Run the Numbers

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

  1. Getting fired 4 times made me a founder | Sam Jacobs of Pavilion

    7 小時前

    Getting fired 4 times made me a founder | Sam Jacobs of Pavilion

    In this episode of Run the Numbers, CJ Gustafson sits down with Sam Jacobs, Founder and CEO of Pavilion, the global community for GTM leaders. Sam shares how getting fired multiple times as a CRO led him to build a business rooted in belonging — one that monetized members first, prioritized intimacy over growth, and turned a Slack group into a multimillion-dollar company. He and CJ unpack the mechanics of community: the tradeoffs between exclusivity and expansion, why venture capital doesn’t always fit human-centered businesses, and how Pavilion balances pricing, curation, and access. They also explore the evolution of the GTM function — from the myth of the plug-and-play VP of Sales to how AI is reshaping RevOps, forecasting, and leadership. Finally, Sam reflects on building durable value beyond personal brand and what it really takes to scale trust as a product. — LINKS: Sam Jacbos on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/samfjacobs/ Company: https://www.joinpavilion.com/ CJ on X (@cjgustafson222): https://x.com/cjgustafson222 Mostly metrics: https://www.mostlymetrics.com — RELATED EPISODES: E120: What does the future of tech look like when it costs $0 to switch software? CFOs: Want to Outmaneuver Your Competitors? Here’s the Jedi Mind Trick The Gross Margin Episode with Sarah Wang of a16z — TIMESTAMPS: (00:00:00) Preview and Intro (00:01:32) Guest Intro: Who is Sam Jacobs and what is Pavilion? (00:02:56) Sponsor – Mercury, RightRev, Tipalti (00:06:50) Interview begins: Welcome & banter (00:07:27) What is Pavilion? Mission and community focus (00:08:45) Building Pavilion from necessity after multiple firings (00:10:05) Monetizing members before sponsorships (00:12:14) Scaling intimacy: dinners to conferences (00:14:32) Balancing growth, exclusivity, and community economics (00:16:30) Sponsor – Aleph, Fidelity Private Shares, Metronome (00:17:00) CRO lessons and leadership philosophies (00:19:28) The myth of the plug-and-play VP of Sales (00:21:42) Quota setting, lead routing, and compensation pitfalls (00:25:05) How AI is really changing sales and GTM teams (00:29:15) Why time is the most underrated moat (00:32:40) Venture capital vs. community businesses (00:37:02) Pavilion’s path: member value, pricing, and curation (00:41:19) Managing brand, exclusivity, and self-serve tension (00:46:05) The “Groucho Marx problem” in communities (00:49:30) Launching Pavilion Gold and premium tiers (00:52:40) Using price as a filter for engagement (00:56:30) Building long-term value beyond personal brand (00:59:20) Distribution, YouTube, and creator-led growth (01:02:10) Closing reflections and takeaways — SPONSORS: Mercury is business banking built for builders, giving founders and finance pros a financial stack that actually works together. From sending wires to tracking balances and approving payments, Mercury makes it simple to scale without friction. Join the 200,000+ entrepreneurs who trust Mercury and apply online in minutes at https://www.mercury.com 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. Tipalti automates the entire payables process—from onboarding suppliers to executing global payouts—helping finance teams save time, eliminate costly errors, and scale confidently across 200+ countries and 120 currencies. More than 5,000 businesses already trust Tipalti to manage payments with built-in security and tax compliance. Visit https://www.tipalti.com/runthenumbers to learn more. 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 Fidelity Private Shares is the all-in-one equity management platform that keeps your cap table clean, your data room organized, and your equity story clear—so you never risk losing a fundraising round over messy records. Schedule a demo at https://www.fidelityprivateshares.com and mention Mostly Metrics to get 20% off. Metronome is real-time billing built for modern software companies. Metronome turns raw usage events into accurate invoices, gives customers bills they actually understand, and keeps finance, product, and engineering perfectly in sync. That’s why category-defining companies like OpenAI and Anthropic trust Metronome to power usage-based pricing and enterprise contracts at scale. Focus on your product — not your billing. Learn more and get started at https://www.metronome.com #RunTheNumbersPodcast #Finance #CommunityBuilding #Leadership #GoToMarket This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit cjgustafson.substack.com

