Run the Numbers

CJ Gustafson

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. From SMB to Enterprise: The CFO Scaling Playbook With Andrew Casey | Mostly Classics

    1일 전

    From SMB to Enterprise: The CFO Scaling Playbook With Andrew Casey | Mostly Classics

    Serving SMB mid-market customers is one thing, but when you go upstream to enterprise sales, everything changes: go-to-market strategy, the sales process, how you structure deals, even how you define customer value. Today’s guest, Andrew Casey, has helped scale four SaaS companies: ServiceNow, WalkMe, Lacework, and his current company, Amplitude. At ServiceNow, he worked closely with Snowflake’s Mike Scarpelli and Coatue’s David Schneider, and he was instrumental in establishing the company’s deal desk to support its sales motion. As an operationally focused CFO, he shares a wealth of knowledge on the importance of staying close to the customer, structuring deals that work for both sides, establishing transparency in usage-based pricing, aligning incentives and strategy in sales, the pros and cons of multi-year deals, the problem with auto-renewals and what to do instead, and how to adapt your go-to-market strategy when moving from SMB mid-market to enterprise. — SPONSORS: 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 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. — Andrew Casey on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrew-casey-6b14875/ Amplitude: https://amplitude.com CJ on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/cj-gustafson-13140948/ Mostly metrics: https://www.mostlymetrics.com — RELATED EPISODES: An Operationally-Focused CFO’s Guide to Scaling From SMB to Enterprise: Lessons From ServiceNow https://youtu.be/iUpMAQ14YpM — TIMESTAMPS: 00:00:00 Preview and Intro 00:03:27 Sponsors – Metronome, Mercury, RightRev 00:07:08 Andrew joins the podcast 00:08:10 Becoming an operational CFO 00:09:25 Early customer-empathy beginnings at Sun 00:11:34 How customer-empathy shaped Andrew’s career 00:14:08 Navigating HP’s troubled EDS contracts 00:16:05 Sponsors – Tipalti, Aleph, Fidelity Private Shares 00:19:37 Returning from ads – running toward hard markets 00:20:13 Scaling ServiceNow’s sales operations 00:23:27 Breaking into the trusted circle after the Q1 miss 00:25:26 Building and scaling the ServiceNow deal desk 00:28:11 Principles of transparent, value-aligned pricing 00:30:17 Rethinking metering models and usage alignment 00:33:01 Diagnosing budget constraints vs. cash timing 00:36:14 Incentives, comp plans, and high-trust selling 00:39:21 Training enterprise reps for long-term value 00:40:17 Multi-year deals and when they actually work 00:43:05 Overselling, discount levers, and ZIRP contract bloat 00:45:58 How enterprise scale transforms go-to-market 00:51:03 Pipeline coverage and maturity modeling 00:54:02 Not all pipeline dollars are created equal 00:57:05 Career-risk mindset in enterprise selling 01:00:02 Defining enterprise and moving upmarket 01:01:00 A business-first approach to the CFO role 01:03:10 Getting hired at ServiceNow 01:06:37 Building GTM finance, deal desk, and a 400-person org 01:08:00 Lightning round – biggest mistakes and IR lesson 01:11:10 Advice to his younger self and leading through change 01:13:34 Defining customers, ARR accuracy, and hierarchy pitfalls 01:15:12 The wildest expense attempt ever submitted #RunTheNumbersPodcast #SaaSFinance #EnterpriseSelling #GTMStrategy #CFOInsights 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

    1시간 16분
  2. Running the Product-Market Fit Treadmill with Brian Balfour | Mostly Growth

