Run the Numbers

CJ Gustafson
  • 0.0 (0)
  • Management
  • Updated twice weekly

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

  1. A CFO Explains Stock Exchanges

    7 hr ago

    A CFO Explains Stock Exchanges

    In this episode of Run the Numbers, CJ breaks down how stock exchanges became the operating system of modern capitalism. From ship captains raising voyage money, to the Dutch East India Company’s first tradable shares, to coffee house traders, the Buttonwood Agreement, market crashes, Robinhood, and GameStop, this is the story of how markets turned ownership into something liquid, global, and very, very human. — SPONSORS: SpendHound cuts your SaaS and AI spend by up to 30% using real pricing benchmarks across 10,000 vendors, so you always know what fair pricing looks like before your next renewal. Rated #1 on G2 in SaaS spend management, it's free forever for teams up to 1,000 employees. Sign up by June 12th and get $500 just for getting started. Go to https://www.spendhound.com/cj Brex is an intelligent finance platform with AI-powered agents that capture expenses automatically, enforce policy before the spend happens, and close your books in minutes instead of weeks. 35,000+ companies like OpenAI, Coinbase, Anthropic, and DoorDash already run on Brex. It's time to get Brex AF. Learn more at https://www.brex.com/metrics Aleph is a modern FP&A platform built for teams that want more than another planning tool. By connecting your ERP, CRM, and other systems into one trusted data layer with AI workflows, Aleph helps you move faster with real-time insights. Get a personalized demo at https://www.getaleph.com/run RightRev is an automated revenue recognition platform that lets your product team ship new pricing without asking finance for permission, and your sales team close deals without creating downstream chaos. Check out their free tool at calculator.rightrev.com It scores your rev rec process, shows what's exposing you to risk, and tells you exactly where to focus before it bites you in the rear end. Check it out at https://calculator.rightrev.com Rillet is an AI-native ERP built for modern finance teams that want to replace NetSuite and close faster. With revenue recognition, close management, multi-entity support, and native Stripe and Salesforce integrations, Rillet helps scaling companies run their finance stack in one place. Hundreds of teams, including Windsurf and Mercor, use Rillet to make the zero-day close real. Book a demo at https://www.rillet.com/cj EY has been part of Silicon Valley since it was just a valley, helping the most successful names in tech go from startup to exit to megacap. With teams across strategy, tax, audit, and transactions, EY helps you get your financials right early, long before your investors start asking for it. You build the next big thing, and EY will help you build it right. Learn more at https://www.ey.com/techstartups — LINKS:  Mostly Talent: https://mostlymetrics.typeform.com/to/cLTxtAsN CJ: https://www.linkedin.com/in/cj-gustafson-13140948/ Mostly metrics: https://www.mostlymetrics.com Slacker Stuff: https://www.slackerstuff.com/ Ben on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/slackerstuff/ — RELATED EPISODES: A CFO Explains Secondaries https://youtu.be/pENvBuXhGuk A CFO Explains the Diamond Industry https://youtu.be/fPrho7hvykA A CFO Explains Marketplaces https://youtu.be/LpbH9GpBrSY — TIMESTAMPS: 0:00 The First IPO, and Why It Changed Everything 2:50 Coffee, Buttonwood Trees, and the First Insider Trading Scandal 6:31 The Railroads Built Your Month-End Close 10:17 Sponsors — SpendHound | Brex | Aleph 13:47 Buying Stocks on Credit, and How That Ended 18:13 Merrill Lynch Goes to the Suburbs, and the Paper Almost Wins 21:44 Sponsors — RightRev | Rillet | EY 24:47 NASDAQ, Pets.com, and the Most Expensive Sock Puppet in History 28:49 The Phone in Your Pocket Democratized Everything, For Better or Worse 33:03 The Stock Market Was Never Really About Stocks 36:47 Credits #RunTheNumbersPodcast #FinanceHistory #StockMarket #Investing #FinanceLeadership

    37 min
  2. Zapier's CFO on Closing the Books in 5 Days, AI Hiring Bars, and M&A Discipline

