Run the Numbers

CJ Gustafson
  • 5.0 (41)
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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. State of the Private Tech Markets (February)

    8 HR. AGO

    State of the Private Tech Markets (February)

    State of the Private Markets delivers an insider’s look at the forces reshaping the pre-IPO landscape. In this episode, we break down the latest valuation surges and hiring trends, spotlight key moves from tech giants in security, HR tech, and legal automation, and dive into company updates from Wiz, Harvey, and Deel. We also cover major fundraising rounds and notable executive shifts that signal where the market is headed. Tune in for an in-depth analysis of the trends and shifts driving today’s private markets. Thanks to our sponsor Netsuite. Visit netsuite.com/metrics for the CFO’s guide to machine learning. Get full access to Mostly metrics at www.mostlymetrics.com/subscribe

    13 min
  2. The Era of “I Need a COO and a CFO” Is Over: Jim Cook on the Next Evolution of the CFO

    1 DAY AGO

    The Era of “I Need a COO and a CFO” Is Over: Jim Cook on the Next Evolution of the CFO

    Jim Cook, Netflix co-founder, former CFO of Mozilla, early employee at Inuit, executive coach, and author of Substack Cook’s Playbooks, returns to the podcast for the third time. In this episode, he breaks down the evolution of the role of CFOs from traditional scorekeepers to more strategic and operator roles, before looking ahead at what’s to come. This episode is packed full of helpful advice about transparency, building trust, authenticity in your executive role, and why “fake it till you make it” is actually bad advice. Looking at the future of the CFO role, Jim explains why he believes there will be no need for both COO and CFO roles in an organization, the biggest mistake a CFO can make at this time, and how CFOs should be adapting in order to succeed in this next era. — 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. 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. 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. 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. 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) LINKS: Cook’s Playbooks www.benchboard.com Jim Cook on LinkedIn — TIMESTAMPS: (00:00) Preview and Intro (01:37) Sponsor – Planful | Brex | Vanta (05:49) CJ’s Career Growth Since First Interviewing Jim (08:35) Making Finance Transparent (14:40) Sponsor – Tropic | RightRev (17:07) The Influence of Bill Campbell (18:57) How to Get to Trust Faster (20:32) Letting Your Freak Flag Fly in Your Executive Role (23:06) Is “Fake It Till You Make It” Bad Advice? (25:25) Why CFO Tenures Are Getting Longer (28:16) The Evolution of the CFO Role and Technological Capability (32:45) Scorekeeping and Actuals Don’t Matter Anymore (34:38) The Era of the Strategic CFO (36:48) SaaS and the Operator CFO Era (41:09) Jim’s Prediction on the Next Era: The CFO Architect (49:47) The Biggest Mistake We Could Make in This Era (51:48) The Era of, “I Need a COO and a CFO,” Is Over (55:41) Where a CFO Will Spend Most of Their Time in This Next Era Get full access to Mostly metrics at www.mostlymetrics.com/subscribe

    1 hr
  3. Investors vs Operators: Aidoc’s Arvind Kadaba on the “Grass Is Greener” Trap and How to Escape It

    4 DAYS AGO

    Investors vs Operators: Aidoc’s Arvind Kadaba on the “Grass Is Greener” Trap and How to Escape It

    Today’s guest, Arvind Kadaba, the CFO of Aidoc, started his career as a high-profile investor before transitioning into the role of a CFO. He joins CJ to share his career journey and discuss the challenges he faced in transitioning into an operational role. The conversation explores the “grass is always greener” mentality that drives career shifts, and how to find the right career fit. Arvind describes the evolving landscape of healthcare technology and AI. He emphasizes the need for innovation and how to choose whether to build, buy, or partner to achieve this, giving listeners a masterclass in portfolio theory for operators. He also gives helpful tips for balancing short-term and long-term investments and explaining long-term shareholder value to employees. The episode concludes with Arvind defending his contrarian views that not all businesses should be venture-backed and not all great businesses are tech businesses. — 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. 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. 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 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. 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 (02:21) Sponsor – Brex | Vanta | Tropic (06:59) Transitioning from Investor to Operator (11:13) The Problem-Specific Nature of Being an Operator (14:29) Sponsor – RightRev | Planful (16:39) Personal Product Market Fit (23:18) “All You Need Is One” (25:46) How Arvind Decided to Switch Careers (33:07) The State of Healthcare Technology in AI (36:05) Innovation: Build Versus Buy Versus Partner (37:36) Portfolio Theory for Operators (44:36) Explaining Long-Term Shareholder Value to Employees (47:50) Not All Businesses Should Be Venture-Backed (53:38) Not All Great Businesses Are Tech Businesses (57:03) Long-Ass Lightning Round: Cross-Functional Trust (58:04) Finance Software Stack (58:54) Craziest Expense Story Get full access to Mostly metrics at www.mostlymetrics.com/subscribe

    1 hr
  4. Stripe, Klarna, & the Fintech Resurgence—What’s Driving Valuations?