    3일 전

    Running the Product-Market Fit Treadmill with Brian Balfour | Mostly Growth

    Brian Balfour, Founder & CEO of Reforge and former VP of Growth at HubSpot, joins Mostly Growth to explore why product-market fit is a moving target. He introduces the concept of the Product-Market Fit Treadmill, a state where rising customer expectations and competitive pressure make it harder than ever to stay ahead. Brian breaks down how AI has accelerated PMF collapse, explains the hidden costs of product adoption, and shares how Reforge shipped five AI-native products with a team of just 20 people. Packed with frameworks, strategic insight, and startup realism, this episode is essential listening for product leaders, operators, and founders navigating the next wave of GTM. — SPONSORS: 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 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 — LINKS: Mostly Metrics: https://www.mostlymetrics.com CJ on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/cj-gustafson-13140948/ Growth Unhinged: https://www.growthunhinged.com/ Kyle on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kyle-poyar/ Brian Balfour: brianbalfour.com Brian on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bbalfour/ Slacker Stuff: https://www.slackerstuff.com/ Ben on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/slackerstuff/ https://brianbalfour.com/four-fits-growth-framework https://x.com/amasad/status/1981201454032703662?s=46 https://getlatka.com/companies/firefliesai https://x.com/rowancheung/status/1988218743952916537? https://gamma.app/insights/how-we-built-a-usd100m-business-differently — RELATED EPISODES: When the marketing math doesn’t math | with Emily Kramer https://youtu.be/sSuoV_YSrlw Why Founders Are Posting Sad Dinners https://youtu.be/Zl6NSIHF2Gk — TIMESTAMPS: 00:00:00 Preview and Intro 00:01:51 Sponsors – Pulley, Metronome 00:04:11 Introducing Brian Balfour & Reforge background 00:07:22 Evergreen frameworks & Four Fits resurgence 00:11:01 PMF treadmill and rising expectations 00:14:26 AI shocks and PMF collapse (Chegg) 00:16:43 CRM expectations & AI-native workflows 00:20:44 R&D as ongoing cost to serve 00:22:26 Customers buying based on future product velocity 00:24:32 Communicating rapid releases & driving adoption 00:25:17 Reforge’s expanding AI product suite 00:27:52 Product delivery vs. product adoption bottlenecks 00:29:32 Platform distribution shifts introduction 00:30:51 Evaluating emerging platforms 00:32:04 The open → close platform cycle 00:33:31 Moats, escape velocity & platform dominance 00:36:32 Choosing major vs. emerging platforms 00:40:22 ChatGPT dominance in AI discovery 00:42:16 Hiring, resumes & filtering AI-generated applications 00:43:30 AI note-taking market & “Flintstoning” 00:47:03 Trying Gamma & AI-generated presentation tools 00:50:08 AI onboarding innovations (WhatsApp agent) #MostlyGrowthPodcast #ProductMarketFit #BrianBalfour #StartupStrategy #Reforge 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

    53분
  3. Mercury, Snowflake, and Boulder Care Finance Pros Weigh In | Campfire Roundup

    5일 전

    Mercury, Snowflake, and Boulder Care Finance Pros Weigh In | Campfire Roundup

    In this special episode of Run the Numbers, CJ Gustafson records live from Campfire’s AI Finance Forward conference in San Francisco, serving up a trio of rapid-fire interviews with top-tier finance leaders. First, Daniel Kang, CFO of Mercury, breaks down the quality of fintech revenue streams, the mechanics of float in a falling rate environment, and what investors really value. Then, Brad Floering, SVP of Finance at Snowflake, shares war stories on usage-based pricing, forecasting consumption, and the role of AI in modern FP&A. Finally, Mitzi Yue of Boulder Care brings a mission-driven perspective, reflecting on dual roles in finance and culture, career product-market fit, and the ethical frontier of AI in healthcare. It’s a fast, thoughtful taste of where modern finance is headed. — LINKS: Daniel Kang on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dmkang/ Mercury: https://mercury.com/ Brad Floering on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brad-floering/ Snowflake: https://www.snowflake.com/ Mitzi Yue on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mitziyue/ Boulder Care: https://www.boulder.care/ CJ on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/cj-gustafson-13140948/ Mostly metrics: https://www.mostlymetrics.com — RELATED EPISODES: Grindr’s $0 CAC Secret from the CFO Who Launched Disney+ | Vanna Krantz https://youtu.be/ijFIMmtpLNw — TIMESTAMPS: 00:00:00 Preview and Intro 00:04:03 Sponsors – Fidelity Private Shares, Metronome, Mercury 00:06:49 Guest – Daniel Kang (Mercury) joins 00:07:55 Lessons from being first finance hire 00:10:49 Finance collaborating on product decisions 00:13:12 Comparing customer segments and revenue models 00:16:58 Sponsors – Right Rev, Tipalti, Aleph 00:21:11 Market shift for consumer fintech models 00:23:14 Balancing gross profit with product growth 00:24:41 Misconceptions about fintech revenue 00:26:57 Guest – Brad Floering (Snowflake) joins 00:30:22 Aligning pricing with cloud resource consumption 00:33:17 Forecasting challenges with usage-based revenue 00:35:06 Complexity of sales commissions under consumption model 00:38:23 Lessons from AWS: committing for discounts 00:41:16 Cold start forecasting challenges and the role of employee size 00:44:01 Customer behavior and rollover credit challenges 00:47:08 Using professional services to recover unused credits 00:49:05 Seasonality and forecasting challenges in Q4 00:54:16 Guest – Mitzi Yue (Boulder Care) joins 00:57:05 The pandemic’s impact on telemedicine adoption 01:00:33 Finance decisions with human consequences in healthcare 01:02:26 Finding personal product-market fit in Series B/C stage 01:03:33 Finance as the central nervous system of the company 01:07:10 Nonprofits inspired by personal values and experience 01:10:52 Exploring AI’s potential in healthcare and finance — 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. 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 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 #FintechStrategy #UsageBasedPricing #HealthcareFinance #AIinFinance 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

