Hello 👋 I’m CJ Gustafson. I’m a tech cfo.

Mostly Metrics is the top newsletter for CFOs and finance leaders working at startups and tech companies

Topics frequently include SaaS metrics (explained clearly), annual planning, business model monetization, and fundraising.

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Here’s a collection of my dog Walter’s favorite pieces (he’s my dog). Bangerz only.

ARR

• Your Complete Guide to ARR

• How top tech companies define ARR

• If you want to trick investors, tell them about your CARR

NDR

• How top tech companies measure Net Dollar Retention Rate

• How to Calculate Net Dollar Retention Rate (the right way)

LTV to CAC

• How to calculate CAC Payback Period (the right way)

• Is LTV to CAC the Nickelback of SaaS Metrics?

Annual Planning

• Where Do I Start?

• Tops Down Target Setting (with Templates)

• Bottoms Up Budgeting

• How to Pitch an Annual Budget to your Board

• Building Sales Capacity

• Building a Marketing Budget

Pricing

• Avoid These Pricing Mistakes

• Tips for Negotiating Non Pricing Terms

• A Primer: Subscription vs Usage Based Pricing Models

Sales Comp

• Designing Comp Plans

• The Art and Science of SPIFFS

• Commission Rate Benchmarking

Finance Teams

• Building finance teams - The lifecycle of bean counters

• FP&A F'Ups - A list of boobytraps for first time FP&A leaders

Board Materials

• Participants, Roles, and Responsibilities

• Meeting Materials & Templates

• The Closed Door Session & Mistakes to Avoid

M&A

• M&A Strategies - How to evaluate your acquisition landscape

• Ways to buy a business - Asset deals vs Stock deals - in plain English

Marketplaces

• Marketplace Business Models

• 15 Ways to Solve the "Chicken or the Egg” Problem

• Marketplace metrics

Vertical SaaS

• The top metrics for vertical SaaS companies

• Owning the Control Point

Fundraising

• The game inside the game

• Steal This Pitch Deck Formula

• How much dilution is "normal"?

• SAFEs and Pre vs Post Money Valuations

Mostly featured

• Brex: How CFOs think about travel spend

• SecFi: How employees can think like shareholders

• Lightspeed: A Total Addressable Market Masterclass

• Ramp: Cash is king: unlocking magic in the cash conversion cycle

• Vareto: Top finance influencers to follow in 2023

—CJ