    1 小時 2 分鐘
  2. Do the things spreadsheets can’t do | SeatGeek’s Teddy Collins

    3 天前

    Do the things spreadsheets can’t do | SeatGeek’s Teddy Collins

    In this episode of Run the Numbers, CJ Gustafson sits down with Teddy Collins, EVP of Finance at SeatGeek, who helped scale the company from its first in-house finance hire to a tech-forward finance team powering one of the most dynamic businesses in live events. Teddy shares what it was like leading finance through the pandemic when live events went dark overnight, how that period reshaped his approach to forecasting and uncertainty, and how SeatGeek is now using AI and machine learning to enhance planning accuracy and decision-making. He and CJ also dive into how finance can evolve from a cost center to a strategic partner, the toughest manual processes he’s eliminated, and where he sees the next big leap in the CFO tech stack. Finally, Teddy opens up about his rapid rise—four promotions in ten years—and offers practical advice on career growth, feedback, and building trust in a world where AI is redefining what “junior” really means. — LINKS: On LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/teddycollins/ Company: https://seatgeek.com/ CJ on X (@cjgustafson222): https://x.com/cjgustafson222 Mostly metrics: https://www.mostlymetrics.com — RELATED EPISODES: CFO of FloQast on Why Finance Teams are Data Curators — TIMESTAMPS: (00:00:00) Preview and Intro (00:02:49) Sponsor – Metronome | Mercury | RightRev (00:06:36) Joining SeatGeek and the Early Finance Journey (00:08:05) Managing Finance When Live Events Went Dark (00:10:23) Forecasting Through Uncertainty (00:13:12) Building Systems and Processes from Scratch (00:15:34) Sponsor – Tipalti | Aleph | Fidelity Private Shares (00:18:06) Using AI and Machine Learning in Forecasting (00:22:44) Build vs. Buy: SeatGeek’s Tech Philosophy (00:26:31) Turning Finance into a Strategic Partner (00:30:42) Killing Manual Processes and Automating Insights (00:34:55) The Next Big Leap in the CFO Stack (00:38:46) Leading Teams Through Change and Growth (00:42:11) Talent, Tools, and the Future of Finance Roles (00:46:07) Climbing the Ladder: Four Promotions in Ten Years (00:49:50) Career Advice and Earning Trust in Fast-Growing Teams (00:53:16) How AI Is Reshaping the Definition of “Junior” (00:56:22) Lightning Round and Closing Thoughts — SPONSORS: Today’s podcast is brought to you by Metronome. You just launched your new AI product. The new pricing page looks great. But behind it? Last-minute glue code, messy spreadsheets, and running ad-hoc queries to figure out what to bill. Customers get invoices they can’t understand. Engineers are chasing billing bugs. Finance can’t close the books. With Metronome, you hand it all off to the real-time billing infrastructure that just works—reliable, flexible, and built to grow with you. We turn raw usage events into accurate invoices, give customers bills they actually understand, and keep every team in sync in real time. Whether you’re launching usage-based pricing, managing enterprise contracts, or rolling out new AI services, Metronome does the heavy lifting so you can focus on your product, not your billing. That’s why some of the fastest-growing companies in the world, like OpenAI and Anthropic, run their billing on Metronome. Visit metronome.com to learn more. Mercury is business banking built for builders, giving founders and finance pros a financial stack that actually works together. From sending wires to tracking balances and approving payments, Mercury makes it simple to scale without friction. Join the 200,000+ entrepreneurs who trust Mercury and apply online in minutes at https://www.mercury.com 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. Tipalti automates the entire payables process—from onboarding suppliers to executing global payouts—helping finance teams save time, eliminate costly errors, and scale confidently across 200+ countries and 120 currencies. More than 5,000 businesses already trust Tipalti to manage payments with built-in security and tax compliance. Visit https://www.tipalti.com/runthenumbers to learn more. 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 Fidelity Private Shares is the all-in-one equity management platform that keeps your cap table clean, your data room organized, and your equity story clear—so you never risk losing a fundraising round over messy records. Schedule a demo at https://www.fidelityprivateshares.com and mention Mostly Metrics to get 20% off. #RunTheNumbersPodcast #FinanceLeadership #CFOStack #AIForecasting #SeatGeek This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit cjgustafson.substack.com