    3 days ago

    Zapier's CFO on Closing the Books in 5 Days, AI Hiring Bars, and M&A Discipline

    In this episode of Run the Numbers, CJ sits down with Ryan Roccon, CFO of Zapier, to cover AI hiring standards, automating month-end close, measuring ROI on AI spend, and why determinism still beats agents most of the time. — SPONSORS: EY has been part of Silicon Valley since it was just a valley, helping the most successful names in tech go from startup to exit to megacap. With teams across strategy, tax, audit, and transactions, EY helps you get your financials right early, long before your investors start asking for it. You build the next big thing, and EY will help you build it right. Learn more at https://www.ey.com/techstartups SpendHound cuts your SaaS and AI spend by up to 30% using real pricing benchmarks across 10,000 vendors, so you always know what fair pricing looks like before your next renewal. Rated #1 on G2 in SaaS spend management, it's free forever for teams up to 1,000 employees. Sign up by June 12th and get $500 just for getting started. Go to https://www.spendhound.com/cj Brex is an intelligent finance platform with AI-powered agents that capture expenses automatically, enforce policy before the spend happens, and close your books in minutes instead of weeks. 35,000+ companies like OpenAI, Coinbase, Anthropic, and DoorDash already run on Brex. It's time to get Brex AF. Learn more at https://www.brex.com/metrics Aleph is a modern FP&A platform built for teams that want more than another planning tool. By connecting your ERP, CRM, and other systems into one trusted data layer with AI workflows, Aleph helps you move faster with real-time insights. Get a personalized demo at https://www.getaleph.com/run RightRev is an automated revenue recognition platform that lets your product team ship new pricing without asking finance for permission, and your sales team close deals without creating downstream chaos. Check out their free tool at calculator.rightrev.com It scores your rev rec process, shows what's exposing you to risk, and tells you exactly where to focus before it bites you in the rear end. Check it out at https://calculator.rightrev.com Rillet is an AI-native ERP built for modern finance teams that want to replace NetSuite and close faster. With revenue recognition, close management, multi-entity support, and native Stripe and Salesforce integrations, Rillet helps scaling companies run their finance stack in one place. Hundreds of teams, including Windsurf and Mercor, use Rillet to make the zero-day close real. Book a demo at https://www.rillet.com/cj — LINKS:  Mostly Talent: https://mostlymetrics.typeform.com/to/cLTxtAsN Guest: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ryanroccon/ Company: https://zapier.com/ CJ: https://www.linkedin.com/in/cj-gustafson-13140948/ Mostly metrics: https://www.mostlymetrics.com — RELATED EPISODES: Ryan’s First Appearance https://youtu.be/VIZ_RzfV78I Chris Byington, Head of Data @ Superhuman https://youtu.be/ydH38JnWfww — TIMESTAMPS: 0:00 Preview and intro 2:11 Ryan's scope at Zapier 3:17 Why the finance guy runs ecosystems 6:19 AI is a required hire competency 6:46 The four levels: unacceptable to transformative 8:48 How Zapier tests for it 11:50 Favorite interview question 13:06 Sponsors — EY | SpendHound | Brex 16:18 AI changes the hiring profile 17:07 Support becomes customer-facing engineering 18:44 Where AI beats deterministic Zaps 21:00 80-90% of builds are deterministic 22:41 Sponsors — Aleph | RightRev | Rillet 26:00 Month end close on Zaps 27:40 Time saved is a leading indicator 29:53 AI token costs: COGS or investment? 31:51 Performance issue or measurement issue? 33:41 Partner ARR: chasing the wrong thing 35:56 Build around what changes the decision 37:17 The initiative sizing coach 40:00 Escalate on magnitude, not certainty 41:55 The 9,000 integration story 44:02 M&A process and minimum model 46:19 Cash vs. stock: incentive alignment 48:06 CFO's role in M&A: show up early 49:18 Credits

    50 min
  3. Navan CFO Aurélien Nolf on Resource Allocation, IR, and AI in Finance

