Run the Numbers

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.

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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

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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

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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

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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

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.

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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

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.

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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

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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

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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

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

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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

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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

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.

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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

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.

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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

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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

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.

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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

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#MostlyGrowthPodcast #SaaSGrowth #StartupStrategy #B2BTech #RevenueRetention

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 Jacobs 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?

https://www.youtube.com/live/Cpw2pkq-FXI?si=-0y0tcLTIlIbkmyO

CFOs: Want to Outmaneuver Your Competitors? Here’s the Jedi Mind Trick

https://youtu.be/Yte_fe1xF90?si=hVfgdd0Fg0PQuuoS

The Gross Margin Episode with Sarah Wang of a16z

https://youtu.be/72aP5ohBxvE

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TIMESTAMPS:

00:00:00 Preview and Intro

00:03:05 Sponsors – Mercury, RightRev, and Tipalti

00:06:50 Pavilion, Community, and Go-to-Market Leadership

00:10:28 Career Tenure and Executive Turnover

00:12:55 Compensation Structure and Equity Negotiation

00:14:31 Building Wealth Through Equity

00:16:30 Sponsors – Aleph, Fidelity Private Shares, and Metronome

00:19:36 Managing Wealth, Lifestyle, and Longevity in Leadership

00:22:58 Founding Pavilion to Empower Operators

00:25:13 Taking Roles for Learning, Titles, and Leverage

00:28:47 Contrarian Executives, Team Dynamics, and Leadership Lessons

00:30:36 What Makes a Great VP of Sales

00:33:23 Revenue, Profitability, and Misaligned Incentives

00:35:08 Quota Setting, Forecasting, and Spreadsheet Pitfalls

00:39:07 AI in Sales and the Myth of the AI SDR

00:40:32 The Future of Playbooks in the Age of AI

00:43:38 The Dangers of AI and the Need for Humans in the Loop

00:45:27 Monetizing Pavilion – Memberships, Sponsors, and Pricing Strategy

00:49:30 Building Higher-Margin Community Businesses

00:57:46 Building a Personal Brand with Long-Term Value

01:01:52 Closing Credits and Outro

—

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

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.

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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

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.

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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