Run the Numbers

In this episode, CJ Gustafson interviews Ryan Wash the Founder and CEO of RepVue whose mission is to help sales pros find the best companies to work for and ensure they're paid fairly. Ryan gives CJ a data-driven inside look into sales capacity, planning models, and sales rep commission plans. Tropic is the next-generation Procurement Platform that’s helping modern CFOs take control of their budgets and bottom line, head to www.tropicapp.io/metrics---SPONSORS:Tropic is the next-generation Procurement Platform that’s helping modern CFOs take control of their budgets and bottom line. By combining approval workflows, supplier management, and pricing benchmarks all in one place, Tropic makes savings opportunities easy to find and act on. 🌴 Visit www.tropicapp.io/metrics to learn how.---X / TWITTER:@ryan_c_walsh@cjgustafson222 (CJ)@TurpentineMedia (Turpentine)---TIMESTAMPS:(00:00) Intro(03:14) The Importance of Sales Rep Commission Plans(04:57) The Reality of Sales Quota Attainment(05:30) The Impact of Low Quota Attainment on Sales Organizations(07:36) Understanding Sales Rep Compensation Structures(12:52) Sponsor: Tropic (www.tropicapp.io/metrics)(14:05) The Cultural Impact of Sales Quota Attainment(19:10) Understanding Blue Ocean and Red Ocean in Sales(22:32) The Ratio of Quota to OTE in Sales(26:38) Comparing Compensation Plans in Different Business Models(27:27) Understanding the Structure of Compensation Plans(27:46) The Impact of Consumption-Based Models on Sales(29:02) The Frustration of Overpaying Commissions(30:31) The Role of Accelerators and Decelerators in Compensation(30:57) The Controversy and Effectiveness of Sales Spiffs(39:54) The Impact of Post-COVID Economic Conditions on Sales(42:42) The Reality of Sales Rep Attrition and Tenure(47:16) Tech Stack for Sales Reps Get full access to Mostly metrics at www.mostlymetrics.com/subscribe

Alex Clayton of Meritech Capital discusses key SaaS metrics like ARR per employee, ACV, NDR, and valuation multiples. He also delves into market structure's impact on evaluating companies for IPO. The episode provides insights on company efficiency, strategic departmental placement, and navigating valuation multiples in today's market.

Andy Raskin, a prominent Strategic Narrative consultant, discusses the importance of strategic narrative in conveying a company's value to investors. Topics include naming the old game and the new game, interpreting market transitions as 'life and death' stakes, updating a company's strategic narrative, and examples of impactful sales decks.

On the 20th episode of Run The Numbers, CJ sits down with Rohit Divate, Head of Corporate Finance at Gusto. Rohit Divate has seen Gusto 10x in terms of revenue and headcount in his six years at the company. He and CJ discuss headcount planning, countermetrics, how to set up scalable decisionmaking in hyperscaling startups, and more. Tropic is the next-generation Procurement Platform that’s helping modern CFOs take control of their budgets and bottom line, head to www.tropicapp.io/metrics.---SPONSORS:Planful empowers teams just like yours to drive peak financial performance in every corner of your business. Think purpose-built applications for every department, from FP&A to accounting, marketing to HR, all with built-in financial intelligence. ✍️ Go to https://planful.com/metrics to see how you can tackle unwanted surprises in real-time.Tropic is the next-generation Procurement Platform that’s helping modern CFOs take control of their budgets and bottom line. By combining approval workflows, supplier management, and pricing benchmarks all in one place, Tropic makes savings opportunities easy to find and act on. 🌴 Visit www.tropicapp.io/metrics to learn how.---X / TWITTER:@rohitdv8 (Rohit)@cjgustafson222 (CJ)@TurpentineMedia (Turpentine)---TIMESTAMPS:(00:00) Intro(01:17) Mailbag questions - How does ARR, or Revenue Per Employee, scale over time as a company grows?(04:42) Introducing Rohit(05:40) How big was Gusto when Rohit started out and how big is it now?(08:00) How to get things done when a company grows big(11:10) How has Gusto's finance department change over time?(14:03) Tour of duty: handling change or roles and responsibilities in a finance team(15:21) Sponsor - Planful(16:20) A day in the life of Rohit: How much is spent on spreadsheets vs dealing with people(17:41) Risks and opportunities - knowing your financials(19:09) What are metrics that gets tracked daily and monthly?(21:50) What's the north star metric?(22:58) The metric that kept Rohit up at night(24:25) On using a non-standard calendar year for financials(25:25) Handling headcount forecasting for Gusto(27:46) Dollar base plans and having autonomy to build your team(29:46) Budgeting for contractors(30:56) The new headcount methodology and dollar-based planning(32:39) Rules of thumb for staffing ratio(34:32) What separates the great finance leaders from the good ones?(36:36) Qualities a CEO should test for in interviews(38:37) What's something Rohit has screwed up before on the job?(40:33) What's something you know now that you'd like to tell your younger self?(41:39) Sponsor - Tropic(42:15) Rohit's finance software stack(43:33) What's the craziest thing you've seen someone try to expense? Get full access to Mostly metrics at www.mostlymetrics.com/subscribe

