Run the Numbers

Is it true that founders should still own 50% of a company after a Series A fundraising round? Is 10% ownership at IPO a win or a loss? This episode delves into the topic of dilution, breaking down how much of your company you should sell at each stage, how to approach employee and advisor equity, and what employees should know about equity before taking a job. To answer these questions is Peter W...

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 M...

To be a great finance leader, one needs to have both hard and soft skills. Today’s guest believes in running towards the hard market, asking dumb questions, and showing up as your whole self at work. Craig Conti is the EVP and CFO of Verra Mobility, the almost $900 million in revenue, publicly-traded company that is responsible for the silent infrastructure behind seamless tolling, traffic enforce...

As a CFO, how should the way you navigate risk and return change from venture-backed companies to publicly-traded companies to private equity companies? To answer this question, CJ speaks with Mohit Daswani, a seasoned CFO with experience across multiple stages, including roles as CFO of Payments, Platform, and Risk at PayPal, and Head of Finance & Strategy at Square. Mohit shares the lessons lear...

This is going to make all the PLG fan boys & girls angry...Today we talk about why Romanticizing PLG is dangerous. With AI companies hitting $50M ARR overnight (amazing product, credit cards, and a golden retriever named Kevin), a dangerous myth is spreading:👉 “You don’t need a sales team. The product sells itself.”Wrong. That was the dream of PLG. Now it’s become the CFO’s favorite excuse to avo...

To explain why portfolio operations are increasingly the secret weapon in private equity, CJ interviews Paul Stansik. Paul is the writer of the Hello Operator Substack and Operating Partner at ParkerGale. He shares hands-on insights into how his team helps portfolio companies scale by transforming sales data into decisions, navigating post-acquisition go-to-market challenges, and driving the shift...

The venture debt landscape has changed dramatically over the past few years, and CFOs can’t afford to be left behind. Catherine Jhung, Senior Managing Director at Hercules Capital and a seasoned expert in venture lending, joins CJ to explore the landscape of venture debt in 2025. Together, they unpack important questions for CFOs approaching lenders, the delicate balance between rate and flexibili...

When it comes to investor relations, an organization’s communication strategy should be a key instrument to support its business strategy. While this may seem obvious, so often we get this wrong. In this episode, CJ hosts a masterclass on investor relations with Samuel Levenson and Jon Neitzell of the Arbor Advisory Group, focusing on the strategic role of IR in driving company valuation. They cov...

How does a surf forecasting platform evolve into a multi-pronged company with B2C subscriptions, advertising, B2B SaaS, and even some hardware? Dustan Berg, former equity analyst and current VP of Finance at Surfline Wavetrak, Inc., joins CJ to discuss the evolution of Surfline's business model and the nuances of running this 40-year-old startup. Dustan explains the role of data as a moat and how...

Irrespective of the numbers, financial storytelling and strategic communication play a massive role in influencing market perceptions. Hamza Fodderwala, Executive Director at Morgan Stanley, joins CJ to discuss the critical role of CFOs in shaping and communicating a company's financial story. Hamza explains the role of storytelling in driving stocks, the significance of aligning company narrative...

What's the real difference between a CFO and a COO? Can you do both roles simultaneously? And which title is more desirable from a career perspective? Today’s guest, Colin Sims, who is currently the CFO of Hunters but has held both titles multiple times, joins CJ to answer these questions and to talk about channel sales. They discuss what it takes to build a successful channel sales model and how...

Nick Rose, CFO of Enable, joins CJ to discuss one of the most overlooked yet powerful levers for growth, trust, and alignment in B2B commerce: rebates. They talk about how rebates are often dismissed as accounting clean-up or mistaken for discounts, but they are actually critical pricing incentives that foster long-term relationships. Nick describes how he first came to Enable as a customer and ho...

Russ D'Argento, CEO and founder of FINTRX, sits down with CJ in this episode to discuss building a Data as a Service (DaaS) business while also sharing insight into the highly lucrative world of family offices. He explains what a family office is (name a billionaire, they probably have one), their roles in wealth management, and how he identified this niche. He sheds light on FINTRX, what it does,...