    6 DAYS AGO

    Stripe, Klarna, & the Fintech Resurgence—What’s Driving Valuations?

    Fintech Is Back: What’s Driving Valuations & Back-Office Convergence Fintech is making a comeback, and the private markets are shifting fast. In this episode, we break down the biggest fintech moves—from Stripe’s $85B valuation jump to Klarna and Chime’s rumored IPOs—and explain why investors are paying up for some business models while discounting others. Plus, we dive into a major shift in back-office software: HiBob’s acquisition of Mosaic signals a growing convergence between HR and finance, with implications for the future of ERP. Is the back-office stack consolidating into a new source of truth? Topics we cover:✅ Why Stripe commands a 20x revenue multiple, and Mercury’s latest fundraise✅ Klarna vs. Chime: Who will get the better IPO valuation?✅ Affirm’s comeback—does it validate BNPL’s future?✅ The next evolution of back-office SaaS: HR meets FP&A If you're a founder, operator, or investor in fintech or SaaS, this episode is packed with insights on positioning for the highest valuation. 🎧 Listen now and don’t forget to rate & review—first round’s on me if we ever meet in person. Get full access to Mostly metrics at www.mostlymetrics.com/subscribe

    11 min
  5. Inside Grab: How a Super App Transformed Southeast Asia — with CFO Peter Oey

    FEB 20

    Inside Grab: How a Super App Transformed Southeast Asia — with CFO Peter Oey

    This episode takes a deep dive into the business model of super app Grab as CJ interviews CFO Peter Oey. Peter introduces listeners to Grab and how it operates in Southeast Asia, highlighting the company’s journey from a ride-hailing service to acquiring Uber's operations in the region, expanding into food delivery, and even branching into banking services, all in one single super app. Peter explains why this model thrives in Southeast Asia and speculates on its potential in Western markets. He sheds light on the flywheel effect of branching into banking services, how they get customers to use Grab’s different products, and the advertising opportunities that exist for the platform. He also discusses how Grab has positively affected economic activity in the region and shares one customer’s incredible success story. The podcast concludes with insights into Grab's proprietary technology, including its unique mapping system, and advice for Western companies looking to enter the Southeast Asian market. — 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. 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. 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. 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. 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 (02:15) Sponsor – Vanta | Tropic | RightRev (05:54) Super Apps and Grab’s Business Model (11:16) Why the Super App Model Thrives in Southeast Asia (15:33) The Super App Model and Western Markets (17:03) Sponsor – Planful | Brex (19:16) The Role of Banking Services in Grab’s Business Model (23:05) The First Step to Becoming a Fintech (25:05) Getting Users to Use Multiple Grab Products (30:31) The Advertising Opportunity for Grab (32:14) Why Southeast Asia Is Overlooked as a Tech Hub (35:30) Advice to Western Tech Companies Operating in Southeast Asia (37:15) How Grab Increases Economic Activity (40:51) A Grab Success Story (41:45) Grab’s Proprietary Tech and Mapping System (45:43) Long-Ass Lightning Round: A Forecast Accuracy Error Get full access to Mostly metrics at www.mostlymetrics.com/subscribe

    48 min
  6. Scoring Big: The Playbook for Nonprofit Financial Success with USA Hockey CFO Kelly Mahncke

    FEB 17

    Scoring Big: The Playbook for Nonprofit Financial Success with USA Hockey CFO Kelly Mahncke