    1 小時 4 分鐘
  3. The Gross Margin Episode with Sarah Wang of a16z

    10月27日

    The Gross Margin Episode with Sarah Wang of a16z

    Gross margins, GPUs, and the future of finance — this one’s for the metrics nerds. CJ sits down with Sarah Wang, General Partner at Andreessen Horowitz, to talk about what happens when the traditional SaaS playbook collides with AI. Sarah shares how legacy benchmarks like payback period and burn multiple start to break down in a world where compute, not headcount, drives costs. She explains why sky-high gross margins can actually be an orange flag, how finance leaders can think about resource allocation between engineers and GPUs, and why the most valuable finance teams today are deeply operational. They also unpack what it’s like partnering with AI-native founders, the evolution of pricing models as LLM costs drop, and whether we’ll see a private trillion-dollar company anytime soon. — LINKS: on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sarah-wang-59b96a7/ Company: https://a16z.com/ CJ on X (@cjgustafson222): https://x.com/cjgustafson222 Mostly metrics: https://www.mostlymetrics.com — RELATED EPISODES: 996 Culture, Exploding AI Bills & SaaS Chaos From Credit Karma to Notion: CFO Rama Katkar on Leading Finance Through Every Growth Stage 5,762 Job Applications. Zero Offers. Thinking About Adding Payments to Your Software Product? Listen to This First! — TIMESTAMPS: (00:00:00) Preview and Intro (00:02:40) Sponsors – Fidelity Private Shares, Mercury, RightRev (00:05:50) Sarah Joins the Show (00:06:06) The Future of Excel in the Age of AI (00:08:24) Why Gross Margins Don’t Tell the Whole Story (00:10:42) When Sky-High Margins Are an Orange Flag (00:12:57) Finance as a Strategic Lever in AI Companies (00:15:04) Sponsors – Tipalti, Aleph, Rillet (00:17:22) Partnering with AI-Native Founders (00:20:35) When Traditional SaaS Benchmarks Break Down (00:23:58) Forecasting and Financial Planning for Compute Costs (00:27:16) The Engineers-Versus-GPUs Trade-Off (00:30:29) Resource Allocation and Infrastructure Efficiency (00:33:47) How Pricing Models Evolve as LLM Costs Drop (00:37:15) Circular Finance: When Big Tech Funds Its Own Vendors (00:40:39) Metrics That Still Matter in AI-Driven Businesses (00:44:12) The Evolving Role of Finance Leaders (00:47:26) What “Operational Finance” Really Means (00:50:58) Building Sustainable Efficiency in AI Companies (00:54:03) Will We See a Private Trillion-Dollar Company? (00:55:33) Outro — SPONSORS: Fidelity Private Shares is the all-in-one equity management platform that keeps your cap table clean, your data room organized, and your equity story clear—so you never risk losing a fundraising round over messy records. Schedule a demo at https://www.fidelityprivateshares.com and mention Mostly Metrics to get 20% off. Mercury is business banking built for builders, giving founders and finance pros a financial stack that actually works together. From sending wires to tracking balances and approving payments, Mercury makes it simple to scale without friction. Join the 200,000+ entrepreneurs who trust Mercury and apply online in minutes at https://www.mercury.com 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. Tipalti automates the entire payables process—from onboarding suppliers to executing global payouts—helping finance teams save time, eliminate costly errors, and scale confidently across 200+ countries and 120 currencies. More than 5,000 businesses already trust Tipalti to manage payments with built-in security and tax compliance. Visit https://www.tipalti.com/runthenumbers to learn more. 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 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 #RunTheNumbersPodcast #FinanceLeadership #AIinBusiness #VentureCapital #SaaSMetrics This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit cjgustafson.substack.com

    56 分鐘
  4. Sloponomics: Surviving the AI Content Flood with Rudeness | Mostly Growth

