Podcasts about Metronome

In this episode of Run the Numbers, CJ Gustafson sits down with Colin Gardiner, General Partner at Yonder VC and former Chief Revenue and Product Officer at Outdoorsy, to unpack what really drives successful marketplace businesses. Colin shares lessons from scaling a peer-to-peer RV platform, where the biggest unlock came not from casual users but from power hosts optimizing utilization and yield through the SaaS tools they built. He introduces his “Marketplace Plus” investing framework—showing how layering SaaS and professional tools can transform a platform into an operating system—and where founders risk overreaching by taking on inventory or managing supply too tightly. The conversation dives deep into monetization, pricing psychology, take rates, and the fine balance between product-market fit and margin obsession, before zooming out to explore how AI and the decline of SEO are reshaping marketplace discovery.—LINKS:Colin on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/colingardiner/Company: https://www.yonder.vc/CJ on X (@cjgustafson222): https://x.com/cjgustafson222Mostly metrics: https://www.mostlymetrics.com—RELATED EPISODES:996 Culture, Exploding AI Bills & SaaS Chaoshttps://youtu.be/qhrxDL0gsRo“Keep the Take Rate Low” - Turo's Chuck Fisher on Scaling a Successful Peer-to-peerhttps://youtu.be/LKH8o1MjnZoThe Art of Stacking S-Curves: Olo's Winning Vertical SaaS Strategy with CFO Peter Benevideshttps://youtu.be/1X2VoYogj44—TIMESTAMPS:00:00:00 Intro and Guest Overview00:02:57 Sponsors – RightRev, Tipalti, and Aleph00:07:13 Outdoorsy and the RV Market00:10:33 Balancing Supply and Demand00:13:05 Marketplace Plus Model00:16:59 Sponsors – Fidelity Private Shares, Metronome, and Mercury00:21:45 Professionalizing Marketplaces00:24:10 Building Software, Insurance, and Financing Layers00:28:07 Avoiding Fully Managed Models00:32:34 Take Rates and Pricing Strategy00:35:00 Monetizing Both Sides00:37:06 Advertising and Marketplace Scale00:39:48 Marketplaces Meet Social Platforms00:42:36 AI and Marketplace Distribution00:45:54 AI Agents and Matchmaking00:47:03 When AI Becomes the Supply00:49:09 Negative Gross Margins and Scale00:53:04 Picking a Side – Supply or Demand00:54:35 Branding, Utilization, and Growth00:55:42 Closing and Credits—SPONSORS:RightRev automates the revenue recognition process from end to end, gives you real-time insights, and ensures ASC 606 / IFRS 15 compliance—all while closing books faster. For RevRec that auditors actually trust, visit https://www.rightrev.com and schedule a demo.Tipalti automates the entire payables process—from onboarding suppliers to executing global payouts—helping finance teams save time, eliminate costly errors, and scale confidently across 200+ countries and 120 currencies. More than 5,000 businesses already trust Tipalti to manage payments with built-in security and tax compliance. Visit https://www.tipalti.com/runthenumbers to learn more.Aleph automates 90% of manual, error-prone busywork, so you can focus on the strategic work you were hired to do. Minimize busywork and maximize impact with the power of a web app, the flexibility of spreadsheets, and the magic of AI. Get a personalised demo at https://www.getaleph.com/runFidelity Private Shares is the all-in-one equity management platform that keeps your cap table clean, your data room organized, and your equity story clear—so you never risk losing a fundraising round over messy records. Schedule a demo at https://www.fidelityprivateshares.com and mention Mostly Metrics to get 20% off.Metronome is real-time billing built for modern software companies. Metronome turns raw usage events into accurate invoices, gives customers bills they actually understand, and keeps finance, product, and engineering perfectly in sync. That's why category-defining companies like OpenAI and Anthropic trust Metronome to power usage-based pricing and enterprise contracts at scale. Focus on your product — not your billing. Learn more and get started at https://www.metronome.comMercury is business banking built for builders, giving founders and finance pros a financial stack that actually works together. From sending wires to tracking balances and approving payments, Mercury makes it simple to scale without friction. Join the 200,000+ entrepreneurs who trust Mercury and apply online in minutes at https://www.mercury.com—#RunTheNumbersPodcast #MarketplaceStrategy #AIPoweredBusiness #SaaSModel #StartupFinance This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit cjgustafson.substack.com

