Run the Numbers

CJ Gustafson
  • 5.0 (38)
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Run the Numbers

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. www.mostlymetrics.com

  1. “What’s in It for Me?” The Art of Storytelling in an IPO - with Monday.com CFO Eliran Glazer

    17 HR. AGO

    “What’s in It for Me?” The Art of Storytelling in an IPO - with Monday.com CFO Eliran Glazer

    Eliran Glazer is the CFO of Monday.com. He joined the company just four months before its IPO. As a big believer in the art of storytelling, in this episode, Eliran explains how to be a great storyteller while weaving it into the story of Monday.com’s IPO. The conversation also delves into the unique aspects of the Israeli tech scene, the impact of military service on entrepreneurship, and the importance of resilience and adaptability in leadership. Eliran highlights the evolution of Monday.com's narrative, the strategic use of benchmarks, the importance of authenticity, tips for talking about your competition, and the pillars of a good story to help CFO’s supercharge their skillsets. — SPONSORS: Tropic is an intelligent spend management solution that consolidates your spend data and processes into one unified offering, enabling insights and decisive action. It doesn’t just show you where the problems are—it helps you solve them. From spotting hidden optimization opportunities, like duplicative spend, to automating those painful procurement workflows, to giving you the best market data that turns every vendor negotiation in your favor. Tropic combines smart insights with real human expertise to keep you ahead of the curve. Visit tropicapp.io/mostlymetrics to learn how. Vanta's trust management platform takes the manual work out of your security and compliance process and replaces it with continuous automation. Over 9000 businesses use it to automate compliance needs across over 35 frameworks like SOC 2 and ISO 27001. Centralize security workflows, complete questionnaires up to five times faster, and proactively manage vendor risk. For a limited time, get $1,000 off of Vanta at vanta.com/metrics. RightRev automates the revenue recognition process from end to end, gives you real-time insights, and ensures ASC 606 / IFRS 15 compliance—all while closing books faster. Whether it's multi-element arrangements, subscription renewals, or complex usage-based contracts, RightRev takes care of it all. That means fewer spreadsheets, fewer errors, and more time for your team to focus on growth. For modern revenue recognition simplified, visit rightrev.com and schedule a demo. Brex offers the world's smartest corporate card on a full-stack global platform that is everything CFOs need to manage their finances on an elite level. Plus they offer modern banking and treasury as well as intuitive expenses and accounting automation, bill pay, and travel. Brex makes it easy to control spend before it happens, automate annoying tasks, and optimize your finances. Find out how Brex can help you make every dollar count at brex.com/metrics. Planful is a financial performance management platform designed to streamline financial tasks for businesses. It helps with budgeting, closing the books, and financial reporting, all on a cloud-based platform. By improving the efficiency and accuracy of these processes, Planful allows businesses to make better financial decisions. Find out more at www.planful.com/metrics. — FOLLOW US ON X: @cjgustafson222 (CJ) — TIMESTAMPS: (00:00) Preview and Intro (01:53) Sponsor – Tropic | Vanta (04:22) The Story Behind Monday.com’s Name (09:25) What Makes Israel’s Tech Scene So Unique (14:30) How Being an Expat in the USA Shaped Eliran as a CFO (16:56) Sponsor – RightRev | Brex | Planful (20:36) Managing the IPO Four Months After Joining Monday.com (25:02) Differentiating Your Company Through Storytelling (27:14) The Importance of Authenticity (31:03) Avoiding “Robot Mode” When You Repeat Your Company’s Story (32:43) The Pillars of a Good Story (35:42) How the Story Changed Throughout the Process (38:25) Being Bold in Your Storytelling (40:39) Using Benchmarks to Support Your Valuation (44:38) Tips for Talking About Competition (46:34) How Monday.com’s Story Is Evolving Post-IPO (51:04) Long-Ass Lightning Round: A Mistake Eliran Made (52:27) Advice to Younger Self (53:39) Finance Software Stack (55:03) Craziest Expense Story Get full access to Mostly metrics at www.mostlymetrics.com/subscribe

    58 min
  2. The Analytics Escalator: Unlocking Value in Finance with Mambu CFO Jesper Sorensen