    10月25日

    Sloponomics: Surviving the AI Content Flood with Rudeness | Mostly Growth

    Check out Mostly Growth and get episodes early. Available on all platforms. * YouTube * Spotify * Apple In this episode, CJ Gustafson, Kyle Poyar, and Ben Hillman dive into the concept of “sloponomics”—a tongue-in-cheek look at the overwhelming flood of mediocre AI-generated content and what it means for creators, startups, and investors. They discuss how unique voices and genuine creativity will stand out in an AI-saturated landscape, the economic parallels between modern content creation and startup growth, and the tricky dynamics of building sustainable momentum in a world of noise. The trio also unpack the “$10K MRR” meme, pricing psychology, and the difference between chasing vanity metrics and building lasting value. With humor and real-world insight, they explore how AI, distribution, and early-stage investment are reshaping what success looks like in tech and media. Timestamps: 00:00 Preview and Intro 00:35 Being Mean to AI and Early Banter 02:05 When You’re Rude to AI: The Penn State Study 04:57 Sponsor – Metronome 06:02 The Rise of AI-Generated “Slop” Content 07:15 The Creator “Haves and Have-Nots” 09:00 Losing Credit to AI Models 11:20 Feeding the Beast: 400 Posts Later 13:13 “Slop Talk” and Human-Made Slop 14:27 The $10K MRR Meme and Startup Momentum 15:49 Pricing Psychology and Product Traction 17:42 Hunting Mice, Buffalo, and Elephants 20:19 Venture Funds, Bubbles, and Ecosystem Investing 23:39 When Startups Invest in Startups 26:25 Slack, Lattice, and the Platform Play 30:39 Wrapping Up and Late-Night Insights 33:12 The Hemingway Story and CJ’s No-Instagram Lifestyle 36:10 Electric Boats, Group Discounts, and Sign-Off Episodes Referenced: Slop Talk (coming soon) ⁠https://www.youtube.com/slackerstuff⁠ Why Only 2% of Startups Make It When startups burn cash faster than they learn | Ivan Makarov:⁠ 996 Culture, Exploding AI Bills & SaaS Chaos⁠ Links: ⁠https://www.dexerto.com/entertainment/study-proves-being-rude-to-ai-chatbots-gets-better-results-than-being-nice-3269895/⁠ ⁠https://www.usg.edu/galileo/skills/unit07/internet07_02.phtml⁠ ⁠https://futurism.com/altman-please-thanks-chatgpt⁠ ⁠https://futurism.com/artificial-intelligence/over-50-percent-internet-ai-slop⁠ ⁠https://www.axios.com/2025/10/14/ai-generated-writing-humans⁠ ⁠https://www.economist.com/business/2025/10/16/sloponomics-who-wins-and-loses-in-the-ai-content-flood⁠ ⁠https://x.com/madhuraaa_/status/1978390720881819884⁠ ⁠https://www.mostlymetrics.com/p/eat-what-you-kill⁠ ⁠https://christophjanz.blogspot.com/2014/10/five-ways-to-build-100-million-business.html⁠ ⁠https://www.growthunhinged.com/p/how-to-build-your-early-gtm-strategy⁠ ⁠https://www.mostlymetrics.com/p/startups-investing-in-startups-peak-bubble-behavior⁠ ⁠https://www.economist.com/science-and-technology/2025/10/10/are-barefoot-shoes-good-for-runners⁠ ⁠https://x.com/ivanomaksf/status/1978852000298320068?s=46⁠ ⁠https://www.linkedin.com/news/story/uber-offers-drivers-extra-pay-to-perform-tasks-that-train-ai-7116401/⁠ ⁠https://www.mostlymetrics.com/p/is-ltv-to-cac-the-nickelback-of-metrics⁠ ⁠https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/tv/tv-news/final-2024-25-network-tv-ratings-tracker-high-potential-1236312223/⁠ ⁠https://christophjanz.blogspot.com/2014/10/five-ways-to-build-100-million-business.html⁠ ⁠https://www.theinformation.com/articles/ben-horowitz-hires-jensen-vercel-starts-venture-fund⁠ ⁠https://www.instagram.com/chasemytail/ Today’s podcast is brought to you by Metronome You just launched your new AI product. The new pricing page looks great. But behind it? Last-minute glue code, messy spreadsheets, and running ad-hoc queries to figure out what to bill. Customers get invoices they can’t understand. Engineers are chasing billing bugs. Finance can’t close the books. With Metronome, you hand it all off to the real-time billing infrastructure that just works—reliable, flexible, and built to grow with you. We turn raw usage events into accurate invoices, give customers bills they actually understand, and keep every team in sync in real time. Whether you’re launching usage-based pricing, managing enterprise contracts, or rolling out new AI services, Metronome does the heavy lifting so you can focus on your product, not your billing. That’s why some of the fastest-growing companies in the world, like OpenAI and Anthropic, run their billing on Metronome. Visit metronome.com to learn more. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit cjgustafson.substack.com