    In this episode, CJ is joined by Kelly Mahncke, the CFO of USA Hockey, and the first CFO of a nonprofit to come on the show. They discuss the organization's business model and its revenue streams. Kelly emphasizes the importance of having a successful business whether it’s a nonprofit or not, and what she means when she says that there's no mission without margin. The conversation also covers USA Hockey's efforts to balance grassroots development with elite programs, the role of data and technology in enhancing operations, and the challenges of making hockey accessible to underprivileged communities. Kelly shares insights into the financial management of USA Hockey, including the for-profit and nonprofit aspects of the business, and how the four-year cadence of the Winter Olympics affects annual planning. — 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 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. 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. 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. 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 (02:00) Sponsor – Tropic | RightRev | Planful (06:23) The Companies Under the USA Hockey Umbrella (07:50) Balancing Investing in Grassroots Development and Elite Teams (10:01) USA Hockey’s Revenue Streams (11:14) USA Hockey’s Data and IT (13:07) Learnings from USA Hockey’s Data and Analytics (16:38) Sponsor – Brex | Vanta (19:10) Why Kids Should Try Different Sports (20:03) Anecdotes About Hockey Players (21:56) No Mission Without Margin (23:40) The Most Surprising Line Items in USA Hockey’s Budget (24:32) How the Winter Olympics Affects Annual Planning (26:12) For-Profit Money in the Space (29:14) The Business of Rink Ownership (32:54) Making Hockey Accessible to Underprivileged Communities (35:30) The For-Profit and Nonprofit Aspects of USA Hockey (36:56) How Being a Nonprofit Impacts Hiring and Volunteers (39:31) Lightning Round: Advice to Younger Self (40:04) Technology at USA Hockey (41:30) Finance Software Stack (42:20) The Legacy Kelly Hopes to Leave Get full access to Mostly metrics at www.mostlymetrics.com/subscribe

    44 min
  7. How much revenue do you need to IPO in 2025?

    FEB 15

    How much revenue do you need to IPO in 2025?

    How Much Revenue Do You Need to IPO in 2024? The IPO bar has risen—big time. In the 2010s, companies like RingCentral and Etsy went public with $100M-$250M in revenue. But today? You likely need $500M+ just to get a shot. We’ll break down how IPOs evolved from the SaaS boom to the 2021 mega-deals (think Coinbase, Snowflake, and Airbnb), the 2022-23 freeze, and why 2024’s IPO class—Reddit, Klaviyo, Instacart—looks different. Plus, we’ll preview 2025’s biggest potential IPOs, including Stripe, Databricks, and Deel. What’s the new rule? If you want to IPO, bring half a billion in revenue—or a damn good reason why you deserve to be public. Visit mostlymetrics.com for more analysis like this Get full access to Mostly metrics at www.mostlymetrics.com/subscribe

    10 min
  8. From CF-No to CF-Go: Serial CFO Michael Bayer’s Guide to Hypergrowth

    FEB 13

    From CF-No to CF-Go: Serial CFO Michael Bayer’s Guide to Hypergrowth

    Serial CFO Michael Bayer, who is currently the CFO of Wasabi, joins CJ to share wisdom from his long career. He talks about his journey from being a “CF-no" to becoming a “CF-go” while emphasizing the importance of strategic investment to fuel hypergrowth companies. He breaks down the epochs of growth that a company goes through as it scales from driving revenue to focusing on cash flow. He highlights the significance of order of magnitude thinking and hiring for future needs. Michael also introduces his “rock-turning” exercise for identifying and addressing issues when joining a company, and shares his three guiding principles: speed is God, best ideas win, and if you’re not making mistakes, you’re not trying hard enough. The episode concludes with an insightful story about Van Halen's "brown M&M" clause, and what finance leaders can learn from 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. 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. 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. 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. 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 — FOLLOW US ON X: @cjgustafson222 (CJ) — TIMESTAMPS: (00:00) Preview and Intro (02:16) Sponsor – RightRev | Planful | Brex (06:02) The Reason for a Sloth Background (08:31) A Company’s Epochs of Growth (12:52) Staffing for the Different Epochs of Growth (17:08) Sponsor – Vanta | Tropic (21:29) The CF-No Versus CF-Go Mentalities (23:42) The “Rule Of” Metric: EBITDA or Cash Flow (27:05) The Rock-Turning Exercise (29:12) The First Rock Michael Turns Over (30:26) Forming Relationships Before Solving Problems (32:08) The Time Factor in Becoming a Good CFO (36:01) Michael’s Three Simple Rules for Being a Great CFO (38:45) Creating Space for the Best Ideas (41:18) What It Means to “Rent Capital” (47:25) The Brown M&M Story Get full access to Mostly metrics at www.mostlymetrics.com/subscribe

    54 min
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5
out of 5
41 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
    146
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © Mostly LLC
  • Show Website
    Run the Numbers

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