In this high-energy episode of Mostly Growth, CJ Gustafson, Kyle Poyar, and Ben Hillman dive into the hidden levers of SaaS growth and what truly separates startups that scale to $20M+ ARR from those that stall out. They explore eye-opening data from 6,500 companies, revealing how the best improve net retention, raise pricing, and re-engineer their revenue models over time. Alongside the metrics, there's plenty of playful chaos—like a naming debate over “Yoshinobu Yamamoto Gustafson,” a rapid-fire game of “Founder or Pop Star,” and CJ's accidental IPO embargo break. It's part insight, part inside joke, and 100% for SaaS operators and C-suite climbers.—LINKS:Mostly Metrics: https://www.mostlymetrics.comCJ on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/cj-gustafson-13140948/Growth Unhinged: https://www.growthunhinged.com/Kyle on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kyle-poyar/Slacker Stuff: https://www.slackerstuff.com/Ben on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/slackerstuff/https://www.growthunhinged.com/p/the-compounding-startuphttps://www.growthunhinged.com/p/the-odds-of-making-ithttps://www.superme.ai/kylepoyar?conversationId=VgDXTOl2Z89mW7UYXstU0bhttps://a16z.com/anatomy-of-an-enterprise-platform-company/https://www.investopedia.com/terms/h/hhi.asphttps://navan.com/https://www.mostlymetrics.com/p/navan-ipo-s1-breakdownhttps://x.com/amendandpretend/status/1983588137453416763?s=46https://x.com/ryan_c_walsh/status/1983705182371475630?s=46https://www.reddit.com/r/TwinCities/comments/z6hxp8/how_much_are_people_paying_for_residential_snow/—RELATED EPISODES:Getting fired 4 times made me a founder | Sam Jacobs of Pavilionhttps://youtu.be/8X-JVOF-1A0Why Founders Are Posting Sad Dinnershttps://youtu.be/Zl6NSIHF2Gk—TIMESTAMPS:00:00:00 Preview and Intro00:01:55 Sponsors – Pulley & Metronome00:04:25 Dodgers Banter & Baby Naming00:05:38 Founder or Pop Star Game00:07:50 ChartMogul Data & Growth Levers00:08:30 Expansion, Upsell & Retention Discussion00:15:53 Testing Kyle's AI Avatar00:17:07 CJ's AI Self-Query & Beta Discussion00:18:04 AI Use Cases & Knowledge Retention00:22:03 Platform Debate & A16z Analysis00:24:29 Herfindahl-Hirschman Index Explained00:25:34 Platform Metrics & Valuation Upside00:26:48 CrowdStrike, Datadog & Multi-Product Expansion00:28:13 Core Systems of Record & AI's Impact00:29:49 Business Blunders – Navan IPO & Snowflake CRO00:34:07 Snow Removal Pricing & Insurance Logic00:35:56 Closing Remarks & Credits—SPONSORS:Metronome is real-time billing built for modern software companies. Metronome turns raw usage events into accurate invoices, gives customers bills they actually understand, and keeps finance, product, and engineering perfectly in sync. That's why category-defining companies like OpenAI and Anthropic trust Metronome to power usage-based pricing and enterprise contracts at scale. Focus on your product — not your billing. Learn more and get started at https://www.metronome.comPulley is the cap table management platform built for CFOs and finance leaders who need reliable, audit-ready data and intuitive workflows, without the hidden fees or unreliable support. Switch in as little as 5 days and get 25% off your first year: https://pulley.com/mostlymetrics—#MostlyGrowthPodcast #SaaSGrowth #StartupStrategy #B2BTech #RevenueRetention This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit cjgustafson.substack.com

Dive deep into the career of Mikel Merino, the modern, all-around midfielder who has become a linchpin for both Arsenal and the Spanish National Team. From his beginnings at Osasuna and revitalizing moves to Newcastle and Real Sociedad (where he was Man of the Match in the Copa del Rey final!), to his current role as a key player under Mikel Arteta, we chart his steady ascent to the top. Discover how this complete midfielder balances technical skill with physicality, his impressive 0.4 goals-per-90 ratio, and the surprising versatility that saw him score a crucial brace as a temporary striker. We break down the statistics, his playing style, and the clutch performances—including the extra-time winner against Germany at Euro —that have made him a national hero.Mikel Merino, Arsenal FC, Real Sociedad, Spain National Team, Premier League Midfielder