    38 分鐘
  5. Decoding the Psychology of Price in the Age of AI | Michael Stanisz

    10月23日

    Decoding the Psychology of Price in the Age of AI | Michael Stanisz

    In this episode of Run the Numbers, CJ sits down with Michael Stanisz, Partner at Revenue Management Labs, the person companies call when their pricing model stops making sense. For decades, software pricing was predictable: sell more seats, add more margin. But with AI, every usage prompt has a real cost, and the old economics no longer hold. CJ and Michael dive into what happens when your product looks like software but behaves like infrastructure, how pricing power erodes as features become free, and why value-based pricing might not be as customer-friendly as it sounds. They also explore the chaos of real-world pricing: from Microsoft cloning your startup to measuring ROI when your product’s impact is undeniable but hard to prove; all wrapped in sharp insights and a few “we still run this on DOS” war stories. — LINKS: Michael on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michael-stanisz-27418a28 Revenue Management Labs: https://revenueml.com/ CJ on X (@cjgustafson222): https://x.com/cjgustafson222 Mostly metrics: https://www.mostlymetrics.com — RELATED EPISODES: “Anything new needs to have AI core to its offering”: Amy Butte, How Navan Is Redefining Finance Ops From Credit Karma to Notion: CFO Rama Katkar on Leading Finance Through Every Growth Stage — TIMESTAMPS: (00:00:00) Preview and Intro (00:02:23) Sponsor – Rillet, Fidelity Private Shares, and Mercury (00:05:27) The new economics of AI pricing (00:07:51) When variable costs replace software margins (00:10:30) The fall of 80% SaaS margins (00:13:23) From premium feature to table stakes (00:15:07) Sponsor – RightRev, Tipalti, and Aleph (00:19:12) Spotting a feature before it becomes a commodity (00:23:31) The real cost of switching and why stickiness matters (00:27:46) The rise of AI white labeling (00:30:03) Outcome-based pricing — altruism or strategy? (00:34:22) Rewarding throughput and avoiding “tollbooth” pricing (00:36:29) Measuring usage and why telemetry matters (00:40:49) What makes a value exchange credible (00:44:14) Cost avoidance vs. revenue gain (00:46:02) The stages of pricing maturity (00:49:49) Why startups see what big companies can’t (00:52:09) When hype meets hard costs in AI (00:55:17) When customers refuse to leave on-prem (01:03:29) Credits and Sign-Off — SPONSORS: 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 Fidelity Private Shares is the all-in-one equity management platform that keeps your cap table clean, your data room organized, and your equity story clear—so you never risk losing a fundraising round over messy records. Schedule a demo at https://www.fidelityprivateshares.com and mention Mostly Metrics to get 20% off. Mercury is business banking built for builders, giving founders and finance pros a financial stack that actually works together. From sending wires to tracking balances and approving payments, Mercury makes it simple to scale without friction. Join the 200,000+ entrepreneurs who trust Mercury and apply online in minutes at https://www.mercury.com 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. Tipalti automates the entire payables process—from onboarding suppliers to executing global payouts—helping finance teams save time, eliminate costly errors, and scale confidently across 200+ countries and 120 currencies. More than 5,000 businesses already trust Tipalti to manage payments with built-in security and tax compliance. Visit https://www.tipalti.com/runthenumbers to learn more. 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 #RunTheNumbersPodcast #PricingStrategy #SaaSModels #AIPricing #B2BRevenue This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit cjgustafson.substack.com