    1시간 16분
  4. Grindr’s $0 CAC Secret from the CFO Who Launched Disney+ | Vanna Krantz

    11월 17일

    Grindr’s $0 CAC Secret from the CFO Who Launched Disney+ | Vanna Krantz

    In this episode of Run the Numbers, CJ Gustafson sits down with Vanna Krantz, former CFO of Disney+ and Grindr, to explore what it takes to lead finance through massive inflection points. Vanna reflects on building Disney+’s subscription model from scratch under Bob Iger’s leadership and the pressure of launching a global product with no precedent. She discusses forecasting as both science and art, and the importance of appreciating high-stakes moments amid chaos. Shifting to Grindr, Vanna breaks down how the company went public with remarkable efficiency—boasting 40% EBITDA margins and under 200 employees—and how she modeled for a user base that consistently churns and returns. She also opens up about career longevity, work-life balance, and helping women find sustainability and acceleration in leadership. — LINKS: Vanna on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/vannakrantz/ CJ on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/cj-gustafson-13140948/ Mostly metrics: https://www.mostlymetrics.com — RELATED EPISODES: Monetizing Community Engagement: The Business of Fitness with Strava CFO Lily Yang https://youtu.be/zlLb5yZDKQE “Let’s Just See What Breaks” — Intuit’s CFO on Being a Disruptor When You’re Already the Incumbent https://youtu.be/Le1D9HXHvGI — TIMESTAMPS: 00:00:00 Preview and Intro 00:03:02 Sponsors – Aleph, Fidelity Private Shares, and Metronome 00:06:09 Meeting at A16z and Disney Plus Discussion 00:07:13 Interviewing with Bob Iger and Joining Bamtech Media 00:10:43 Forecasting the Unknown at Disney Plus 00:13:01 Launch Strategy – Mandalorian and Retention 00:15:15 Sponsors – Mercury, RightRev, and Tipalti 00:19:23 Forecasting, Retention Curves, and the Art vs. Science Balance 00:22:20 Lessons in Art and Science of Finance at Disney 00:25:08 Launch Day Chaos and the Disney Plus CDN Outage 00:26:24 Celebrating the 10 Million Subscriber Milestone 00:27:21 Grindr IPO and Financial Discovery 00:32:42 Active User Metrics and Reactivation Trends 00:34:29 Seasonality and Human Behavior in App Usage 00:36:02 Free vs. Paid Users and Revenue Optimization 00:38:21 Pricing Strategy and Global Monetization 00:40:23 Women in Leadership and Staying in the Game 00:43:30 Work–Life Balance and Career Seasons 00:46:12 Wisdom, Experience, and Staying in the Game 00:50:08 Finance Stack, Craziest Expense, and Closing Remarks — 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 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 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 #CFOInsights #DisneyPlus #GrindrIPO #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

