E42: Stack Overflow's CFO Matt Gallatin on "Burning the Ships”

In this episode, CJ is joined by Matt Gallatin, CFO of Stack Overflow, the largest online community for developers and one of the most popular websites in the world. They cover the impact of doing SaaS 101 learning sessions with departments across the org, how CFOs can get involved in the customer lifecycle reviews, CFO career stories demonstrating high stress decision-making in action, and more. If you’re looking for an ERP platform, check out our sponsor, NetSuite: https://netsuite.com/metrics — PSA: Run The Numbers has a new Spotify and Apple show link. Follow the links to subscribe and ensure you'll never miss an episode Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/run-the-numbers/id1723787140 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0zQCkklNnVgMD364kCW5SV — SPONSORS: NetSuite provides financial software for all your business needs. More than 37,000 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 get a customized KPI checklist. Maxio is the only billing and financial operations platform that was purpose built for B2B SaaS. They're helping SaaS finance teams automate billing and revenue recognition, manage collections and payments, and put together investor grade reporting packages. 🚀 Request a demo at www.maxio.com/runthenumbers for 10% off your first year. Thoropass provides complete compliance management, continuous monitoring, and security audits through intuitive software and expert guidance – allowing you to do business with confidence. Learn more: https://bit.ly/Thoropass 🔒 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. — FOLLOW US ON X: @cjgustafson222 (CJ) @turpentinemedia — TIMESTAMPS: (00:00) Preview (02:25) Sponsors: NetSuite by Oracle | Thoropass (05:05) Tying Together the SaaS Model for the Whole Company (06:54) SaaS 101 Sessions (09:36) Understanding SaaS Metrics (13:51) Customer Life Cycle Review (17:16) Sponsor: Maxio (18:29) Matt’s Bold Decision at Drawbridge (25:57)The Aftermath and Lessons Learned from that Decision (27:33) Not All Revenue is Created Equal (28:14) Understanding Business Growth and Trajectory (29:55) Using Public Companies As Aspirational Benchmarks (37:59) Digging Into S1s (40:30) Matt’s Favorite Benchmark Reports (43:50) CFOs are like NFL Coaching Trees (48:20) Matt’s Finance Software Stack Brought to you by Tropic (50:51) Wrap This show is produced by Turpentine: a network of podcasts, newsletters, and more, covering technology, business, and culture — all from the perspective of industry insiders and experts. We’re launching new shows every week, and we’re looking for industry-leading sponsors — if you think that might be you and your company, email us at [email protected].