Bridging the Gap: Enhancing Collaboration Between Finance and Engineering Teams

How do finance leaders enable growth while fostering a culture of partnership, positivity, and saying yes? In this episode, CJ interviews Ed Park, Head of FP&A at Facebook during its explosive hypergrowth years, Head of Finance and Internal Operations at Asana, the current CFO of Daffy, and a “glass-half-full” finance leader. Ed shares stories about working at Facebook in the early days, how he brought finance into the company’s engineering and product-first culture, and how he built trust while navigating rapid user and infrastructure expansion. He talks about his role at Asana, why the company plans in episodes, not quarters, how they discovered their unique “three user” metric, and how they transitioned from bottoms-up to sales-led growth. Ed also gives an introduction to donor-advised funds and how Daffy, his current company, is disrupting this field. The conversation covers how a company's business model shapes its destiny, finding the balance between what’s urgent and what’s important, and Ed’s glass-half-full approach to being a finance leader who enables teams by saying yes.

—

LINKS:

Edward Park on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/edwardypark

Daffy:

https://www.daffy.org

CJ on X (@cjgustafson222): https://x.com/cjgustafson222

Mostly metrics:

RELATED EPISODES:

Big Systems Thinking for Building a Finance Org: Advice From a Zoom Hypergrowth Survivor —

—

TIMESTAMPS:

(00:00) Preview and Intro

(02:16) Sponsor – Aleph | RightRev | Navan

(06:43) Ed’s First Job at a Startup: Head of FP&a at Facebook

(11:35) Bringing Finance Into an Engineering and Product-Led Culture

(16:42) Sponsor – Rillet | Pulley | Brex

(20:34) Balancing What Was Urgent Versus Important

(25:02) Monetizing Facebook

(26:48) Becoming a Glass-Half-Full Finance Leader

(33:27) Managing Four Chefs at Asana

(35:38) How Asana Plans in Episodes, Not Quarters

(42:48) Monetization Model Intuition and the “Three User” Metric

(48:13) Transitioning From Bottoms-Up to Proactive Sales at Asana

(53:24) Daffy’s Monetization Model and Donor-Advised Fund Innovation

(57:34) How a Business Model Shapes Destiny

(1:00:02) Ed’s “How Might We” Approach to Being a CFO

(1:01:56) Long-Ass Lightning Round: A Big Mistake

(1:04:38) Advice to Younger Self

(1:05:44) Finance Software Stack

(1:07:57) Craziest Expense Story

—

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

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.

Navan is the all-in-one travel and expense solution that can give you access to exclusive, proprietary Nasdaq-validated data that reveals what's happening with corporate travel investments. See the Navan Business Travel Index at https://navan.com/bti.

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.

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.

Brex offers the world's smartest corporate card on a full-stack global platform that is everything CFOs need to manage their finances on an elite level. Plus, they offer modern banking and treasury as well as intuitive expenses and accounting automation, bill pay, and travel. Find out more at https://www.brex.com/metrics

#FacebookBusinessModel #FPandA #StartupFinance #MonetizationStrategy #DonorAdvisedFunds

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