At scaling companies. parting ways with an executive requires finesse, strategic insights, and insider experience. CJ invited longtime people leaders - and hosts of the HR Heretics podcast - to break down every facet, lever, and little known facts behind successfully exiting execs. If you’re looking for an ERP platform, check out our sponsor, NetSuite: https://netsuite.com/metricsWhether its due to hypergrowth or part of an M&A process. CJ, Kelli, and Nolan describe what they've seen in Silicon Valley and what to watch out for. Kelli Dragovich has been a people leader at Pendo, Intuit, Github, Looker, Google, Hired.com and more. Nolan Church was head of talent at DoorDash and the former CPO at Carta. He is now the founder of Continuum Talent (www.joincontinuum.com)---SPONSORS:NetSuite provides financial software for all your business needs. More than thirty-six thousand companies have already upgraded to NetSuite, gaining visibility and control over their financials, inventory, HR, eCommerce, and more. If you're looking for an ERP platform ✅ NetSuite: https://netsuite.com/metrics and defer payments of a FULL NetSuite implementation for six months.Tropic is the next-generation Procurement Platform that’s helping modern CFOs take control of their budgets and bottom line. By combining approval workflows, supplier management, and pricing benchmarks all in one place, Tropic makes savings opportunities easy to find and act on. 🌴 Visit www.tropicapp.io/metrics to learn how. Planful empowers teams just like yours to drive peak financial performance in every corner of your business. Think purpose-built applications for every department, from FP&A to accounting, marketing to HR, all with built-in financial intelligence. ✍️ Go to https://planful.com/metrics to see how you can tackle unwanted surprises in real-time.---RECOMMENDED PODCAST: HR HERETICS https://link.chtbl.com/hrhereticsHas HR gotten too soft? Nolan and Kelli have discussions with people leaders, founders and board members about important and underdiscussed business topics -- and firsthand stories from scaling companies. Highly recommend episodes with Molly Graham on early Facebook, Steve Cadigan on early LinkedIn, and Patty McCord on building Netflix's culture (and infamous culture deck).---LINKEDIN:CJ: https://www.linkedin.com/in/cj-gustafson/Kelli: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kellidragovich/Nolan: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nolan-church/---TIMESTAMPS:(00:00) Intro(00:20) How to approach exiting a member of the C suite(02:11) How to frame and handle an executive's termination(04:19) The best way to terminate somebody(07:30) Handling compensation when terminating someone(08:49) The most likely way for an executive to leave a company is to get fired(17:20) Sponsor - Netsuite | Planful(19:40) Equity acceleration and executive exits(23:01) What is a garden leave?(24:28) Single trigger versus a double trigger clause(28:00) Sponsor - Tropic(31:52) On employment agreements(39:40) How does a board approach firing a CEO(42:10) Who is more successful at galvanizing a company: founder CEOs or professional CEOs?(46:00) What if I'm the one getting fired? Get full access to Mostly metrics at www.mostlymetrics.com/subscribe