    4 DAYS AGO

    The Analytics Escalator: Unlocking Value in Finance with Mambu CFO Jesper Sorensen

    CJ delves deep into the world of analytics in this interview with Jesper Sorensen, the CFO of Mambu, a leading fintech and banking platform in Europe valued at over $5 billion. Jesper, who has authored three books on analytics, introduces the Analytics Escalator—a framework for unlocking real value through descriptive, diagnostic, predictive, and prescriptive analytics. In the discussion, Jesper covers everything from getting started with analytics and deciding where it should sit within an organization to identifying key opportunities, building a solid BI tech stack, and understanding the role of analytics tools and data lakes. He outlines the journey to creating a high-impact analytics function within a company, emphasizing the critical interplay between people, processes, and systems in fostering a thriving analytics culture—and shares practical advice on how to achieve it. — SPONSORS: RightRev automates the revenue recognition process from end to end, gives you real-time insights, and ensures ASC 606 / IFRS 15 compliance—all while closing books faster. Whether it's multi-element arrangements, subscription renewals, or complex usage-based contracts, RightRev takes care of it all. That means fewer spreadsheets, fewer errors, and more time for your team to focus on growth. For modern revenue recognition simplified, visit rightrev.com and schedule a demo. Brex offers the world's smartest corporate card on a full-stack global platform that is everything CFOs need to manage their finances on an elite level. Plus they offer modern banking and treasury as well as intuitive expenses and accounting automation, bill pay, and travel. Brex makes it easy to control spend before it happens, automate annoying tasks, and optimize your finances. Find out how Brex can help you make every dollar count at brex.com/metrics. Planful is a financial performance management platform designed to streamline financial tasks for businesses. It helps with budgeting, closing the books, and financial reporting, all on a cloud-based platform. By improving the efficiency and accuracy of these processes, Planful allows businesses to make better financial decisions. Find out more at www.planful.com/metrics. Vanta's trust management platform takes the manual work out of your security and compliance process and replaces it with continuous automation. Over 9000 businesses use it to automate compliance needs across over 35 frameworks like SOC 2 and ISO 27001. Centralize security workflows, complete questionnaires up to five times faster, and proactively manage vendor risk. For a limited time, get $1,000 off of Vanta at vanta.com/metrics. — FOLLOW US ON X: @cjgustafson222 (CJ) — TIMESTAMPS: (00:00) Preview and Intro (02:01) Sponsor – RightRev | Brex (04:53) Jesper’s Pre-CFO Career (06:50) The Huge Success of Mambu (10:40) Understanding What Analytics Is (13:56) Sponsor – Planful | Vanta (16:02) Where Analytics Should Sit in the Org (20:12) Model for Serving a Team’s BI Needs Internally (22:03) Creating Value with the Analytics Escalator (29:51) Prescriptive Analytics and How to Achieve Them (31:08) The Steps on the Analytics Escalator (33:36) Establishing People, Processes, and Systems (34:54) Self-Service Versus Customer Service BI (37:57) The Components of a Good BI Tech Stack (38:50) Data Visualization Tools Versus Analytics Tools (41:59) The Value of a Data Lake (44:26) Build-Versus-Buy for Analytics Tools (46:50) The Need for a Proof-of-Concept for Analytics Tools (48:10) Managing the Trade-Off Between Performance and Cost (50:19) Wrap Get full access to Mostly metrics at www.mostlymetrics.com/subscribe

    52 min
  3. "Be Interesting" and Other Unconventional Finance Career Advice from CFO Jeff Cassidy

    JAN 20

    "Be Interesting" and Other Unconventional Finance Career Advice from CFO Jeff Cassidy