In this episode of Run the Numbers, CJ Gustafson sits down with Sam Jacobs, Founder and CEO of Pavilion, the global community for GTM leaders. Sam shares how getting fired multiple times as a CRO led him to build a business rooted in belonging — one that monetized members first, prioritized intimacy over growth, and turned a Slack group into a multimillion-dollar company. He and CJ unpack the mechanics of community: the tradeoffs between exclusivity and expansion, why venture capital doesn't always fit human-centered businesses, and how Pavilion balances pricing, curation, and access. They also explore the evolution of the GTM function — from the myth of the plug-and-play VP of Sales to how AI is reshaping RevOps, forecasting, and leadership. Finally, Sam reflects on building durable value beyond personal brand and what it really takes to scale trust as a product.—LINKS:Sam Jacobs on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/samfjacobs/Company: https://www.joinpavilion.com/CJ on X (@cjgustafson222): https://x.com/cjgustafson222Mostly metrics: https://www.mostlymetrics.com—RELATED EPISODES:E120: What does the future of tech look like when it costs $0 to switch software?https://www.youtube.com/live/Cpw2pkq-FXI?si=-0y0tcLTIlIbkmyOCFOs: Want to Outmaneuver Your Competitors? Here's the Jedi Mind Trickhttps://youtu.be/Yte_fe1xF90?si=hVfgdd0Fg0PQuuoSThe Gross Margin Episode with Sarah Wang of a16zhttps://youtu.be/72aP5ohBxvE—TIMESTAMPS:00:00:00 Preview and Intro00:03:05 Sponsors – Mercury, RightRev, and Tipalti00:06:50 Pavilion, Community, and Go-to-Market Leadership00:10:28 Career Tenure and Executive Turnover00:12:55 Compensation Structure and Equity Negotiation00:14:31 Building Wealth Through Equity00:16:30 Sponsors – Aleph, Fidelity Private Shares, and Metronome00:19:36 Managing Wealth, Lifestyle, and Longevity in Leadership00:22:58 Founding Pavilion to Empower Operators00:25:13 Taking Roles for Learning, Titles, and Leverage00:28:47 Contrarian Executives, Team Dynamics, and Leadership Lessons00:30:36 What Makes a Great VP of Sales00:33:23 Revenue, Profitability, and Misaligned Incentives00:35:08 Quota Setting, Forecasting, and Spreadsheet Pitfalls00:39:07 AI in Sales and the Myth of the AI SDR00:40:32 The Future of Playbooks in the Age of AI00:43:38 The Dangers of AI and the Need for Humans in the Loop00:45:27 Monetizing Pavilion – Memberships, Sponsors, and Pricing Strategy00:49:30 Building Higher-Margin Community Businesses00:57:46 Building a Personal Brand with Long-Term Value01:01:52 Closing Credits and Outro—SPONSORS:Mercury is business banking built for builders, giving founders and finance pros a financial stack that actually works together. From sending wires to tracking balances and approving payments, Mercury makes it simple to scale without friction. Join the 200,000+ entrepreneurs who trust Mercury and apply online in minutes at https://www.mercury.comRightRev automates the revenue recognition process from end to end, gives you real-time insights, and ensures ASC 606 / IFRS 15 compliance—all while closing books faster. For RevRec that auditors actually trust, visit https://www.rightrev.com and schedule a demo.Tipalti automates the entire payables process—from onboarding suppliers to executing global payouts—helping finance teams save time, eliminate costly errors, and scale confidently across 200+ countries and 120 currencies. More than 5,000 businesses already trust Tipalti to manage payments with built-in security and tax compliance. Visit https://www.tipalti.com/runthenumbers to learn more.Aleph automates 90% of manual, error-prone busywork, so you can focus on the strategic work you were hired to do. Minimize busywork and maximize impact with the power of a web app, the flexibility of spreadsheets, and the magic of AI. Get a personalised demo at https://www.getaleph.com/runFidelity Private Shares is the all-in-one equity management platform that keeps your cap table clean, your data room organized, and your equity