Earnings calls. If you’re at a pre-IPO company, the' before, during, and after' of an earnings call can be a black box. That's why we brought on Sonalee Parekh, the Chief Financial Officer at RingCentral, for a masterclass about the best ways to prepare for an earnings call -- down to the most granular details and pitfalls to avoid. Along the way she dispenses some excellent career advice to CFOs and those aspiring to the seat. If you’re looking for an ERP platform, check out our sponsor, NetSuite: https://netsuite.com/metrics---SPONSORS:NetSuite provides financial software for all your business needs. More than thirty-six thousand companies have already upgraded to NetSuite, gaining visibility and control over their financials, inventory, HR, eCommerce, and more. If you're looking for an ERP platform ✅ NetSuite: https://netsuite.com/metrics and defer payments of a FULL NetSuite implementation for six months.Planful empowers teams just like yours to drive peak financial performance in every corner of your business. Think purpose-built applications for every department, from FP&A to accounting, marketing to HR, all with built-in financial intelligence. ✍️ Go to https://planful.com/metrics to see how you can tackle unwanted surprises in real-time.Tropic is the next-generation Procurement Platform that’s helping modern CFOs take control of their budgets and bottom line. By combining approval workflows, supplier management, and pricing benchmarks all in one place, Tropic makes savings opportunities easy to find and act on. 🌴 Visit www.tropicapp.io/metrics to learn how. ---X / TWITTER:@cjgustafson222 (CJ)@TurpentineMedia (Turpentine)---TIMESTAMPS:(00:00) Episode Preview(01:55) Mailbag question(05:15) Sonalee's first earnings call as a public CFO(07:30) Handling curveball questions(09:06) The planning process for an earnings call(14:15) Messaging and metrics(15:50) Sponsor: NetSuite(17:00) Division of responsibilities(23:30) Sponsor: Planful(24:30) Disclosing ARR(26:40) Prepping for analysts(29:55) Who's actually in the room?(34:30) Making the jump to public company CFO(35:45) CEO - CFO relationship(40:30) What separates the great CFOs from the good CFOs(45:00) Rep Yo Stack sponsored by Tropic - Sonalee's tech stack Get full access to Mostly metrics at www.mostlymetrics.com/subscribe

Tomasz Tunguz, founder of Theory Ventures, shares insights on evolving CFO roles in venture-backed companies, building successful businesses, and what makes a great CFO. The discussion covers scaling with NetSuite, hiring strategies, and the transition of CFOs into strategic leaders. The podcast also explores economic recovery for professionals and the growth plans of a venture firm.

On this episode on Run the Numbers Ex-CMO turned founder, Jeff Yoshimura shares with us how high-performing marketing and finance teams should work together. Jeff is a seasoned enterprise technology operator, founder, investor, advisor, and executive leader. Most recently, over two and a half years, as CMO of Snyk, Jeff helped Snyk grow from a $2.2B to a $7.4B valuation and 500 to 2,500+ customers. Prior to that, Jeff led marketing at Elastic (NYSE: ESTC) for over five years from $20M to $500M revenues, was a founding team member at Zuora (NYSE: ZUO) and an early employee at Salesforce (NYSE: CRM). Jeff is currently a co-founder of a startup to be launched in early 2024.---SPONSORS:NetSuite provides financial software for all your business needs. More than thirty-six thousand companies have already upgraded to NetSuite, gaining visibility and control over their financials, inventory, HR, eCommerce, and more. If you're looking for an ERP platform ✅ NetSuite: https://netsuite.com/metrics and defer payments of a FULL NetSuite implementation for six months.Tropic is the next-generation Procurement Platform that’s helping modern CFOs take control of their budgets and bottom line. By combining approval workflows, supplier management, and pricing benchmarks all in one place, Tropic makes savings opportunities easy to find and act on. 🌴 Visit www.tropicapp.io/metrics to learn how. Planful empowers teams just like yours to drive peak financial performance in every corner of your business. Think purpose-built applications for every department, from FP&A to accounting, marketing to HR, all with built-in financial intelligence. ✍️ Go to https://planful.com/metrics to see how you can tackle unwanted surprises in real-time.---X / TWITTER:@cjgustafson222 (CJ)@TurpentineMedia (Turpentine)---TIMESTAMPS: Get full access to Mostly metrics at www.mostlymetrics.com/subscribe

In this conversation, Razzak Jallow, the CFO of FloQast, emphasizes that finance teams should view themselves as data curators, enhancing decision-making through effective financial storytelling. He explores the crucial role of a CFO in aligning with the CEO's vision and draws valuable lessons from Apple's execution strategy. Jallow also discusses the unique challenges of finance in remote settings and the importance of communication during corporate transitions. His insights offer a fresh perspective on leveraging data to drive organizational success.

Kyle Poyar, Operating Partner at OpenView, discusses pricing strategies, exploring price elasticity, software companies, service sponsors for CFOs, auto industry evolution, and NetSuite benefits. They also cover pricing models, revenue growth implications, customer retention strategies, and embracing constructive criticism in venture capital.