scale. Focus on your product — not your billing. Learn more and get started at https://www.metronome.com RightRev is an automated revenue recognition platform built for modern pricing models like usage-based pricing, bundles, and mid-cycle upgrades. RightRev lets companies scale monetization without slowing down close or compliance. For RevRec that keeps growth moving, visit https://www.rightrev.com Rillet is an AI-native ERP built for modern finance teams that want to close faster without fighting legacy systems. Designed to support complex revenue recognition, multi-entity operations, and real-time reporting, Rillet helps teams achieve a true zero-day close—with some customers closing in hours, not days. If you’re scaling on an ERP that wasn’t built in the 90s, book a demo at https://www.rillet.com/cj 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/run Abacum is a modern FP&A platform built by former CFOs to replace slow, consultant-heavy planning tools. With self-service integrations and AI-powered workflows for forecasting, variance analysis, and scenario modeling, Abacum helps finance teams scale without becoming software admins. Trusted by teams at Strava, Replit, and JG Wentworth—learn more at https://www.abacum.ai 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 — LINKS:  Mostly Talent: https://mostlymetrics.typeform.com/to/cLTxtAsN Jason: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jason-lee-11787020/ Faire: https://www.faire.com/ CJ: https://www.linkedin.com/in/cj-gustafson-13140948/ Mostly metrics: https://www.mostlymetrics.com — TIMESTAMPS: 0:00 Preview and intro 3:01 How Faire serves retailers 5:49 Revenue model and retention metrics 8:21 Recurring vs. reoccurring revenue 11:54 Sponsors — Metronome | RightRev | Rillet 15:17 Input vs. output metrics 17:13 The business equation 19:08 Metric ownership 22:07 Killing metrics: signal to noise 23:21 800 metrics at Faire 24:51 Customer count as a misleading metric 26:04 Sponsors — Tabs | Abacum | Brex 29:25 Planning cadences at Faire 32:41 When to reallocate resources 36:40 ROI as a framework 40:25 Portfolio view of investments 43:53 Discipline is knowing where to say yes 47:11 Faire's valuation reset 50:49 Tender offer mechanics 55:33 Screwing up IR at Square IPO 56:52 Advice to younger self 58:44 AI at Faire 59:32 Claude connected to data warehouse 1:00:16 Tariff analysis with AI 1:02:38 Credits #RunTheNumbersPodcast #Marketplace #CFO #SaaS #FinanceLeadership

