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CJ Gustafson
CJ Gustafson

Tech CFO | Writer behind Mostly metrics | Miller Lite Enthusiast


How Anthropic Measures Net Dollar Retention, Run Rate Revenue, and Gross Margin.

Oct 29, 2026

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9 min read

How Anthropic Measures Net Dollar Retention, Run Rate Revenue, and Gross Margin.

And why your definitions define you as a company

Anthropic IPO: S1 Breakdown

Oct 27, 2026

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21 min read

Anthropic IPO: S1 Breakdown

A commodity with 900% NDR and $6.6M in Revenue per Employee

What's my terminal value?

Oct 25, 2026

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12 min read

What's my terminal value?

Harvard MBA students built a DCF on my career

Deferred, But Not Denied: Your Complete Guide to Deferred Revenue

Oct 22, 2026

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6 min read

Deferred, But Not Denied: Your Complete Guide to Deferred Revenue

Written for non CPAs

Mostly Controllers: Why Gross Margin Is a Decision (Not Just a Calculation)

Oct 20, 2026

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7 min read

Mostly Controllers: Why Gross Margin Is a Decision (Not Just a Calculation)

Where you draw the COGS line decides whether investors think you're a software company

The World is a Big, Thirsty Place: CFO Dispatches from London

Oct 18, 2026

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10 min read

The World is a Big, Thirsty Place: CFO Dispatches from London

Benchmarks for Operators 10/18/26

Your Complete Guide to Quote to Cash: Part 3

Oct 15, 2026

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7 min read

Your Complete Guide to Quote to Cash: Part 3

Tax, Collections, and Rev Rec

The State of Finance Talent (October)

Oct 13, 2026

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6 min read

The State of Finance Talent (October)

Building in public, and hiring trends you need to know about

Figma, Wealthfront & Virta Health CFOs answer your questions

Oct 11, 2026

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13 min read

Figma, Wealthfront & Virta Health CFOs answer your questions

Take the CFO title at an unknown company? Plus, hiring when you’re not in AI

Your Complete Guide to Quote to Cash: Billing

Oct 8, 2026

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6 min read

Your Complete Guide to Quote to Cash: Billing

How a shifting unit of value F’d everything up for us

Your Guide to Tops Down vs Bottoms Up Target Setting

Oct 6, 2026

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9 min read

Your Guide to Tops Down vs Bottoms Up Target Setting

Building the budget envelope based on company priorities

There are no new crimes, just new ways to calculate revenue

Oct 4, 2026

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10 min read

There are no new crimes, just new ways to calculate revenue

Benchmarks for Operators 10/4/26

Your Complete Guide to Quote to Cash: Part 1

Oct 1, 2026

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6 min read

Your Complete Guide to Quote to Cash: Part 1

Pricing, Packaging, Quoting, Contracting, and Entitlements

A Guide to Budgeting for Token Costs this Annual Planning Season

Sep 29, 2026

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8 min read

A Guide to Budgeting for Token Costs this Annual Planning Season

Video walkthrough + concrete changes you can make to save money

Cash might be king, but cash is dead.

Sep 27, 2026

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9 min read

Cash might be king, but cash is dead.

Benchmarks for Operators 9/27/26

Nscale IPO: S1 Breakdown

Sep 22, 2026

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16 min read

Nscale IPO: S1 Breakdown

What's $100 billion of commitments "worth"? The CoreWeave of the UK goes public

Why Aren't Founders and Boards More Pissed About Day 1 IPO Pops?

Sep 20, 2026

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9 min read

Why Aren't Founders and Boards More Pissed About Day 1 IPO Pops?

Benchmarks for Operators 9/20/26

Don’t Start Your Annual Plan without these 5 Inputs

Sep 15, 2026

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6 min read

Don’t Start Your Annual Plan without these 5 Inputs

Data you collect to start your budgeting process

$5 Million is a Nightmare

Sep 13, 2026

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9 min read

$5 Million is a Nightmare

Benchmarks for Operators 9/13/26

A Sense of Where You Are

Sep 10, 2026

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4 min read

A Sense of Where You Are

The State of Finance and Accounting Talent (September)

The Annual Planning Bible

Sep 8, 2026

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2 min read

The Annual Planning Bible

I wrote you a (free) book on budgeting in the age of Al

Oura Ring IPO: S1 Breakdown

Sep 6, 2026

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18 min read

Oura Ring IPO: S1 Breakdown

Benchmarks for Operators 9/6/26

How to Audit Your AI Bill for Savings

Sep 1, 2026

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5 min read

How to Audit Your AI Bill for Savings

Video walkthrough + concrete changes you can make to save money

Why CAC Payback Is More Useful Than LTV to CAC

Aug 30, 2026

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9 min read

Why CAC Payback Is More Useful Than LTV to CAC

Benchmarks for Operators 8/30/26

CFOs of The MLB and The North Face answer reader questions

Aug 25, 2026

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9 min read

CFOs of The MLB and The North Face answer reader questions

Mostly Mailbag: Sizing brand marketing bets, the value of an MBA today, learning to negotiate well, and how weather impacts business seasonality

yo, btw…

none of this is intended to be financial or legal advice. do your own homework. call your mom once a week. and make sure to hydrate.