story clear—so you never risk losing a fundraising round over messy records. Schedule a demo at https://www.fidelityprivateshares.com and mention Mostly Metrics to get 20% off.Metronome is real-time billing built for modern software companies. Metronome turns raw usage events into accurate invoices, gives customers bills they actually understand, and keeps finance, product, and engineering perfectly in sync. That's why category-defining companies like OpenAI and Anthropic trust Metronome to power usage-based pricing and enterprise contracts at scale. Focus on your product — not your billing. Learn more and get started at https://www.metronome.com#RunTheNumbersPodcast #Finance #CommunityBuilding #Leadership #GoToMarket This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit cjgustafson.substack.com

In this episode of Run the Numbers, CJ Gustafson sits down with Teddy Collins, EVP of Finance at SeatGeek, who helped scale the company from its first in-house finance hire to a tech-forward finance team powering one of the most dynamic businesses in live events. Teddy shares what it was like leading finance through the pandemic when live events went dark overnight, how that period reshaped his approach to forecasting and uncertainty, and how SeatGeek is now using AI and machine learning to enhance planning accuracy and decision-making. He and CJ also dive into how finance can evolve from a cost center to a strategic partner, the toughest manual processes he's eliminated, and where he sees the next big leap in the CFO tech stack. Finally, Teddy opens up about his rapid rise—four promotions in ten years—and offers practical advice on career growth, feedback, and building trust in a world where AI is redefining what “junior” really means.—LINKS:On LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/teddycollins/Company: https://seatgeek.com/CJ on X (@cjgustafson222): https://x.com/cjgustafson222Mostly metrics: https://www.mostlymetrics.com—RELATED EPISODES:CFO of FloQast on Why Finance Teams are Data Curators—TIMESTAMPS:(00:00:00) Preview and Intro(00:02:49) Sponsor – Metronome | Mercury | RightRev(00:06:36) Joining SeatGeek and the Early Finance Journey(00:08:05) Managing Finance When Live Events Went Dark(00:10:23) Forecasting Through Uncertainty(00:13:12) Building Systems and Processes from Scratch(00:15:34) Sponsor – Tipalti | Aleph | Fidelity Private Shares(00:18:06) Using AI and Machine Learning in Forecasting(00:22:44) Build vs. Buy: SeatGeek's Tech Philosophy(00:26:31) Turning Finance into a Strategic Partner(00:30:42) Killing Manual Processes and Automating Insights(00:34:55) The Next Big Leap in the CFO Stack(00:38:46) Leading Teams Through Change and Growth(00:42:11) Talent, Tools, and the Future of Finance Roles(00:46:07) Climbing the Ladder: Four Promotions in Ten Years(00:49:50) Career Advice and Earning Trust in Fast-Growing Teams(00:53:16) How AI Is Reshaping the Definition of “Junior”(00:56:22) Lightning Round and Closing Thoughts—SPONSORS:Today's podcast is brought to you by Metronome. You just launched your new AI product. The new pricing page looks great. But behind it? Last-minute glue code, messy spreadsheets, and running ad-hoc queries to figure out what to bill. Customers get invoices they can't understand. Engineers are chasing billing bugs. Finance can't close the books. With Metronome, you hand it all off to the real-time billing infrastructure that just works—reliable, flexible, and built to grow with you. We turn raw usage events into accurate invoices, give customers bills they actually understand, and keep every team in sync in real time. Whether you're launching usage-based pricing, managing enterprise contracts, or rolling out new AI services, Metronome does the heavy lifting so you can focus on your product, not your billing. That's why some of the fastest-growing companies in the world, like OpenAI and Anthropic, run their billing on Metronome. Visit metronome.com to learn more.Mercury is business banking built for builders, giving founders and finance pros a financial stack that actually works together. From sending wires to tracking balances and approving payments, Mercury makes it simple to scale without friction. Join the 200,000+ entrepreneurs who trust Mercury and apply online