    1hr 3min
  5. Blockchain.com CFO on How Crypto Exchanges Actually Make Money

    12 MAR

    Blockchain.com CFO on How Crypto Exchanges Actually Make Money

    In this episode of Run the Numbers, CJ sits down with Mike Wilcox, CFO of Blockchain.com, to unpack the economics of crypto exchanges. They discuss how platforms serve both retail traders and institutional clients, the different ways exchanges generate revenue, and the tension between blockchain’s radical transparency and the valuable first-party data exchanges control. — 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 Metronome is real-time billing built for modern software companies. Metronome turns raw usage events into accurate invoices, gives customers bills they actually understand, and keeps finance, product, and engineering perfectly in sync. That’s why category-defining companies like OpenAI and Anthropic trust Metronome to power usage-based pricing and enterprise contracts at scale. Focus on your product — not your billing. Learn more and get started at https://www.metronome.com RightRev is an automated revenue recognition platform built for modern pricing models like usage-based pricing, bundles, and mid-cycle upgrades. RightRev lets companies scale monetization without slowing down close or compliance. For RevRec that keeps growth moving, visit https://www.rightrev.com Rillet is an AI-native ERP built for modern finance teams that want to close faster without fighting legacy systems. Designed to support complex revenue recognition, multi-entity operations, and real-time reporting, Rillet helps teams achieve a true zero-day close—with some customers closing in hours, not days. If you’re scaling on an ERP that wasn’t built in the 90s, book a demo at https://www.rillet.com/cj 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/run Abacum is a modern FP&A platform built by former CFOs to replace slow, consultant-heavy planning tools. With self-service integrations and AI-powered workflows for forecasting, variance analysis, and scenario modeling, Abacum helps finance teams scale without becoming software admins. Trusted by teams at Strava, Replit, and JG Wentworth—learn more at https://www.abacum.ai — LINKS:  Mostly Talent: https://mostlymetrics.typeform.com/to/cLTxtAsN Mike: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mike-wilcox-65078a12/ https://www.blockchain.com/ CJ: https://www.linkedin.com/in/cj-gustafson-13140948/ Mostly metrics: https://www.mostlymetrics.com — TIMESTAMPS: Here's the trimmed version: 0:00 Preview and intro2:12 Tradfi to crypto transition3:49 Blockchain.com origin5:45 CFO as business partner6:01 Finance team backgrounds7:02 Banking relationships8:51 On ramps and off ramps8:51 Retail vs. institutional10:53 Sponsors — Brex | Metronome | RightRev14:09 B2C to B2B motion16:04 Shared infrastructure18:31 Go-to-market differences19:00 Brand equity and low CAC20:06 Education as top-of-funnel21:13 Institutional vs. retail volatility22:37 Exchange vs. brokerage model23:56 How brokerages make money24:06 Sponsors — Rillet | Tabs | Abacum27:31 Setting take rates29:13 Distribution flywheel30:13 Data as a moat31:13 Nigeria market playbook31:44 Crypto balance sheet33:25 Duration matching34:37 Transaction-level risk36:12 Latency arms race37:28 Stablecoins and CFOs38:13 Risk vectors40:01 Annual planning41:51 Lightning round43:00 Finance software stack43:31 Advice to younger self44:09 Credits

    45 min
  6. Venture Debt Explained: How Startup Lending Actually Works | Marshall Hawks

    9 MAR

    Venture Debt Explained: How Startup Lending Actually Works | Marshall Hawks

    CJ sits down with Marshall Hawks, a 20-year veteran of venture lending and author of Venture Debt Deals. They cover the real rules of thumb behind deal sizing, why lenders underwrite likelihood of raising again (not breakout outcomes), how banks and private credit differ, the three real sources of repayment, and how to actually run a venture debt process without blowing your legal budget. --- 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/run Abacum is a modern FP&A platform built by former CFOs to replace slow, consultant-heavy planning tools. With self-service integrations and AI-powered workflows for forecasting, variance analysis, and scenario modeling, Abacum helps finance teams scale without becoming software admins. Trusted by teams at Strava, Replit, and JG Wentworth—learn more at https://www.abacum.ai 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 Metronome is real-time billing built for modern software companies. Metronome turns raw usage events into accurate invoices, gives customers bills they actually understand, and keeps finance, product, and engineering perfectly in sync. That's why category-defining companies like OpenAI and Anthropic trust Metronome to power usage-based pricing and enterprise contracts at scale. Focus on your product — not your billing. Learn more and get started at https://www.metronome.com RightRev is an automated revenue recognition platform built for modern pricing models like usage-based pricing, bundles, and mid-cycle upgrades. RightRev lets companies scale monetization without slowing down close or compliance. For RevRec that keeps growth moving, visit https://www.rightrev.com Rillet is an AI-native ERP built for modern finance teams that want to close faster without fighting legacy systems. Designed to support complex revenue recognition, multi-entity operations, and real-time reporting, Rillet helps teams achieve a true zero-day close—with some customers closing in hours, not days. If you're scaling on an ERP that wasn't built in the 90s, book a demo at https://www.rillet.com/cj LINKS: Mostly Talent: https://mostlymetrics.typeform.com/to/cLTxtAsN Marshall: https://www.linkedin.com/in/marshallhawks/ Marshall's website: https://www.marshallhawks.com CJ: https://www.linkedin.com/in/cj-gustafson-13140948/ Mostly metrics: https://www.mostlymetrics.com TIMESTAMPS: 0:00 Preview and intro 3:23 Marshall's background and the book 4:47 Venture Deals as inspiration 6:30 Companies Marshall has worked with 6:49 The venture debt sweet spot 8:01 Why venture debt follows equity raises 10:55 The 25–40% rule of thumb 12:08 AI companies and the limits of the rule 13:58 Sponsors — Abacum | Brex | Metronome 17:15 How lenders think vs. investors 19:12 The three sources of repayment 21:37 Venture debt and the AI boom 23:52 Banks vs. private credit 26:28 Sponsors — RightRev | Rillet | Tabs 29:57 Private credit pricing and warrants 33:04 Syndicated deals 35:04 Legal timelines 38:13 Who pays the legal bill? 40:06 Why your GC shouldn't quarterback the deal 41:30 What forecast to give your lender 43:37 Reporting cadence 45:57 Bad news should travel fast 47:49 The Twitch case study 50:19 Are we over our skis in 2026? 54:50 Where to get Venture Debt Deals 55:09 Credits