    52분
  5. Too Big to Fail: The OpenAI Edition | Mostly Growth

    11월 15일

    Too Big to Fail: The OpenAI Edition | Mostly Growth

    In this episode of Mostly Growth, CJ Gustafson and Kyle Poyar dig into what it means to be useful rather than just right at work, exploring how communication, empathy, and impact matter more than technical precision as careers mature. They share candid lessons from their own paths—CJ’s focus on making others look good to earn promotions and Kyle’s evolution into a domain expert through public writing—before unpacking what separates good from great VPs of Sales with insights from Pavilion founder Sam Jacobs. The conversation then shifts to OpenAI’s “too big to fail” claims, the economic ripple effects of AI infrastructure spending, and how finance leaders can stay grounded in reality. Rounding out the episode, the hosts preview their latest research—CJ’s “Agentic Finance” report on AI in the finance stack and Kyle’s 2025 SaaS Benchmarks—and close with lighthearted banter about founder age stats, home maintenance mishaps, and the price of professional Christmas lights — LINKS: Mostly Metrics: https://www.mostlymetrics.com CJ on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/cj-gustafson-13140948/ Growth Unhinged: https://www.growthunhinged.com/ Kyle on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kyle-poyar/ Slacker Stuff: https://www.slackerstuff.com/ Ben on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/slackerstuff/ https://sarahcharlton.substack.com/p/from-being-right-to-being-useful https://www.highalpha.com/saas-benchmarks https://www.mostlymetrics.com/p/presenting-the-state-of-the-agentic-financial-stack https://www.mostlymetrics.com/p/finance-in-2030 https://worksinprogress.co/issue/the-algorithm-will-see-you-now/ https://www.theinformation.com/briefings/openai-ceo-sam-altman-forecasts-20-billion-annualized-revenue-year https://www.growthunhinged.com/p/your-pricing-is-broken — RELATED EPISODES: When the marketing math doesn’t math | with Emily Kramer https://youtu.be/sSuoV_YSrlw Getting fired 4 times made me a founder | Sam Jacobs of Pavilion https://youtu.be/8X-JVOF-1A0 How To Win at Early Stage Sales With the Guy Who Helped Take Snyk From $0 to $100M+ https://youtu.be/VKrZCte8fyM 996 Culture, Exploding AI Bills & SaaS Chaos https://youtu.be/qhrxDL0gsRo — TIMESTAMPS: 00:00:00 Preview and Intro 00:02:18 Sponsors – Pulley and Metronome 00:05:09 Flight Cancellation and Airport Chaos 00:07:58 Being Right vs. Being Useful 00:11:17 Getting Promoted Early by Making Others Look Good 00:15:25 What Separates a Good VP of Sales from a Great One 00:18:24 Sales Leaders as Capital Allocators 00:21:14 The Organizational Tax of Sales Support 00:22:33 Is OpenAI Too Big to Fail? 00:25:31 AI Investments, Alternatives, and Market Impact 00:27:50 Bailouts and Economic Reality 00:28:20 Agentic Finance and the AI-Driven Finance Stack 00:31:43 SaaS Benchmarks Report 2025 Overview 00:33:59 Growth Rates by ARR Tier and Scale 00:35:40 AI’s Impact on Engineering Teams 00:37:45 Age and Startup Success 00:39:42 Building Durable Businesses Over Time 00:41:25 Something You Tried This Week – HVAC Cleaning 00:43:19 Outsourcing Holiday Cheer – Professional Light Installation 00:47:08 Credits – Mostly Growth Closing Remarks — SPONSORS: 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 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 — #MostlyGrowthPodcast #StartupFinance #AIPodcast #SaaSLeadership #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