    In this episode, CJ interviews Jeff Cassidy, CFO of Prodigy Education about navigating a diverse career across multiple industries and building strong teams based on ambition and skills rather than credentials. Having worked in financial services, biotech, restaurants, travel, edtech, and even crypto, Jeff shares the story of his own varied career, giving advice on finding the “right” career path, achieving personal product market fit, and what he looks for in a new role. He talks about how he goes about building a strong team and the qualities he looks for in applicants, while sharing stories of some of the hiring choices he’s made. The conversation touches on the evolving landscape of higher education, the failures of American four-year colleges, and the need for more practical skills and diverse experiences. Jeff also discusses the challenges of leading a travel company through the COVID-19 pandemic, highlighting the importance of transparency, customer empathy, and supplier management. — SPONSORS: Brex offers the world's smartest corporate card on a full-stack global platform that is everything CFOs need to manage their finances on an elite level. Plus they offer modern banking and treasury as well as intuitive expenses and accounting automation, bill pay, and travel. Brex makes it easy to control spend before it happens, automate annoying tasks, and optimize your finances. Find out how Brex can help you make every dollar count at brex.com/metrics.  Planful is a financial performance management platform designed to streamline financial tasks for businesses. It helps with budgeting, closing the books, and financial reporting, all on a cloud-based platform. By improving the efficiency and accuracy of these processes, Planful allows businesses to make better financial decisions. Find out more at www.planful.com/metrics. Vanta's trust management platform takes the manual work out of your security and compliance process and replaces it with continuous automation. Over 9000 businesses use it to automate compliance needs across over 35 frameworks like SOC 2 and ISO 27001. Centralize security workflows, complete questionnaires up to five times faster, and proactively manage vendor risk. For a limited time, get $1,000 off of Vanta at vanta.com/metrics.  RightRev automates the revenue recognition process from end to end, gives you real-time insights, and ensures ASC 606 / IFRS 15 compliance—all while closing books faster. Whether it's multi-element arrangements, subscription renewals, or complex usage-based contracts, RightRev takes care of it all. That means fewer spreadsheets, fewer errors, and more time for your team to focus on growth. For modern revenue recognition simplified, visit rightrev.com and schedule a demo. — FOLLOW US ON X: @cjgustafson222 (CJ) — TIMESTAMPS: (00:00) Preview and Intro (03:28) Sponsor – Brex | Planful (06:48) Finding Personal Product Market Fit (12:13) Qualities to Look for in a New Role (14:01) The Misconception About Finding the “Right” Career Path (16:04) Sponsor – Vanta | RightRev (18:32) Linear and Non-Linear Career Moves (20:16) Hiring Based on Ambition and Skills (22:38) How American Four-Year Colleges Are Failing (29:20) Transitioning into Finance (32:05) The Story of a Surprising Finance Hire (35:20) Lessons from an Applicant’s Interview Fail (38:16) Running a Travel Company in the Pandemic (41:45) Supplier Management in a Crisis (43:59) Lessons on Communicating Internally (45:43) Long-Ass Lightning Round: An Early Career Mistake (48:25) Advice to Younger Self: Pursue Interests (49:28) Finance Software Stack (49:59) Craziest Expense Story Get full access to Mostly metrics at www.mostlymetrics.com/subscribe