    56 min
  7. How Superhuman Structures Its Analytics Team | Chris Byington

    5 MAR

    How Superhuman Structures Its Analytics Team | Chris Byington

    In this episode of Run the Numbers, CJ sits down with Superhuman’s Head of Analytics Chris Byington. They break down where analytics should sit inside a company, why dashboards often fail, and how the best teams connect metrics, OKRs, and forecasting to real decisions. Chris also explains why “ship goals” can mislead teams and what CEOs and CFOs should expect from a truly decision-driving data function. — 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/run Abacum is a modern FP&A platform built by former CFOs to replace slow, consultant-heavy planning tools. With self-service integrations and AI-powered workflows for forecasting, variance analysis, and scenario modeling, Abacum helps finance teams scale without becoming software admins. Trusted by teams at Strava, Replit, and JG Wentworth—learn more at https://www.abacum.ai 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 Metronome is real-time billing built for modern software companies. Metronome turns raw usage events into accurate invoices, gives customers bills they actually understand, and keeps finance, product, and engineering perfectly in sync. That’s why category-defining companies like OpenAI and Anthropic trust Metronome to power usage-based pricing and enterprise contracts at scale. Focus on your product — not your billing. Learn more and get started at https://www.metronome.com RightRev is an automated revenue recognition platform built for modern pricing models like usage-based pricing, bundles, and mid-cycle upgrades. RightRev lets companies scale monetization without slowing down close or compliance. For RevRec that keeps growth moving, visit https://www.rightrev.com Rillet is an AI-native ERP built for modern finance teams that want to close faster without fighting legacy systems. Designed to support complex revenue recognition, multi-entity operations, and real-time reporting, Rillet helps teams achieve a true zero-day close—with some customers closing in hours, not days. If you’re scaling on an ERP that wasn’t built in the 90s, book a demo at https://www.rillet.com/cj — LINKS:  Mostly Talent: https://mostlymetrics.typeform.com/to/cLTxtAsN Chris: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chris-byington/ Superhuman: https://superhuman.com/ CJ: https://www.linkedin.com/in/cj-gustafson-13140948/ Mostly metrics: https://www.mostlymetrics.com — RELATED EPISODES: Matt Hudson Episode https://youtu.be/_FWGYkzhymQ — TIMESTAMPS: 0:00 Preview and intro 3:29 Centralized analytics team 7:29 Start analytics with problems not tools 9:41 Lead with the problem 10:14 Align on growth model 11:46 Pre-commit to decisions 13:14 Sponsors — Tabs | Abacum | Brex 16:35 Dashboards need growth context 19:10 Where analytics should sit 21:18 Pros and cons of analytics in finance 23:18 Operations vs revenue org placement 24:11 Hub-and-spoke analytics model 25:18 What “embedded” actually means 26:14 Sponsors — Metronome | RightRev | Rillet 29:38 When self-service analytics works 32:04 Self-serve pitfalls 33:44 Buy vs build BI 35:44 Analytics owns metrics 38:26 Hero metric example 41:41 Outcomes > shipping 42:14 Set goals before build 43:57 Metrics are outcome proxies 46:40 Easy way to say no 48:29 Start answers with yes 52:17 Proving analytics impact 56:19 Credits #RunTheNumbersPodcast

