With a decade of experience at Yext, a company now approaching half a billion in ARR, Darryl Bond has seen it through negative EBITDA margins, executive turnover, and company-wide resets. In this episode, he sits down with CJ to talk about his approach to the finance function, which involves prioritizing growth over compensation, tackling the messy problems head-on, making the hard P&L calls in the “grey zones,” knowing when to ask for help, and staying focused through the tough times. Darryl shares how he scaled from controller to CFO, and how, in the process, he made sense of the chaos, led with transparency, and built a high-impact finance function that doesn’t just report the numbers, but also drives the business. He explains the role of systems and processes in scaling operations, the mistakes he made early in his management journey, and why relationship-building has been the real unlock in his career. They dive into building deal desks, what operational excellence really means, and capital allocation decisions that actually start with listening to the customer. — LINKS: Darryl Bond on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/darryl-bond-788b962a/ Yext: https://www.yext.com/ CJ on X (@cjgustafson222): https://x.com/cjgustafson222 Mostly metrics: RELATED EPISODES: “Run Toward a Tough Market” — Developing the Hard and Soft Skills To Be a Great Finance Leader — — TIMESTAMPS: (00:00) Preview and Intro (02:49) Sponsor – RightRev | Navan | Rillet (06:54) The Reasons for Darryl’s Career Loyalty (08:58) Prioritizing Learning Over Comp (11:09) What Yext and Its Finance Function Looked Like in 2015 (15:40) Sponsor – Pulley | Brex | Aleph (20:03) Choosing Which Messy Problems To Take On (22:00) The Right Time To Create a Deal Desk (23:39) When To Bring General Counsel In-House (24:36) Asking for Help and Building a CFO Network (28:25) What Operational Excellence Looks Like in the Finance Team (31:11) Staying Focused Through Tough Times (35:39) Making the Hard P&L Calls In the “Gray Zone” (37:05) The Importance of Talking to Customers (38:30) A Guide to Communicating the Bad News (40:25) The Role of Systems and Automation in Gaining Control of the P&L (43:07) Capital Allocation Decisions: Yext’s Two Recent Purchases (45:06) Build, Buy, or Partner (47:57) The Pros and Cons of Being a Sub-$1B Public Tech Company (49:38) How To Get (and Lose) Sell-Side Analyst Coverage (51:04) What Excites Darryl Most About Yext’s Current Stage (53:13) Long-Ass Lightning Round: A Career Mistake (54:36) Advice to Younger Self (56:17) Finance Software Stack (57:42) Craziest Expense Story — 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. For RevRec that auditors actually trust, visit https://www.rightrev.com and schedule a demo. Navan is the all-in-one travel and expense solution that helps finance teams streamline reconciliation, enforce policies automatically, and gain real-time visibility. It connects to your existing cards and makes closing the books faster and smarter. Visit https://navan.com/runthenumbers for your demo. Rillet is the AI-native ERP modern finance teams are switching to because it’s faster, simpler, and 100% built for how teams operate today. See how fast your team can move. Book a demo at https://www.rillet.com/metrics. Pulley is the cap table management platform built for CFOs and finance leaders who need reliable, audit-ready data and intuitive workflows, without the hidden fees or unreliable support. Switch in as little as 5 days and get 25% off your first year: https://pulley.com/mostlymetrics. 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. Find out more at https://www.brex.com/metrics Aleph automates 90% of manual, error-prone busywork, so you can focus on the strategic work you were hired to do. Minimize busywork and maximize impact with the power of a web app, the flexibility of spreadsheets, and the magic of AI. Get a personalised demo at https://www.getaleph.com/run #CFOLeadership #FinanceLeadership #FinanceStrategy #OperationalExcellence #BusinessTurnaround #CapitalAllocation This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.mostlymetrics.com