    1 小時 4 分鐘
  6. Finance vs. Marketing: Who’s Really Right About ROI? | Brandon Sullivan

    10月20日

    Finance vs. Marketing: Who’s Really Right About ROI? | Brandon Sullivan

    In this episode, CJ sits down with Brandon Sullivan, CFO at 2X, to unpack one of the most enduring tensions in business — the uneasy relationship between finance and marketing. From the myth of clean ROI to the chaos of martech spend, Brandon explains why measuring marketing impact is far harder than most CFOs think, and how spreadsheet logic can lead to bad decisions. He shares what it’s like to run finance inside a 1,200-person marketing org, why cutting too deep in downturns can backfire, and what it takes to actually bridge the gap between teams that speak different languages. Along the way, he reveals lessons from scaling 2X across time zones, building global reporting rhythms, and redefining how finance and marketing can finally pull in the same direction. — LINKS: Brandon Sullivan on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brandonsullivan2x/ 2X: https://2x.marketing/ CJ on X (@cjgustafson222): https://x.com/cjgustafson222 Mostly metrics: https://www.mostlymetrics.com — RELATED EPISODES: From Facebook’s Hypergrowth to Daffy’s Disruption: A CFO’s Playbook for Saying Yes — TIMESTAMPS: (00:00:00) Preview and Intro (00:02:28) Sponsor – Aleph | Rillet | Fidelity Private Shares (00:05:55) Behind Enemy Lines: Finance Meets Marketing (00:07:00) Why CFOs and CMOs Clash (00:08:12) The Myth of Marketing ROI (00:10:19) Why Marketing Is So Hard to Measure (00:11:23) The Single Source of Truth Problem (00:15:29) Sponsor – Mercury | RightRev | Tipalti (00:19:35) The Three Buckets of Marketing Spend (00:21:26) The Long-Term Cost of Cutting Program Spend (00:23:27) How AI and ChatGPT Are Changing Marketing Attribution (00:25:43) Building a Modern Finance Team (00:27:55) The First-Time CFO Learning Curve (00:31:05) From Solo Operator to Scaled Finance Org (00:32:41) Why Weekly Reporting Beats Monthly Reviews (00:40:10) Working with Private Equity Partners (00:43:43) The Founding Story of 2X (00:48:12) Running a Global Team Across Time Zones (00:54:00) Long-Ass Lightning Round (00:57:00) Advice to Younger Self (00:58:58) Finance Stack and Craziest Expense Story (00:59:58) Credits and Sign-Off — SPONSORS: 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 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 Fidelity Private Shares is the all-in-one equity management platform that keeps your cap table clean, your data room organized, and your equity story clear—so you never risk losing a fundraising round over messy records. Schedule a demo at https://www.fidelityprivateshares.com and mention Mostly Metrics to get 20% off. Mercury is business banking built for builders, giving founders and finance pros a financial stack that actually works together. From sending wires to tracking balances and approving payments, Mercury makes it simple to scale without friction. Join the 200,000+ entrepreneurs who trust Mercury and apply online in minutes at https://www.mercury.com 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. Tipalti automates the entire payables process—from onboarding suppliers to executing global payouts—helping finance teams save time, eliminate costly errors, and scale confidently across 200+ countries and 120 currencies. More than 5,000 businesses already trust Tipalti to manage payments with built-in security and tax compliance. Visit https://www.tipalti.com/runthenumbers to learn more. #RunTheNumbersPodcast #FinanceVsMarketing #CFOInsights #MarketingROI #BusinessStrategy This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit cjgustafson.substack.com

    1 小時
  7. Inside the AI Feedback Loop: Nvidia, OpenAI, and the Bubble Building Itself