    52 min
  4. “Your budget is counter-productive” — Michiel Boere, CFO of Remote

    JAN 16

    “Your budget is counter-productive” — Michiel Boere, CFO of Remote

    Michiel Boere, the CFO of Remote, joins CJ to talk about building multinational companies and the benefits of ditching traditional budgets for better business outcomes. Michiel introduces listeners to Remote's business model and discusses how it levels the global job market by enabling companies to hire talent from anywhere while absorbing complications regarding payroll, taxes, and legal entity status. The conversation also covers the complexities of managing a multinational company and the challenges of scaling finance operations globally. As a risk-on CFO, he breaks down how he looks at unit economics in order to underwrite certain risks necessary for in growth. He also shares insights from his experience at Uber before explaining how budgets can lead to suboptimal decisions, such as unnecessary spending or missing out on valuable investments. — SPONSORS: Planful is a financial performance management platform designed to streamline financial tasks for businesses. It helps with budgeting, closing the books, and financial reporting, all on a cloud-based platform. By improving the efficiency and accuracy of these processes, Planful allows businesses to make better financial decisions. Find out more at www.planful.com/metrics. Vanta's trust management platform takes the manual work out of your security and compliance process and replaces it with continuous automation. Over 9000 businesses use it to automate compliance needs across over 35 frameworks like SOC 2 and ISO 27001. Centralize security workflows, complete questionnaires up to five times faster, and proactively manage vendor risk. For a limited time, get $1,000 off of Vanta at vanta.com/metrics. RightRev automates the revenue recognition process from end to end, gives you real-time insights, and ensures ASC 606 / IFRS 15 compliance—all while closing books faster. Whether it's multi-element arrangements, subscription renewals, or complex usage-based contracts, RightRev takes care of it all. That means fewer spreadsheets, fewer errors, and more time for your team to focus on growth. For modern revenue recognition simplified, visit rightrev.com and schedule a demo. Brex offers the world's smartest corporate card on a full-stack global platform that is everything CFOs need to manage their finances on an elite level. Plus they offer modern banking and treasury as well as intuitive expenses and accounting automation, bill pay, and travel. Brex makes it easy to control spend before it happens, automate annoying tasks, and optimize your finances. Find out how Brex can help you make every dollar count at brex.com/metrics. — FOLLOW US ON X: @cjgustafson222 (CJ) — TIMESTAMPS: (00:00) Preview and Intro (02:32) Sponsor – Planful | Vanta (04:43) How Remote Levels the Playing Field (08:02) The Marketplace-Like Element of Remote (09:52) Increasing Optionality Versus Decreasing Costs (13:11) How Remote Built a Multinational Company in Five Years (14:58) Sponsor – RightRev | Brex (17:48) The Complexity of Building a Multinational Company (20:53) Scaling Finance Globally with a Distributed Team (21:51) Remote’s Revenue Lines (23:06) Managing FX in Multiple Countries (26:06) Embracing Investment and Risks (29:37) The Biggest Challenge Michiel Tackled at Uber (32:50) Lessons Michiel Learned About Complexity from Uber (37:42) Why Your Budget May Be Counterproductive (40:56) How to Get Your Board to Change Their Thinking About Budgeting (44:04) Setting Ambitious Goals for Revenue Generators Without a Budget (45:06) Changing Your North Star Metric as Your Company Grows (46:21) Non-Standard Metrics That Michiel Looks At (47:31) Long-Ass Lightning Round: HR Mistakes (49:55) Michiel’s Biggest Career Risk (56:21) Finance Software Stack (57:40) The Wall Street Journal Test and the Blush Test for Expenses Get full access to Mostly metrics at www.mostlymetrics.com/subscribe

    59 min
  5. A Masterclass with the Michael Jordan of B2C Subscription, Reid DeRamus