    28 May

    Navan CFO Aurélien Nolf on Resource Allocation, IR, and AI in Finance

    In this episode of Run the Numbers, CJ sits down with Aurélien Nolf, CFO of Navan, to unpack how to pre-align before budgeting, how to think about portfolio construction inside a company, when to fund or kill internal bets, how IR is becoming more connected to FP&A, and where AI actually works inside finance teams. — SPONSORS: Rillet is an AI-native ERP built for modern finance teams that want to replace NetSuite and close faster. With revenue recognition, close management, multi-entity support, and native Stripe and Salesforce integrations, Rillet helps scaling companies run their finance stack in one place. Hundreds of teams, including Windsurf and Mercor, use Rillet to make the zero-day close real. Book a demo at https://www.rillet.com/cj EY works with high-growth tech companies to navigate the messy realities of scaling—from regulatory requirements to IPO readiness. By helping teams get it right early and often, EY lets founders stay focused on building while reducing risk as they grow. Learn more at https://www.ey.com/techstartups SpendHound is a SaaS spend management platform built for finance and procurement teams that want visibility and leverage in every deal. By tracking all your software, benchmarking pricing across thousands of vendors, and surfacing contracts and renewals, SpendHound helps you stop overpaying and negotiate with confidence. Trusted by teams at ZoomInfo and Hootsuite. Get started at https://www.spendhound.com/cj 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 Aleph is a modern FP&A platform built for teams that want more than another planning tool. By connecting your ERP, CRM, and other systems into one trusted data layer with AI workflows, Aleph helps you move faster with real-time insights. Get a personalized demo at https://www.getaleph.com/run RightRev is an automated revenue recognition platform built for teams that have outgrown spreadsheets and billing tool workarounds. It handles high-volume subscriptions, usage-based contracts, and mid-cycle upgrades, so you can scale without scrambling at month-end. For RevRec that keeps your books clean, visit https://www.rightrev.com/CJ — LINKS:  Mostly Talent: https://mostlymetrics.typeform.com/to/cLTxtAsN Guest: https://www.linkedin.com/in/aureliennolf5b716412/ Company: https://navan.com/ CJ: https://www.linkedin.com/in/cj-gustafson-13140948/ Mostly metrics: https://www.mostlymetrics.com — TIMESTAMPS: 0:00 Preview and intro 1:21 Welcome and guest intro 3:06 100-mile ultramarathon at Lake Tahoe 4:47 Resource allocation lessons from EA 6:41 Bucketing bets: proven, intuition, moonshots 7:43 Pre-alignment before budgeting 9:58 The 70/20/10 framework 10:35 Sponsors — Rillet | EY | SpendHound 13:51 The common trap: chasing everything 16:16 Lyft: $1B burning to $1B profitable 18:11 Killing projects without crushing morale 19:24 TAM as the planning foundation 20:57 Navan's TAM: managed vs. unmanaged 22:15 Sponsors — Brex | Aleph | RightRev 25:48 Why go after the unmanaged segment 28:24 Not all TAM dollars are equal 29:26 How IR is evolving 30:45 Why FP&A and IR belong together 31:54 Metrics: disclose vs. guide 34:04 Use internal metrics externally 35:12 Communicating bad news to the market 39:22 Earnings prep: the black book 40:04 AI in finance: can't vibe code compliance 41:31 Ava handles 55% of interactions 43:08 AI ROI: same framework as anything else 44:02 Why finance hasn't had its AI moment 44:46 Lightning round 44:56 Screwed up: wrong investor meeting 45:23 Sunday planning ritual 46:42 Advice to younger self 47:29 Finance software stack 48:34 Craziest expense: curtains at the hotel laundry 49:17 Credits