    10月18日

    Inside the AI Feedback Loop: Nvidia, OpenAI, and the Bubble Building Itself

    Check out Mostly Growth and get episodes early. Available on all platforms. * YouTube * Spotify * Apple In this episode of Mostly Growth, CJ Gustafson, Kyle Poyar, and Ben Hillman dive into the question on everyone’s mind: are we in an AI bubble? What starts as a lighthearted riff on the U.S. Postal Service launching a podcast quickly spirals into a sharp, funny breakdown of today’s AI hype cycle — from Nvidia, OpenAI, and AMD trading money and GPUs in a trillion-dollar feedback loop, to startups burning cash chasing “AI-powered” everything. The trio share real examples of when AI helps and when it backfires (including one newsletter that totally tanked), debate whether companies are over-optimizing for automation, and laugh through the absurdity of the hype while grounding it in practical insights on product, finance, and growth. Timestamps: 00:00 Preview and Intro 00:14 Are We in an AI Bubble? 00:44 The AI Feedback Loop: Nvidia, OpenAI, and AMD 01:00 Perplexity, We Caught You (Again) 02:18 The USPS Podcast and the End of Original Ideas 04:24 How the Team Actually Uses AI at Work 06:07 CJ’s DIY Dunning Saga 08:38 When Automation Goes Too Far 10:49 The Perplexity Gaslight Moment 13:27 AI vs. AI: Outsmarting Resume Screeners 16:09 What Recruiters Really Think of AI Resumes 17:17 The Chief of Staff Hiring Story 19:15 Is AI Adoption Already Slowing Down? 22:42 The “Crossing the Chasm” Moment for AI Tools 26:22 Bundling AI Like Streaming Services 28:49 Everyone’s Paying Everyone: The Circular AI Economy 31:15 Betting Big on AGI and Data Centers 34:09 The Margin: AI Erotica and Peak Absurdity 35:23 OpenAI’s Token Leaderboard and Other Blunders 41:43 What Kyle Tried This Week: Building an AI Agent 44:52 Wrap-Up and Outro Episodes Referenced: 5,762 Job Applications. Zero Offers. Episodes Referenced: 5,762 Job Applications. Zero Offers. Why Only 2% of Startups Make It The War for Talent is just getting started | Joe Floyd Links: https://usps-mailin-it.simplecast.com/ https://i.imgflip.com/a92oy5.jpg https://tabs.inc/webinar/tabs-agent https://www.nytimes.com/2025/10/07/business/ai-chatbot-prompts-resumes.html?_bhlid=1b5906cdc6781a738a150d9c32f846ebf11fc318 https://substack.com/home/post/p-175615945 https://ramp.com/data/ai-index?utm_source=econlab.substack.com https://medium.com/@samuelvandeth/crossing-the-chasm-162802d1cf27 https://x.com/TrungTPhan/status/1922669292929024017/photo/1 https://x.com/zerohedge/status/1977902195472322620?s=42 https://topline.beehiiv.com/p/the-era-of-haves-and-have-nots https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cpd2qv58yl5o https://www.linkedin.com/posts/cj-gustafson-13140948_imagine-getting-called-into-your-cfos-office-activity-7381681514532458496-NOqa/ https://fortune.com/2025/10/01/red-lobster-ceo-damola-adamolekun-comeback-plan-bankruptcy/ https://fortune.com/2024/11/13/red-lobster-ceo-damola-adamolekun-says-endless-shrimp-is-never-coming-back/# https://www.relay.app/ Today’s podcast is brought to you by Metronome You just launched your new AI product. The new pricing page looks great. But behind it? Last-minute glue code, messy spreadsheets, and running ad-hoc queries to figure out what to bill. Customers get invoices they can’t understand. Engineers are chasing billing bugs. Finance can’t close the books. With Metronome, you hand it all off to the real-time billing infrastructure that just works—reliable, flexible, and built to grow with you. We turn raw usage events into accurate invoices, give customers bills they actually understand, and keep every team in sync in real time. Whether you’re launching usage-based pricing, managing enterprise contracts, or rolling out new AI services, Metronome does the heavy lifting so you can focus on your product, not your billing. That’s why some of the fastest-growing companies in the world, like OpenAI and Anthropic, run their billing on Metronome. Visit metronome.com to learn more. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit cjgustafson.substack.com

    47 分鐘
  8. Cash Flow, Control, and Company-Building with Ivan Makarov of Andreessen Horowitz

    10月16日

    Cash Flow, Control, and Company-Building with Ivan Makarov of Andreessen Horowitz