    57 min
  8. The Economics of Marketplaces: Take Rates, Middlemen, and Power

    2 MAR

    The Economics of Marketplaces: Take Rates, Middlemen, and Power

    In this episode of Run the Numbers, CJ breaks down the 5,000-year history of marketplaces—from Mesopotamia to Amazon—and the economics behind take rates, trust layers, and vertical unbundling. We unpack Airbnb’s fee backlash, Facebook Marketplace’s hidden value, why inventory kills platforms, and how AI will reshape discovery—without eliminating the middleman. — SPONSORS: Rillet is an AI-native ERP built for modern finance teams that want to close faster without fighting legacy systems. Designed to support complex revenue recognition, multi-entity operations, and real-time reporting, Rillet helps teams achieve a true zero-day close—with some customers closing in hours, not days. If you’re scaling on an ERP that wasn’t built in the 90s, book a demo at https://www.rillet.com/cj 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/run Abacum is a modern FP&A platform built by former CFOs to replace slow, consultant-heavy planning tools. With self-service integrations and AI-powered workflows for forecasting, variance analysis, and scenario modeling, Abacum helps finance teams scale without becoming software admins. Trusted by teams at Strava, Replit, and JG Wentworth—learn more at https://www.abacum.ai 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 Metronome is real-time billing built for modern software companies. Metronome turns raw usage events into accurate invoices, gives customers bills they actually understand, and keeps finance, product, and engineering perfectly in sync. That’s why category-defining companies like OpenAI and Anthropic trust Metronome to power usage-based pricing and enterprise contracts at scale. Focus on your product — not your billing. Learn more and get started at https://www.metronome.com RightRev is an automated revenue recognition platform built for modern pricing models like usage-based pricing, bundles, and mid-cycle upgrades. RightRev lets companies scale monetization without slowing down close or compliance. For RevRec that keeps growth moving, visit https://www.rightrev.com — LINKS:  Mostly Talent: https://mostlymetrics.typeform.com/to/cLTxtAsN CJ: https://www.linkedin.com/in/cj-gustafson-13140948/ Mostly metrics: https://www.mostlymetrics.com Slacker Stuff: https://www.slackerstuff.com/ Ben: https://www.linkedin.com/in/slackerstuff/ — RELATED EPISODES: The Mindshare Advantage Marketplace Success With Boris Wertz of Version One Ventures https://youtu.be/kN61sAxw_yk The Marketplace Plus Model Explained | Colin Gardiner of Yonder VC https://youtu.be/VIWFVwCfyLE A CFO Explains the History of EBITDA https://youtu.be/JySZv_fSNqs — TIMESTAMPS: 0:00 Preview 1:34 Marketplace Origins 2:48 The Digital Shift 5:55 Unbundling of Craigslist 9:56 Sponsors — Rillet | Tabs | Abacum 13:21 Smart Phone Revolution 17:33 Take Rate Calculations 21:08 When the Marketplace Crosses the Line 24:49 Sponsors — Brex | Metronome | RightRev 28:09 When Fees Become Friction 30:37 The Marketplace Plus Model 33:26 The $100B Flea Market 36:14 The Inventory Trap 40:07 The Disintermediation Problem 42:35 Convenience Beats Inspection 45:09 AI Compresses the Marketplace 47:56 You Can’t Cut Out the Middleman 50:03 Credits #RunTheNumbersPodcast #Marketplaces #PlatformEconomy #Middleman #TechStrategy

    51 min
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About

Run the Numbers is a twice-weekly podcast about financial metrics and business models, designed for ambitious people operating tech startups. It's a collection of things host CJ Gustafson (CFO at Partstech and writer of Mostly Metrics) has learned and thought about in the trenches as a tech CFO. This show is meant to serve as a playbook of sorts for the stuff CJ wishes he knew earlier in his career, both from experience and from copying people smarter than himself. Topics frequently touch upon Startup SaaS Metrics, Annual Budgeting, Financial Forecasting, Headcount, Equity, Dilution, and Fundraising – and how all of these drive business performance and growth.

Information

  • Creator
    CJ Gustafson
  • Years Active
    2024 - 2026
  • Episodes
    275
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © CJ Gustafson
  • Show Website
    Run the Numbers

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