    50 min
  4. SpaceX Is Going Public: Here's Everything You Need to Know

    25 May

    SpaceX Is Going Public: Here's Everything You Need to Know

    In this episode of Run the Numbers, CJ breaks down SpaceX’s S-1, unpacking what the filing reveals about Starlink, xAI, X, common control accounting, revenue, losses, CapEx, and Elon Musk’s Mars-linked compensation structure. — SPONSORS: RightRev is an automated revenue recognition platform built for teams that have outgrown spreadsheets and billing tool workarounds. It handles high-volume subscriptions, usage-based contracts, and mid-cycle upgrades, so you can scale without scrambling at month-end. For RevRec that keeps your books clean, visit https://www.rightrev.com/CJ Rillet is an AI-native ERP built for modern finance teams that want to replace NetSuite and close faster. With revenue recognition, close management, multi-entity support, and native Stripe and Salesforce integrations, Rillet helps scaling companies run their finance stack in one place. Hundreds of teams, including Windsurf and Mercor, use Rillet to make the zero-day close real. Book a demo at https://www.rillet.com/cj EY works with high-growth tech companies to navigate the messy realities of scaling—from regulatory requirements to IPO readiness. By helping teams get it right early and often, EY lets founders stay focused on building while reducing risk as they grow. Learn more at https://www.ey.com/techstartups SpendHound is a SaaS spend management platform built for finance and procurement teams that want visibility and leverage in every deal. By tracking all your software, benchmarking pricing across thousands of vendors, and surfacing contracts and renewals, SpendHound helps you stop overpaying and negotiate with confidence. Trusted by teams at ZoomInfo and Hootsuite. Get started at https://www.spendhound.com/cj 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/metricsAleph is a modern FP&A platform built for teams that want more than another planning tool. By connecting your ERP, CRM, and other systems into one trusted data layer with AI workflows, Aleph helps you move faster with real-time insights. Get a personalized demo at https://www.getaleph.com/run — LINKS:  CJ: https://www.linkedin.com/in/cj-gustafson-13140948/ Mostly metrics: https://www.mostlymetrics.com — TIMESTAMPS: 0:00 SpaceX S1 breakdown 0:50 Elon's Mars colony comp plan 2:03 Common control accounting: SpaceX + xAI + X 3:04 What SpaceX actually does 3:43 How reusable rockets work 4:24 Launch cost curve: foundation of everything 5:49 Launch services: $8B, 85% of global launches 6:44 Starlink: $11.4B, 63% EBITDA margins 7:36 xAI and X: burning $1B/month 8:22 Sponsors — RightRev | Rillet | EY 11:18 Colossus and orbital AI thesis 11:41 Revenue, segments and CapEx breakdown 14:54 RPO: $28.4B backlog 15:18 Starlink subscribers and ARPU decline 16:01 Target valuation: $1.5–1.75 trillion 16:47 Starlink deep dive 18:05 International pricing strategy 21:38 The consolidated entity problem 22:28 Related party section: nine pages 22:32 Sponsors — SpendHound | Brex | Aleph 26:15 Valor Equity: $20B in equipment leases 27:05 Tesla cross-ownership and Terrafab 28:23 R&D: $8.6B, 46% of revenue 30:33 Starship: key risk and growth linchpin 31:41 Red flag 1: CEO comp tied to Mars colony 32:22 Red flag 2: Musk concentration risk 32:49 Red flag 3: Cursor option — $10B downside 33:36 Red flag 4: X advertising is shrinking 34:06 IPO structure and SPCX ticker 34:50 30% retail allocation, no lockups 35:44 S&P 500 inclusion forces buying within 15 days 37:54 Valuation: 60–70x forward revenue 38:43 Peer comparison 39:44 What you're buying at $1.5T 40:53 CFO comp: the only sane plan in the filing 41:25 Bitcoin on the balance sheet 41:57 Credits

    42 min
  5. 5 Ways CFOs Can Build a Better Sales Engine with Paul Stansik

    21 May

    5 Ways CFOs Can Build a Better Sales Engine with Paul Stansik

    In this episode of Run the Numbers, CJ sits down with ParkerGale Operating Partner Paul Stansik to break down five ways CFOs can help build a better sales engine: making the budget mean something, improving forecasting, sharpening metrics, getting involved in key RevOps moments, and building real trust with sales. — SPONSORS: Aleph is a modern FP&A platform built for teams that want more than another planning tool. By connecting your ERP, CRM, and other systems into one trusted data layer with AI workflows, Aleph helps you move faster with real-time insights. Get a personalized demo at https://www.getaleph.com/run RightRev is an automated revenue recognition platform built for teams that have outgrown spreadsheets and billing tool workarounds. It handles high-volume subscriptions, usage-based contracts, and mid-cycle upgrades, so you can scale without scrambling at month-end. For RevRec that keeps your books clean, visit https://www.rightrev.com/CJ Rillet is an AI-native ERP built for modern finance teams that want to replace NetSuite and close faster. With revenue recognition, close management, multi-entity support, and native Stripe and Salesforce integrations, Rillet helps scaling companies run their finance stack in one place. Hundreds of teams, including Windsurf and Mercor, use Rillet to make the zero-day close real. Book a demo at https://www.rillet.com/cj EY works with high-growth tech companies to navigate the messy realities of scaling—from regulatory requirements to IPO readiness. By helping teams get it right early and often, EY lets founders stay focused on building while reducing risk as they grow. Learn more at https://www.ey.com/techstartups SpendHound is a SaaS spend management platform built for finance and procurement teams that want visibility and leverage in every deal. By tracking all your software, benchmarking pricing across thousands of vendors, and surfacing contracts and renewals, SpendHound helps you stop overpaying and negotiate with confidence. Trusted by teams at ZoomInfo and Hootsuite. Get started at https://www.spendhound.com/cj 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 Guest: https://www.linkedin.com/in/paulstansik/ Company: https://www.parkergale.com/ Hello Operator: https://hellooperator.substack.com/ CJ: https://www.linkedin.com/in/cj-gustafson-13140948/ Mostly metrics: https://www.mostlymetrics.com — RELATED EPISODES: Is a weekly martini ARR? | with Dave Kellogg https://youtu.be/Yb1lUQLJ6qw — TIMESTAMPS: All verified. Here are the timestamps: 0:00 Preview and intro 2:27 Parker Gale and Paul's role 3:52 Topic: how CFOs build a better sales engine 6:21 1: Make the budget mean something 8:11 Budget segmentation and cleaving the business 10:54 Sponsors — Aleph | RightRev | Rillet 14:08 2: Help emphasize forecasting 17:23 Forecasting as non-threatening co-construction 19:37 Sponsors — EY | SpendHound | Brex 23:06 3: Lend a hand with data and metrics 25:32 Walking sales through NDR levers 27:16 Metrics tied to exit readiness 28:00 4: Get involved in a few RevOps spots 29:04 Pricing, proposals, and quoting 31:22 Kill your SKUs 32:51 Selling with certainty: quote formatting 34:26 CFO letter for enterprise deals 37:37 5: Build a great relationship with sales 37:59 You can't fix a secret 39:23 EQ over IQ for finance leaders 40:41 Recap: all five tips 42:11 Credits #RunTheNumbersPodcast #CFO #SalesStrategy #FinanceLeadership #RevenueOperations