    In this episode of Run the Numbers, CJ Gustafson sits down with Ivan Makarov, Operating Partner at Andreessen Horowitz and former VP of Finance at Webflow, to explore what it takes to build a finance function from scratch inside a fast-growing startup. Ivan shares lessons from the trenches—how to decide between outsourcing and hiring in-house, what makes a great first finance hire, and why early-stage companies often run out of cash before they run out of ideas. He also dives into fundraising pitfalls, audit readiness, and the tools that make up a modern finance stack. Beyond the spreadsheets, Ivan opens up about the shift from operator to venture partner, the value of helping founders avoid his past mistakes, and what makes an offsite actually work. — LINKS: Ivan Makarov on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ivansmakarov/ Andreessen Horowitz: https://a16z.com/ CJ on X (@cjgustafson222): https://x.com/cjgustafson222 Mostly metrics: https://www.mostlymetrics.com — RELATED EPISODES: Webflow’s VP Finance Ivan Makarov on Understanding Startup Equity: Portfolio Operations: This Is What You Actually Have To Do To Make Sure a Company Is Successful: Brex COO/CFO Michael Tannenbaum on Taking Risks 996 Culture, Exploding AI Bills & SaaS Chaos — TIMESTAMPS: (00:00:00) Preview, Intro (00:01:18) Meet Ivan Makarov of Andreessen Horowitz & Episode Setup (00:02:39) Sponsor – Tipalti | Aleph | Rillet (00:06:51) From Webflow to Andreessen: Becoming an Operating Partner (00:09:19) When and Why Founders Hire Their First Finance Leader (00:12:52) Hiring Early in Complex or Regulated Industries (00:13:58) The First Finance Hire in 2025 vs. 2015 (00:15:46) Sponsor – Fidelity Private Shares | Mercury | RightRev (00:19:02) The Many Hats of Finance Leaders & The Rise of RevOps (00:24:55) What Founders Look For: Startup DNA and Work Ethic (00:26:05) Grind Culture, Return to Office, and New Expectations (00:28:20) From BizOps to RevOps: How Finance Roles Are Evolving (00:31:57) The First 12 Months of a Finance Leader’s Playbook (00:35:05) Choosing Audit Partners and Avoiding Hidden Costs (00:36:32) Why Startups Really Fail — Running Out of Cash (00:39:16) Cash Controls, Banking Diversification, and Fraud Prevention (00:43:48) Fundraising Red Flags: Metrics, Definitions, and Diligence (00:47:50) 409A Valuations, Equity Clarity & Candidate Questions (00:50:09) The Modern Finance Tech Stack & Gen 3 Tools (00:55:05) AI’s Impact: Replacing Labor, Not People (01:00:00) Offsites, Team Building & The Future of Finance Leadership (01:02:28) Wrapping Up: Reflections, Gratitude & Closing Credits — SPONSORS: Tipalti automates the entire payables process—from onboarding suppliers to executing global payouts—helping finance teams save time, eliminate costly errors, and scale confidently across 200+ countries and 120 currencies. More than 5,000 businesses already trust Tipalti to manage payments with built-in security and tax compliance. Visit https://www.tipalti.com/runthenumbers to learn more. 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 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 Fidelity Private Shares is the all-in-one equity management platform that keeps your cap table clean, your data room organized, and your equity story clear—so you never risk losing a fundraising round over messy records. Schedule a demo at https://www.fidelityprivateshares.com and mention Mostly Metrics to get 20% off. Mercury is business banking built for builders, giving founders and finance pros a financial stack that actually works together. From sending wires to tracking balances and approving payments, Mercury makes it simple to scale without friction. Join the 200,000+ entrepreneurs who trust Mercury and apply online in minutes at https://www.mercury.com 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. #RunTheNumbersPodcast #StartupFinance #VentureCapital #CFOInsights #Leadership This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit cjgustafson.substack.com

    1 小時 3 分鐘
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簡介

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. cjgustafson.substack.com

資訊

  • 創作者
    CJ Gustafson
  • 活躍年代
    2024年 - 2025年
  • 集數
    246
  • 年齡分級
    兒少不宜
  • 版權
    © Mostly LLC
  • 節目網站
    Run the Numbers

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