    47분
  6. SPACs Are Back (Maybe) | Jeff Bernstein of Riveron

    11월 13일

    SPACs Are Back (Maybe) | Jeff Bernstein of Riveron

    In this episode of Run the Numbers, CJ sits down with Jeff Bernstein, managing partner at Riveron, to unpack what really happens when a company decides it might be time to go public. Jeff draws on his experience across banking, hedge funds, operating roles, and advisory work to break down IPOs, dual-track processes, and the surprising realities behind price discovery—including why a 20x-oversubscribed book isn’t what it seems. He also dives into the re-emergence of SPACs, what’s different this time, and the key considerations CFOs should weigh before choosing that route. From IPO-readiness must-haves to building the muscle memory needed for public-company life to the sketchiest EBITDA adjustment he’s ever seen, Jeff brings stories, frameworks, and hard-won lessons for any finance leader thinking about the road to the public markets. — LINKS: Jeff Bernstein on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeff-bernstein-498a23158/ Company: https://riveron.com/ CJ on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/cj-gustafson-13140948/ Mostly metrics: https://www.mostlymetrics.com — RELATED EPISODES: Grindr’s $0 CAC Secret from the CFO Who Launched Disney+ | Vanna Krantz https://youtu.be/ijFIMmtpLNw — TIMESTAMPS: 00:00:00 Preview and Intro 00:02:59 Sponsors – Tipalti, Aleph, Fidelity Private Shares 00:06:20 The Mechanics of Going Public at Riveron 00:09:59 The State of Tech Capital Markets 00:11:19 Comparing the Internet, Mobile, and AI Waves 00:14:11 Understanding Dual Track Processes 00:15:34 Sponsors – Metronome, Mercury, RightRev 00:19:35 Why Companies Choose to Go Public or Sell 00:23:02 Why Price Discovery Is Harder in Today’s Market 00:26:05 The Pros and Cons of Direct Listings 00:29:16 Balancing Fairness Between Employees and Investors 00:30:47 Inside the IPO Pricing Process 00:34:26 How Banks and Investors Game Allocations 00:41:22 The Return of SPACs and Why They’re Back 00:43:46 Key Considerations for CFOs Evaluating SPAC Mergers 00:47:53 The Most Successful SPACs to Date 00:49:00 Building Public Company Readiness 00:52:03 Developing Muscle Memory for Quarterly Reporting 00:55:31 The CFO’s Role as Chief Communicator 00:57:47 Long-Ass Lightning Round – Overhyped Metrics and Sketchy EBITDA — 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 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 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 #IPOmistakes #CFOinsights #SPACs #FinanceLeadership 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

    1시간 3분
  7. The Marketplace Plus Model Explained | Colin Gardiner of Yonder VC

    11월 10일

    The Marketplace Plus Model Explained | Colin Gardiner of Yonder VC

    In this episode of Run the Numbers, CJ Gustafson sits down with Colin Gardiner, General Partner at Yonder VC and former Chief Revenue and Product Officer at Outdoorsy, to unpack what really drives successful marketplace businesses. Colin shares lessons from scaling a peer-to-peer RV platform, where the biggest unlock came not from casual users but from power hosts optimizing utilization and yield through the SaaS tools they built. He introduces his “Marketplace Plus” investing framework—showing how layering SaaS and professional tools can transform a platform into an operating system—and where founders risk overreaching by taking on inventory or managing supply too tightly. The conversation dives deep into monetization, pricing psychology, take rates, and the fine balance between product-market fit and margin obsession, before zooming out to explore how AI and the decline of SEO are reshaping marketplace discovery. — LINKS: Colin on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/colingardiner/ Company: https://www.yonder.vc/ CJ on X (@cjgustafson222): https://x.com/cjgustafson222 Mostly metrics: https://www.mostlymetrics.com — RELATED EPISODES: 996 Culture, Exploding AI Bills & SaaS Chaoshttps://youtu.be/qhrxDL0gsRo “Keep the Take Rate Low” - Turo’s Chuck Fisher on Scaling a Successful Peer-to-peer https://youtu.be/LKH8o1MjnZo The Art of Stacking S-Curves: Olo’s Winning Vertical SaaS Strategy with CFO Peter Benevides https://youtu.be/1X2VoYogj44 — TIMESTAMPS: 00:00:00 Intro and Guest Overview 00:02:57 Sponsors – RightRev, Tipalti, and Aleph 00:07:13 Outdoorsy and the RV Market 00:10:33 Balancing Supply and Demand 00:13:05 Marketplace Plus Model 00:16:59 Sponsors – Fidelity Private Shares, Metronome, and Mercury 00:21:45 Professionalizing Marketplaces 00:24:10 Building Software, Insurance, and Financing Layers 00:28:07 Avoiding Fully Managed Models 00:32:34 Take Rates and Pricing Strategy 00:35:00 Monetizing Both Sides 00:37:06 Advertising and Marketplace Scale 00:39:48 Marketplaces Meet Social Platforms 00:42:36 AI and Marketplace Distribution 00:45:54 AI Agents and Matchmaking 00:47:03 When AI Becomes the Supply 00:49:09 Negative Gross Margins and Scale 00:53:04 Picking a Side – Supply or Demand 00:54:35 Branding, Utilization, and Growth 00:55:42 Closing and Credits — 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. 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 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 — #RunTheNumbersPodcast #MarketplaceStrategy #AIPoweredBusiness #SaaSModel #StartupFinance 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