    43 min
  6. Figure CFO Macrina Kgil on Blockchain Lending, Stablecoins, and IPOs

    18 May

    Figure CFO Macrina Kgil on Blockchain Lending, Stablecoins, and IPOs

    In this episode of Run the Numbers, CJ sits down with Figure Technologies CFO Macrina Kgil to break down how Figure’s business model works, why traditional lending remains so bloated, and how speed in origination and funding flows through financial performance. They also cover stablecoins, blockchain as invisible infrastructure, AI in accounting, and scaling finance with fewer than 35 people. — 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 Aleph is a modern FP&A platform built for teams that want more than another planning tool. By connecting your ERP, CRM, and other systems into one trusted data layer with AI workflows, Aleph helps you move faster with real-time insights. Get a personalized demo at https://www.getaleph.com/run RightRev is an automated revenue recognition platform built for teams that have outgrown spreadsheets and billing tool workarounds. It handles high-volume subscriptions, usage-based contracts, and mid-cycle upgrades, so you can scale without scrambling at month-end. For RevRec that keeps your books clean, visit https://www.rightrev.com/CJ Rillet is an AI-native ERP built for modern finance teams that want to replace NetSuite and close faster. With revenue recognition, close management, multi-entity support, and native Stripe and Salesforce integrations, Rillet helps scaling companies run their finance stack in one place. Hundreds of teams, including Windsurf and Mercor, use Rillet to make the zero-day close real. Book a demo at https://www.rillet.com/cj EY works with high-growth tech companies to navigate the messy realities of scaling—from regulatory requirements to IPO readiness. By helping teams get it right early and often, EY lets founders stay focused on building while reducing risk as they grow. Learn more at https://www.ey.com/techstartups SpendHound is a SaaS spend management platform built for finance and procurement teams that want visibility and leverage in every deal. By tracking all your software, benchmarking pricing across thousands of vendors, and surfacing contracts and renewals, SpendHound helps you stop overpaying and negotiate with confidence. Trusted by teams at ZoomInfo and Hootsuite. Get started at https://www.spendhound.com/cj — LINKS:  Mostly Talent: https://mostlymetrics.typeform.com/to/cLTxtAsN Guest: https://www.linkedin.com/in/macrina/ Company: https://www.figure.com/ CJ: https://www.linkedin.com/in/cj-gustafson-13140948/ Mostly metrics: https://www.mostlymetrics.com — TIMESTAMPS: 0:00 Preview and intro 3:10 Working for a CEO who's a former CFO 5:00 What Figure does and how it makes money 6:57 Blockchain's first commercial use case 8:17 50%+ margins, path to 60% 9:23 Sponsors — Brex | Aleph | RightRev 12:56 HELOC origination: 45 days to 5 days 14:26 Where the lending system is bloated 15:56 Credit and liquidity as core risks 17:06 Blockchain makes the marketplace transparent 18:10 Risk as a fintech CFO 19:49 Sponsors — Rillet | EY | SpendHound 22:58 Crypto on the balance sheet 24:12 Blockchain becomes invisible like cloud 25:44 Stablecoins explained 27:47 YLDS: Figure's yield-bearing stablecoin 29:02 Crawl, walk, run stablecoin strategy 34:32 IPO process: what got easier 35:03 What got harder: testing the waters 37:12 Blockchain KPIs and investor conversations 38:21 Finance team: 130 people down to 35 40:00 SEC engagement: storytelling not financials 40:49 IPO advice: pick durable KPIs 42:05 First earnings after IPO: don't miss 43:13 AI automation goal: 60% by 2026 46:11 Director of Finance Transformation hire 47:40 30-60-90 for the transformation role 48:58 Long-Ass Lightning Round 52:20 Credits

