The blog post discusses the evolution of software pricing over the decades, highlighting six distinct waves of change from hardware-software bundling to the current hybrid pricing models. It emphasizes the importance of understand...
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CJ Gustafson is the author of Mostly Metrics, a Substack publication that provides business insights that are easy to understand. The site is trusted by the world’s best CFOs, GTM experts, and tech investors, and has tens of thousands of subscribers.
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In this episode, CJ interviews Chris Greiner, CFO of Zeta Global and former CFO of IBM’s analytics division, discussing the evolution of AI and its impact on finance. Greiner emphasizes the importance of strong financial stewardsh...
6.4The History of EBITDA
2025-07-15 • finance investment ebitda ai
The blog post discusses the evolution and significance of EBITDA (Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation, and Amortization) in the finance and investment sectors, tracing its origins to John Malone's strategies in the cable...
The post discusses the findings of Planful’s 2025 Global Finance Survey, highlighting that many teams are not effectively utilizing AI to drive results. It critiques Figma's unconventional calculation of Net Dollar Retention (NDR)...
The blog post features a discussion with Jimmy Soni, author of 'The Founders', about the 'PayPal Mafia', a group of early PayPal team members who later founded or invested in major tech companies. Soni shares insights into PayPal'...
6.4Figma IPO: S1 Breakdown
2025-07-02 • ipo figma fintech product design saas solutions
The blog post discusses Figma's recent IPO filing, highlighting its impressive growth metrics, revenue figures, and product evolution. Figma, a collaborative design tool, has expanded from a web-based design platform to a comprehe...
In this episode, Sandeep Aujla, CFO of Intuit, discusses how the company maintains its innovative edge despite being a large incumbent in the software industry. He shares insights on Intuit's platform strategy, capital allocation,...
The blog post discusses revenue leakage, which is the gap between expected earnings and actual collections, often caused by missed invoices, unintended discounts, and other operational inefficiencies. It highlights common causes o...
The post discusses insights from Planful's 2025 Global Finance Survey, highlighting that many teams are not fully leveraging AI for results. It emphasizes the importance of automating key processes and overcoming challenges like s...
In this episode, CJ interviews Daniel Lentz, CFO of BigCommerce, who shares insights on building a sales culture that empowers top performers while not shielding poor performers. He discusses the importance of aligning sales and m...
In this episode, CJ interviews Amy Butte, CFO of Navan, about the integration of AI in finance, particularly in travel and expense management. Amy shares her career journey from the New York Stock Exchange to Navan, discussing the...
In this episode, Scott Engler discusses the evolving role of the CFO, emphasizing their increasing importance over the CEO in many companies. He critiques the performance of private equity-backed CFOs and shares insights on how th...
In this episode, CJ interviews Trey O'Callaghan, an M&A lawyer, who discusses the critical role of legal counsel in M&A deals. The conversation covers when to engage legal help, common pitfalls like sales tax issues, IP ownership ...
The post discusses the trend of public companies, particularly in the tech sector, reducing the amount of key performance metrics they disclose to the public, such as subscriber counts and customer numbers. It highlights how compa...
The post discusses the current state of the AI hiring market, highlighting how companies are aggressively competing for talent by offering exorbitant stock-based compensation (SBC). It contrasts the strategies of different compani...
In this blog post, Scott Spiegel, COO and former CFO of the AICPA, discusses the evolving landscape of the accounting profession, emphasizing the importance of adapting to changes brought by AI. He highlights the need for accounta...
The post discusses how competition in business should be viewed positively, as it validates market opportunities and drives awareness. It emphasizes the importance of acknowledging competition without demonizing it, differentiatin...
The post discusses the strategic manipulation of accounting practices by companies, particularly in how they categorize expenses as either CapEx (capital expenditures) or OPEX (operational expenditures). It highlights a case where...
The blog post discusses a recent survey on CFOs' use of AI, revealing that while AI is making significant strides in finance, its adoption is uneven across organizations. Key findings include that AI is enhancing forecasting and o...
The blog post analyzes Figma's recent IPO filing, focusing on key financial metrics such as revenue, margins, retention, and potential market valuation. It highlights the significance of Figma's approach to IPOs in 2025 and mentio...
The blog post discusses the evolution of software pricing and packaging since the 1950s, highlighting six significant waves of change: the integration of hardware and software, software sold for hardware, application service provi...
The blog post discusses the critical skill of capital allocation for CEOs, emphasizing that while most focus on operations and investor relations, effective capital allocation can yield the highest leverage. It highlights the impo...
The blog post discusses the significant decline in the number of publicly traded companies in the U.S. over the past 30 years, highlighting a drop from approximately 8,000 companies in the late 1990s to around 4,000 today. It expl...
The post discusses the importance of benchmarking private company performance for the first half of the year, highlighting key metrics such as sales efficiency, staffing strategies, and cost structure. It encourages readers to par...