    JAN 13

    A Masterclass with the Michael Jordan of B2C Subscription, Reid DeRamus

    Reid DeRamus, formerly of Hulu, Crunchyroll, HBO Max, and Substack, joins CJ in this episode to discuss B2C business models and growth strategies. Reid sheds light on some of the profound evolutions he’s experienced in his career at the intersection of tech and media. The discussion dives into the nuances of price increases in B2C subscriptions—how they affect revenue growth, customer acquisition, and retention—and explores strategies for effectively communicating these changes. They examine the pitfalls of discounting, the pros and cons of annual plans, and the art of segmenting consumers who may be willing to pay more. Reid introduces the concept of “elevating the cohort floor” and emphasizes the importance of the initial subscription period for retention and conversion. The episode also tackles the paradox of "too healthy" metrics and why you should consider pairing your KPIs up. The podcast is not over until they touch on balancing advertising and subscription models, and discuss unique monetization lessons from platforms like OnlyFans, among others. — SPONSORS: Vanta's trust management platform takes the manual work out of your security and compliance process and replaces it with continuous automation. Over 9000 businesses use it to automate compliance needs across over 35 frameworks like SOC 2 and ISO 27001. Centralize security workflows, complete questionnaires up to five times faster, and proactively manage vendor risk. For a limited time, get $1,000 off of Vanta at vanta.com/metrics. RightRev automates the revenue recognition process from end to end, gives you real-time insights, and ensures ASC 606 / IFRS 15 compliance—all while closing books faster. Whether it's multi-element arrangements, subscription renewals, or complex usage-based contracts, RightRev takes care of it all. That means fewer spreadsheets, fewer errors, and more time for your team to focus on growth. For modern revenue recognition simplified, visit rightrev.com and schedule a demo. Brex offers the world's smartest corporate card on a full-stack global platform that is everything CFOs need to manage their finances on an elite level. Plus they offer modern banking and treasury as well as intuitive expenses and accounting automation, bill pay, and travel. Brex makes it easy to control spend before it happens, automate annoying tasks, and optimize your finances. Find out how Brex can help you make every dollar count at brex.com/metrics. Planful is a financial performance management platform designed to streamline financial tasks for businesses. It helps with budgeting, closing the books, and financial reporting, all on a cloud-based platform. By improving the efficiency and accuracy of these processes, Planful allows businesses to make better financial decisions. Find out more at www.planful.com/metrics. — FOLLOW US ON X: @cjgustafson222 (CJ) LINKS: Growth Croissant - https://www.reidtandy.com — TIMESTAMPS: (00:00) Preview and Intro (02:00) Sponsor – Vanta | RightRev (04:40) Reid’s Career Path Through Evolutions in the Media World (11:40) Price Increases for Revenue Growth (15:14) Why Price Increases Impact Subscriber Acquisition More than Retention in B2C (18:00) Sponsor – Brex | Planful (20:25) Strategies for Price Increases Without Dropping Subscriptions (24:32) Pricing B2C to Allow for Room to Discount (25:52) Can Discounting Cheapen Your Brand (29:26) The Pros and Cons of Pushing People Towards Annual Plans in B2C (34:50) The Hierarchy of What Monetizes Best in Paid Subscriptions (39:59) Targeting Consumers Who Are Willing to Pay More (45:00) The Importance of the Initial Subscription Period for Retention and Conversion (50:01) Why Your Health Metrics Can Be Too Good (51:49) Paired Metrics: Growing Two KPIs at the Same Time (54:08) Balancing Advertising and Subscription (01:00:49) The B2C Business Application of OnlyFans (01:04:35) Substack and the Value in Focus (01:07:07) Interesting Emerging B2C Apps (01:07:59) B2C Apps Becoming B2B Apps Get full access to Mostly metrics at www.mostlymetrics.com/subscribe

    1h 11m
  6. “Most Decisions Are Reversible” – A Masterclass in Decision Making with Zapier’s Ryan Roccon

    JAN 9

    “Most Decisions Are Reversible” – A Masterclass in Decision Making with Zapier’s Ryan Roccon