    53 min
  7. Cerebras IPO: S1 Breakdown - The Giant Chip, the OpenAI Deal, and the $24B Backlog

    14 May

    Cerebras IPO: S1 Breakdown - The Giant Chip, the OpenAI Deal, and the $24B Backlog

    Cerebras is going public with the largest commercial chip ever built, $510M in 2025 revenue, and a $24.6B backlog mostly tied to OpenAI. CJ breaks down the company’s wafer-scale AI bet, why inference changed the story, the strange customer-investor-lender relationships behind the IPO, and the big question: is Cerebras the next NVIDIA-style infrastructure winner, or a concentrated hardware company with a very expensive cloud pivot? — SPONSORS: SpendHound is a SaaS spend management platform built for finance and procurement teams that want visibility and leverage in every deal. By tracking all your software, benchmarking pricing across thousands of vendors, and surfacing contracts and renewals, SpendHound helps you stop overpaying and negotiate with confidence. Trusted by teams at ZoomInfo and Hootsuite. Get started at https://www.spendhound.com/cj 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 Aleph is a modern FP&A platform built for teams that want more than another planning tool. By connecting your ERP, CRM, and other systems into one trusted data layer with AI workflows, Aleph helps you move faster with real-time insights. Get a personalized demo at https://www.getaleph.com/run RightRev is an automated revenue recognition platform built for teams that have outgrown spreadsheets and billing tool workarounds. It handles high-volume subscriptions, usage-based contracts, and mid-cycle upgrades, so you can scale without scrambling at month-end. For RevRec that keeps your books clean, visit https://www.rightrev.com/CJ Rillet is an AI-native ERP built for modern finance teams that want to replace NetSuite and close faster. With revenue recognition, close management, multi-entity support, and native Stripe and Salesforce integrations, Rillet helps scaling companies run their finance stack in one place. Hundreds of teams, including Windsurf and Mercor, use Rillet to make the zero-day close real. Book a demo at https://www.rillet.com/cj EY works with high-growth tech companies to navigate the messy realities of scaling—from regulatory requirements to IPO readiness. By helping teams get it right early and often, EY lets founders stay focused on building while reducing risk as they grow. Learn more at https://www.ey.com/techstartups — LINKS:  Mostly Talent: https://mostlymetrics.typeform.com/to/cLTxtAsN CJ: https://www.linkedin.com/in/cj-gustafson-13140948/ Mostly metrics: https://www.mostlymetrics.com — TIMESTAMPS: 0:00 Preview and intro 0:59 Cerebras: the dinner plate chip 3:56 Why chip size matters for AI 5:26 Old vs. new AI: inference is the bottleneck 7:30 Revenue: 20x in 3 years 7:49 Sponsors — SpendHound | Brex | Aleph 11:33 Gross margin 12:02 Net income: the one-time accounting trick 12:41 Operating cash flow whipsaw 13:24 RPO: $24.6B backlog 13:58 Customer concentration: the UAE entities 18:06 Sponsors — RightRev | Rillet | EY 21:05 Cloud revenue: the inverse SaaS story 22:23 Cloud gross margin collapse 23:53 G42 warrants for pennies 29:14 The OpenAI warrant: Funky Town 31:08 $40B market cap milestone 31:36 R&D and S&M breakdown 33:15 Balance sheet and cash burn 35:59 Red flag 1: accounting weaknesses 36:37 Red flag 2: one foundry, no supply deal 37:28 Red flag 3: UAE geopolitical risk 38:10 Red flag 4: cloud is unproven 39:02 Cap table: founders diluted 40:43 Voting control: Class A, B, and N 41:15 Valuation: 10–13x forward revenue 41:48 Peer comparison 43:47 CEO's prior issues 46:10 Credits Nothing said or created by this podcast is business or investment advice #RunTheNumbersPodcast #IPO #Semiconductors #AIStrategy #FinanceLeadership