in minutes at https://www.mercury.comRightRev automates the revenue recognition process from end to end, gives you real-time insights, and ensures ASC 606 / IFRS 15 compliance—all while closing books faster. For RevRec that auditors actually trust, visit https://www.rightrev.com and schedule a demo.Tipalti automates the entire payables process—from onboarding suppliers to executing global payouts—helping finance teams save time, eliminate costly errors, and scale confidently across 200+ countries and 120 currencies. More than 5,000 businesses already trust Tipalti to manage payments with built-in security and tax compliance. Visit https://www.tipalti.com/runthenumbers to learn more.Aleph automates 90% of manual, error-prone busywork, so you can focus on the strategic work you were hired to do. Minimize busywork and maximize impact with the power of a web app, the flexibility of spreadsheets, and the magic of AI. Get a personalised demo at https://www.getaleph.com/runFidelity Private Shares is the all-in-one equity management platform that keeps your cap table clean, your data room organized, and your equity story clear—so you never risk losing a fundraising round over messy records. Schedule a demo at https://www.fidelityprivateshares.com and mention Mostly Metrics to get 20% off.#RunTheNumbersPodcast #FinanceLeadership #CFOStack #AIForecasting #SeatGeek This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit cjgustafson.substack.com

Check out Mostly Growth and get episodes early. Available on all platforms.* YouTube* Spotify* AppleIn this episode, CJ Gustafson, Kyle Poyar, and Ben Hillman dive into the concept of “sloponomics”—a tongue-in-cheek look at the overwhelming flood of mediocre AI-generated content and what it means for creators, startups, and investors. They discuss how unique voices and genuine creativity will stand out in an AI-saturated landscape, the economic parallels between modern content creation and startup growth, and the tricky dynamics of building sustainable momentum in a world of noise. The trio also unpack the “$10K MRR” meme, pricing psychology, and the difference between chasing vanity metrics and building lasting value. With humor and real-world insight, they explore how AI, distribution, and early-stage investment are reshaping what success looks like in tech and media.Timestamps:00:00 Preview and Intro00:35 Being Mean to AI and Early Banter02:05 When You're Rude to AI: The Penn State Study04:57 Sponsor – Metronome06:02 The Rise of AI-Generated “Slop” Content07:15 The Creator “Haves and Have-Nots”09:00 Losing Credit to AI Models11:20 Feeding the Beast: 400 Posts Later13:13 “Slop Talk” and Human-Made Slop14:27 The $10K MRR Meme and Startup Momentum15:49 Pricing Psychology and Product Traction17:42 Hunting Mice, Buffalo, and Elephants20:19 Venture Funds, Bubbles, and Ecosystem Investing23:39 When Startups Invest in Startups26:25 Slack, Lattice, and the Platform Play30:39 Wrapping Up and Late-Night Insights33:12 The Hemingway Story and CJ's No-Instagram Lifestyle36:10 Electric Boats, Group Discounts, and Sign-OffEpisodes Referenced:Slop Talk (coming soon)⁠https://www.youtube.com/slackerstuff⁠Why Only 2% of Startups Make ItWhen startups burn cash faster than they learn | Ivan Makarov:⁠996 Culture, Exploding AI Bills & SaaS Chaos⁠Links:⁠https://www.dexerto.com/entertainment/study-proves-being-rude-to-ai-chatbots-gets-better-results-than-being-nice-3269895/⁠⁠https://www.usg.edu/galileo/skills/unit07/internet07_02.phtml⁠⁠https://futurism.com/altman-please-thanks-chatgpt⁠⁠https://futurism.com/artificial-intelligence/over-50-percent-internet-ai-slop⁠⁠https://www.axios.com/2025/10/14/ai-generated-writing-humans⁠⁠https://www.economist.com/business/2025/10/16/sloponomics-who-wins-and-loses-in-the-ai-content-flood⁠⁠https://x.com/madhuraaa_/status/1978390720881819884⁠⁠https://www.mostlymetrics.com/p/eat-what-you-kill⁠⁠https://christophjanz.blogspot.com/2014/10/five-ways-to-build-100-million-business.html⁠⁠https://www.growthunhinged.com/p/how-to-build-your-early-gtm-strategy⁠⁠https://www.mostlymetrics.com/p/startups-investing-in-startups-peak-bubble-behavior⁠⁠https://www.economist.com/science-and-technology/2025/10/10/are-barefoot-shoes-good-for-runners⁠⁠https://x.com/ivanomaksf/status/1978852000298320068?s=46⁠⁠https://www.linkedin.com/news/story/uber-offers-drivers-extra-pay-to-perform-tasks-that-train-ai-7116401/⁠⁠https://www.mostlymetrics.com/p/is-ltv-to-cac-the-nickelback-of-metrics⁠⁠https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/tv/tv-news/final-2024-25-network-tv-ratings-tracker-high-potential-1236312223/⁠⁠https://christophjanz.blogspot.com/2014/10/five-ways-to-build-100-million-business.html⁠⁠https://www.theinformation.com/articles/ben-horowitz-hires-jensen-vercel-starts-venture-fund⁠⁠https://www.instagram.com/chasemytail/Today's