    56분
  8. Guess That Name: Pop Star or SaaS Bro? | Mostly Growth

    11월 8일

    Guess That Name: Pop Star or SaaS Bro? | Mostly Growth

    In this high-energy episode of Mostly Growth, CJ Gustafson, Kyle Poyar, and Ben Hillman dive into the hidden levers of SaaS growth and what truly separates startups that scale to $20M+ ARR from those that stall out. They explore eye-opening data from 6,500 companies, revealing how the best improve net retention, raise pricing, and re-engineer their revenue models over time. Alongside the metrics, there’s plenty of playful chaos—like a naming debate over “Yoshinobu Yamamoto Gustafson,” a rapid-fire game of “Founder or Pop Star,” and CJ’s accidental IPO embargo break. It’s part insight, part inside joke, and 100% for SaaS operators and C-suite climbers. — LINKS: Mostly Metrics: https://www.mostlymetrics.com CJ on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/cj-gustafson-13140948/ Growth Unhinged: https://www.growthunhinged.com/ Kyle on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kyle-poyar/ Slacker Stuff: https://www.slackerstuff.com/ Ben on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/slackerstuff/ https://www.growthunhinged.com/p/the-compounding-startup https://www.growthunhinged.com/p/the-odds-of-making-it https://www.superme.ai/kylepoyar?conversationId=VgDXTOl2Z89mW7UYXstU0b https://a16z.com/anatomy-of-an-enterprise-platform-company/ https://www.investopedia.com/terms/h/hhi.asp https://navan.com/ https://www.mostlymetrics.com/p/navan-ipo-s1-breakdown https://x.com/amendandpretend/status/1983588137453416763?s=46 https://x.com/ryan_c_walsh/status/1983705182371475630?s=46 https://www.reddit.com/r/TwinCities/comments/z6hxp8/how_much_are_people_paying_for_residential_snow/ — RELATED EPISODES: Getting fired 4 times made me a founder | Sam Jacobs of Pavilion https://youtu.be/8X-JVOF-1A0 Why Founders Are Posting Sad Dinners https://youtu.be/Zl6NSIHF2Gk — TIMESTAMPS: 00:00:00 Preview and Intro 00:01:55 Sponsors – Pulley & Metronome 00:04:25 Dodgers Banter & Baby Naming 00:05:38 Founder or Pop Star Game 00:07:50 ChartMogul Data & Growth Levers 00:08:30 Expansion, Upsell & Retention Discussion 00:15:53 Testing Kyle’s AI Avatar 00:17:07 CJ’s AI Self-Query & Beta Discussion 00:18:04 AI Use Cases & Knowledge Retention 00:22:03 Platform Debate & A16z Analysis 00:24:29 Herfindahl-Hirschman Index Explained 00:25:34 Platform Metrics & Valuation Upside 00:26:48 CrowdStrike, Datadog & Multi-Product Expansion 00:28:13 Core Systems of Record & AI’s Impact 00:29:49 Business Blunders – Navan IPO & Snowflake CRO 00:34:07 Snow Removal Pricing & Insurance Logic 00:35:56 Closing Remarks & Credits — SPONSORS: 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 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 — #MostlyGrowthPodcast #SaaSGrowth #StartupStrategy #B2BTech #RevenueRetention 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

    37분
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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

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