    47 min
  8. The Investor Behind Warby Parker, Harry’s, and the Psychology of Consumer Growth | David Bell

    11 May

    The Investor Behind Warby Parker, Harry’s, and the Psychology of Consumer Growth | David Bell

    David Bell, co-founder of Idea Farm Ventures and early investor behind Warby Parker, Harry’s, and Diapers.com, and CJ break down how consumer investing works. They cover why durable consumer companies require more than clean unit economics, how to apply SaaS-style thinking to businesses without contracts, and why the best opportunities often live in boring gray space. — SPONSORS: EY works with high-growth tech companies to navigate the messy realities of scaling—from regulatory requirements to IPO readiness. By helping teams get it right early and often, EY lets founders stay focused on building while reducing risk as they grow. Learn more at https://www.ey.com/techstartups SpendHound is a SaaS spend management platform built for finance and procurement teams that want visibility and leverage in every deal. By tracking all your software, benchmarking pricing across thousands of vendors, and surfacing contracts and renewals, SpendHound helps you stop overpaying and negotiate with confidence. Trusted by teams at ZoomInfo and Hootsuite. Get started at https://www.spendhound.com/cj 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 Aleph is a modern FP&A platform built for teams that want more than another planning tool. By connecting your ERP, CRM, and other systems into one trusted data layer with AI workflows, Aleph helps you move faster with real-time insights. Get a personalized demo at https://www.getaleph.com/run RightRev is an automated revenue recognition platform built for teams that have outgrown spreadsheets and billing tool workarounds. It handles high-volume subscriptions, usage-based contracts, and mid-cycle upgrades, so you can scale without scrambling at month-end. For RevRec that keeps your books clean, visit https://www.rightrev.com/CJ Rillet is an AI-native ERP built for modern finance teams that want to replace NetSuite and close faster. With revenue recognition, close management, multi-entity support, and native Stripe and Salesforce integrations, Rillet helps scaling companies run their finance stack in one place. Hundreds of teams, including Windsurf and Mercor, use Rillet to make the zero-day close real. Book a demo at https://www.rillet.com/cj — Mostly Talent: https://mostlymetrics.typeform.com/to/cLTxtAsN Guest: https://www.linkedin.com/in/david-bell-086820/ Company: https://www.ideafarmventures.com/ CJ: https://www.linkedin.com/in/cj-gustafson-13140948/ Mostly metrics: https://www.mostlymetrics.com — TIMESTAMPS: 0:00 Preview and intro 3:16 Edge: economics and psychology 5:21 Best ideas in boring gray space 5:41 Functional, emotional, and symbolic value 7:08 Grüns gummies and divisibility 9:02 Sponsors — EY | SpendHound | Brex 12:31 Ideation: personal pain vs. market analysis 13:17 Diapers.com and the Starbucks origin story 16:00 Warby Parker: asking why 16:33 LTV to CAC in D2C 18:02 Retention math: 85 to 90% can double LTV 19:00 Milkman and recurring vs. reoccurring 20:42 Trust economics 22:38 Warby stores boost online sales 22:58 Sponsors — Aleph | RightRev | Rillet 26:12 Away store as advertising 27:46 Warby discovery: dots on a map 30:10 Home try-on word of mouth value 32:09 D2C unit economics mistakes 34:55 Innovating on distribution 35:50 Touchland in Sephora: right channel, right signal 37:00 Capital allocation: margin and low CAC first 39:18 Sequencing: people, brand, then inventory 40:58 Product vs. brand: the 8x10 thought experiment 42:23 Consumer monetization shifts 45:45 The gravity framework 50:32 Isolation principle: most underused lever 52:36 Working backwards from exit at day zero 57:23 What if your business isn't venture scale? 59:32 Book plug: Founders Gold 1:00:25 Credits

    1hr 1min
See All (293)

About

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

Information

  • Creator
    CJ Gustafson
  • Years Active
    2024 - 2026
  • Episodes
    293
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © CJ Gustafson
  • Show Website
    Run the Numbers

You Might Also Like