In this episode, CJ sits down with Rob Paterson, CFO of Employment Hero, to talk about smart growth, why not all revenue is good revenue, and Australia's startup scene. They start by discussing when to turn down growth opportunities and which financial metrics are more distracting than helpful. Rob explains the challenges of holding people accountable when you are a growth CFO and how to be a Chie...

Rick Smith, multi-time CFO, founder of Bonfire Advisory, and author, joins CJ to discuss the complexities and nuances of the CFO role in venture-backed companies. They delve into the dynamics of the CEO-CFO relationship and examine the qualities CEOs think they want in a CFO versus what they need. Rick introduces the concept of “The triangle of doom” that exists between the CEO, the CFO, and the b...

In this episode, CJ Gustafson sits down with Brad Channer, the CFO of UBIO and possibly the world's most interesting CFO and accountant. He describes his unconventional career path from acting to accounting and the he lessons learned from some entrepreneurial failures along the way. Brad also discusses communication and leadership, including how his acting background shaped his style in the boardr...

Sanjay Datta, CFO of Upstart and former senior finance exec at Google, joins CJ to discuss leadership, scaling, and the future of lending with AI. Sanjay spent 12 years at Google, helping grow it into an $80B global ads business. He sheds light on Google’s monetization model, the simplicity of its forecasting, and the power of centralized analytics. He also reflects on scaling Upstart from $10M to...

Stubhub has filed for it’s upcoming IPO. In this podcast I dive into the meaty details you need to know before one of the most valuable privately held marketplaces makes it’s NYSE debut. We cover: * Business model * Key metrics * Market opportunity * 12 Key themes * 3 Red Flags * Bull / Bear case None of this is investment advice. If you want the full breakdown go to mostlymetrics.com This podcast...

In this episode, CJ sits down with John Connolly, Managing Director at Spectrum Equity, to explore the evolution of consumer investing. They discuss how investor sentiment toward consumer companies has shifted over the past 15 years and why traditional SaaS metrics like net dollar retention (NDR) don’t always apply in this space. John explains what signals indicate a strong consumer business, whet...

On this episode of Run the Numbers we’ll cover the state of the private tech markets. * Did Google overpay for Wiz? * Stripe’s valuation is (nearly) back up to their COVID high water mark * Plaid shares fall in secondary market * Figma is growing into it’s valuation * The Rippling and Deel (hilarious) controversy You can get this in written form at mostlymetrics.com This is a public episode. If yo...

While few plan for the demise of their startup, it’s something that many face. In this episode, CJ is joined by Dori Yona, co-founder and CEO of SimpleClosure, to unpack the financial, legal, and emotional complexities of shutting down a company. Dori explains the options available when a company is running out of cash, what bankruptcy actually means, and the importance of budgeting for the end. T...

In this episode, CJ is joined by Peter Benevides, CFO of Olo, a leading vertical SaaS company powering digital ordering, payments, and guest engagement solutions for popular restaurant brands. Peter explains how Olo successfully expanded into payments and used this as a strategic advantage. He breaks down how the company stacks S-curves through continued product expansion and adoption, and how thi...

Klarna, the Swedish fintech powerhouse, is going public on the NYSE (ticker: KLAR).This marks a major moment for the Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL) space. This IPO will test whether investors believe BNPL is a smarter alternative to credit cards—or another form of subprime lending in disguise. A few years ago, Klarna was worth $46B in private markets. Now? It’s eyeing a $15B-$20B valuation—a stark remi...

In this episode, CJ interviews Lucas Swisher, Co-Lead of Growth Investing and Software Investing at Coatue, to explore how one of tech’s most influential investment firms navigates both public and private markets. Lucas explains Coatue’s evolution—from hedge fund origins to a powerhouse in venture capital—and how the company balances short-term public market pressures and long-term private investm...

Mark McCaffrey, the CFO of GoDaddy, joins CJ to talk about the evolution of one of the most recognizable brands on the internet from domain registration to a full-service platform for small businesses. Mark sheds light on GoDaddy’s role in the entrepreneurial micro-startup ecosystem and how, after 21 years, GoDaddy has grown to 21 million customers. He describes the trends he’s identified in the f...