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.

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SPONSORS:

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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

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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

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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