    In this episode, CJ sits down with Ryan Roccon, CFO of Zapier, to explore the power of storytelling in finance, decision-making frameworks, and the company's commitment to extreme transparency. Ryan highlights the significance of storytelling in finance to connect complex data with company strategy. He explains how he adapts a story for a specific audience and how he avoids “robot mode” when repeating it. The discussion delves into Zapier's unique approach to transparency, how this plays out, the benefits of it, the challenges of it, and how it has become an integral part of the company’s culture. Ryan unpacks the unique dynamics of being a remote-first, bootstrapped company with a cash flow break-even or better requirement. The conversation also covers the importance of effective decision-making, where Ryan suggests that most decisions are reversible and breaks down different frameworks for effective decision-making and fostering organizational buy-in. — SPONSORS: RightRev automates the revenue recognition process from end to end, gives you real-time insights, and ensures ASC 606 / IFRS 15 compliance—all while closing books faster. Whether it's multi-element arrangements, subscription renewals, or complex usage-based contracts, RightRev takes care of it all. That means fewer spreadsheets, fewer errors, and more time for your team to focus on growth. For modern revenue recognition simplified, visit rightrev.com and schedule a demo. Brex offers the world's smartest corporate card on a full-stack global platform that is everything CFOs need to manage their finances on an elite level. Plus they offer modern banking and treasury as well as intuitive expenses and accounting automation, bill pay, and travel. Brex makes it easy to control spend before it happens, automate annoying tasks, and optimize your finances. Find out how Brex can help you make every dollar count at brex.com/metrics. Planful is a financial performance management platform designed to streamline financial tasks for businesses. It helps with budgeting, closing the books, and financial reporting, all on a cloud-based platform. By improving the efficiency and accuracy of these processes, Planful allows businesses to make better financial decisions. Find out more at www.planful.com/metrics. Vanta's trust management platform takes the manual work out of your security and compliance process and replaces it with continuous automation. Over 9000 businesses use it to automate compliance needs across over 35 frameworks like SOC 2 and ISO 27001. Centralize security workflows, complete questionnaires up to five times faster, and proactively manage vendor risk. For a limited time, get $1,000 off of Vanta at vanta.com/metrics. — FOLLOW US ON X: @cjgustafson222 (CJ) — TIMESTAMPS: (00:00) Preview and Intro (02:34) Sponsor – RightRev | Brex (06:31) What Storytelling Is in Finance (09:01) Adapting Your Story for the Audience (12:19) Avoiding “Robot Mode” When Repeating a Story (17:30) Sponsor – Planful | Vanta (19:37) Frequently Used Analogies (21:33) The Cohort of Companies Zapier Compares Itself To (23:33) Storytelling to Potential New Employees (24:38) Zapier’s Extreme Transparency (26:08) The Challenges of Extreme Transparency (29:36) Avoiding Creating Anxiety by Oversharing (31:11) Zapier’s Cash Flow Break-Even or Better Requirement (34:18) Other Rules and Ambitions at Zapier (34:55) Burdening the P&L by Product Line (37:24) Getting People to Use the DACI Framework (40:51) The “Fist to Five” Framework (44:51) Making It Safe to Fail While Expecting Excellent Performance (48:35) What Ryan Would Most Like to Automate (49:46) The US Steel and Stanley Cup Story (52:21) Long-Ass Lightning Round: A Mistake Made Early in Ryan’s Career (53:31) What Ryan Wishes He Had Known Earlier in His Career (54:27) Finance Software Stack (55:25) Craziest Expense Story Get full access to Mostly metrics at www.mostlymetrics.com/subscribe

    57 min
  7. The Best Ever Answer to Build Versus Buy, and Other Wisdom from Matt Hudson of Coda

    JAN 6

    The Best Ever Answer to Build Versus Buy, and Other Wisdom from Matt Hudson of Coda

    In this episode, CJ interviews Matt Hudson, CFO of Coda, who shares insights from his unique career path that spans roles as a product manager at Google, YouTube, and Coda before becoming a CFO. He breaks down a number of frameworks he’s used in his career from the Blue and Black Loop framework for understanding the growth of a shareable product like Coda’s, Eigenquestions for getting to the one question at the center of all questions, and the Vacation Rule for determining whether to build or buy software tools. Matt also discusses the evolution of Coda's pricing model and offers perspectives on community-driven growth instead of typical product-led growth. He sheds light on how to better understand and work with product managers, how to minimize SaaS sprawl, and the role of luck and failure in one’s success, before sharing nuggets of wisdom from working with notable investors like Mamoon Hamid and Reid Hoffman. — SPONSORS: Brex offers the world's smartest corporate card on a full-stack global platform that is everything CFOs need to manage their finances on an elite level. Plus they offer modern banking and treasury as well as intuitive expenses and accounting automation, bill pay, and travel. Brex makes it easy to control spend before it happens, automate annoying tasks, and optimize your finances. Find out how Brex can help you make every dollar count at brex.com/metrics. Planful is a financial performance management platform designed to streamline financial tasks for businesses. It helps with budgeting, closing the books, and financial reporting, all on a cloud-based platform. By improving the efficiency and accuracy of these processes, Planful allows businesses to make better financial decisions. Find out more at www.planful.com/metrics. RightRev automates the revenue recognition process from end to end, gives you real-time insights, and ensures ASC 606 / IFRS 15 compliance—all while closing books faster. Whether it's multi-element arrangements, subscription renewals, or complex usage-based contracts, RightRev takes care of it all. That means fewer spreadsheets, fewer errors, and more time for your team to focus on growth. For modern revenue recognition simplified, visit rightrev.com and schedule a demo. — FOLLOW US ON X: @cjgustafson222 (CJ) — TIMESTAMPS: (00:00) Preview and Intro (02:13) Sponsor – Brex | Planful (04:30) Matt’s Journey from Product Manager to CFO (08:59) The Blue and Black Loop Framework (12:42) Modeling for Growth Loops (16:32) Why Looking at User Cohorts Can Be Misleading (17:59) Sponsor – RightRev (21:08) How Coda’s Pricing Model Has Evolved over Time (27:37) The Downside to PLG (31:35) Community-Driven Growth Versus Product-Led Growth (32:29) The Billing Mechanism for PLG (34:16) The Biggest Misconceptions About Product Managers (38:09) Build Versus Buy: The Vacation Rule (42:43) SaaS Sprawl (45:45) Eigenquestions (50:15) Nuggets of Wisdom from Investors (53:32) Reconciling Hard Work and Luck (57:05) Long-Ass Lightning Round: Clarity over Comprehensiveness (1:01:09) Something Matt Wishes He Had Known Earlier (1:03:19) Finance Software Stack (1:03:36) Craziest Expense Story Get full access to Mostly metrics at www.mostlymetrics.com/subscribe

    1h 5m
  8. So You’re Looking for a “Strategic” CFO? Bloomerang’s Steve Isom on What That Really Means

    JAN 2

    So You’re Looking for a “Strategic” CFO? Bloomerang’s Steve Isom on What That Really Means

    Steve Isom, the CFO of Bloomerang, joins CJ to talk about what it really means to be a “strategic” CFO. Steve shares profound insights on the people element of the job and how finance leaders can avoid making the business a math problem. He discusses the CFO’s job in playing offense not just defense, and what that looks like. He sheds light on how as a CFO, you can prove yourself as a valuable contributor and earn an invitation to various conversations instead of being seen as an umpire or “CF-no”. He also explains how to deal with friction when you do have to play that role. The conversation covers transaction readiness as part of the CFO’s job and how this helped Steve when a previous company, Flywheel, was acquired in a process that took just 31 days even though it wasn’t even for sale. He closes with advice on how to build a kick-ass finance team. If you're looking for an ERP head to NetSuite: https://netsuite.com/metrics and get a customized KPI checklist. — SPONSORS: Planful is a financial performance management platform designed to streamline financial tasks for businesses. It helps with budgeting, closing the books, and financial reporting, all on a cloud-based platform. By improving the efficiency and accuracy of these processes, Planful allows businesses to make better financial decisions. Find out more at www.planful.com/metrics. RightRev automates the revenue recognition process from end to end, gives you real-time insights, and ensures ASC 606 / IFRS 15 compliance—all while closing books faster. Whether it's multi-element arrangements, subscription renewals, or complex usage-based contracts, RightRev takes care of it all. That means fewer spreadsheets, fewer errors, and more time for your team to focus on growth. For modern revenue recognition simplified, visit rightrev.com and schedule a demo. Brex offers the world's smartest corporate card on a full-stack global platform that is everything CFOs need to manage their finances on an elite level. Plus they offer modern banking and treasury as well as intuitive expenses and accounting automation, bill pay, and travel. Brex makes it easy to control spend before it happens, automate annoying tasks, and optimize your finances. Find out how Brex can help you make every dollar count at brex.com/metrics.  — FOLLOW US ON X: @cjgustafson222 (CJ) — TIMESTAMPS: (00:00) Preview and Intro (02:40) Sponsor – Planful | RightRev (07:48) What It Means to Be a Strategic Finance Leader (12:44) Having Empathy for Sales and Other Roles (15:29) Sponsor – Brex (16:48) Playing Offense Versus Playing Defense (21:02) Balancing the Metrics with the People Element (29:05) Earning a Seat at the Table as a CFO (31:58) Dealing with Friction When You Have to Play Umpire (38:36) Transaction Readiness as Part of the CFO’s Job (41:14) Flywheel’s 31-Day Acquisition (47:47) Building a Kick-Ass Finance Team Get full access to Mostly metrics at www.mostlymetrics.com/subscribe

    54 min
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5
out of 5
38 Ratings

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. www.mostlymetrics.com

Information

  • Creator
    CJ Gustafson
  • Years Active
    2024 - 2025
  • Episodes
    133
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © Mostly LLC
  • Show Website
    Run the Numbers

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