podcast is brought to you by MetronomeYou just launched your new AI product. The new pricing page looks great. But behind it? Last-minute glue code, messy spreadsheets, and running ad-hoc queries to figure out what to bill. Customers get invoices they can't understand. Engineers are chasing billing bugs. Finance can't close the books.With Metronome, you hand it all off to the real-time billing infrastructure that just works—reliable, flexible, and built to grow with you. We turn raw usage events into accurate invoices, give customers bills they actually understand, and keep every team in sync in real time.Whether you're launching usage-based pricing, managing enterprise contracts, or rolling out new AI services, Metronome does the heavy lifting so you can focus on your product, not your billing.That's why some of the fastest-growing companies in the world, like OpenAI and Anthropic, run their billing on Metronome.Visit metronome.com to learn more. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit cjgustafson.substack.com

Is Angelo Stiller the next great German maestro? We break down the VfB Stuttgart conductor who's drawing comparisons to Toni Kroos. Dive into stiller's "artistic control" as a deep-lying playmaker, examining his staggering 90% pass accuracy, elite progressive passing rank, and high-IQ defensive style. Discover how the Bayern Munich academy product is bossing the midfield, starring in the Champions League with VfB, and putting Real Madrid and Liverpool on alert.Angelo Stiller, VfB Stuttgart, Toni Kroos comparison, Bundesliga progressive passes, deep-lying playmaker, German football talent

Check out Mostly Growth and get episodes early. Available on all platforms.* YouTube* Spotify* AppleIn this episode of Mostly Growth, CJ Gustafson, Kyle Poyar, and Ben Hillman dive into the question on everyone's mind: are we in an AI bubble? What starts as a lighthearted riff on the U.S. Postal Service launching a podcast quickly spirals into a sharp, funny breakdown of today's AI hype cycle — from Nvidia, OpenAI, and AMD trading money and GPUs in a trillion-dollar feedback loop, to startups burning cash chasing “AI-powered” everything. The trio share real examples of when AI helps and when it backfires (including one newsletter that totally tanked), debate whether companies are over-optimizing for automation, and laugh through the absurdity of the hype while grounding it in practical insights on product, finance, and growth.Timestamps:00:00 Preview and Intro00:14 Are We in an AI Bubble?00:44 The AI Feedback Loop: Nvidia, OpenAI, and AMD01:00 Perplexity, We Caught You (Again)02:18 The USPS Podcast and the End of Original Ideas04:24 How the Team Actually Uses AI at Work06:07 CJ's DIY Dunning Saga08:38 When Automation Goes Too Far10:49 The Perplexity Gaslight Moment13:27 AI vs. AI: Outsmarting Resume Screeners16:09 What Recruiters Really Think of AI Resumes17:17 The Chief of Staff Hiring Story19:15 Is AI Adoption Already Slowing Down?22:42 The “Crossing the Chasm” Moment for AI Tools26:22 Bundling AI Like Streaming Services28:49 Everyone's Paying Everyone: The Circular AI Economy31:15 Betting Big on AGI and Data Centers34:09 The Margin: AI Erotica and Peak Absurdity35:23 OpenAI's Token Leaderboard and Other Blunders41:43 What Kyle Tried This Week: Building an AI Agent44:52 Wrap-Up and OutroEpisodes Referenced:5,762 Job Applications. Zero Offers.Episodes Referenced:5,762 Job Applications. Zero Offers.Why Only 2% of Startups Make ItThe War for Talent is just getting started | Joe FloydLinks:https://usps-mailin-it.simplecast.com/https://i.imgflip.com/a92oy5.jpghttps://tabs.inc/webinar/tabs-agenthttps://www.nytimes.com/2025/10/07/business/ai-chatbot-prompts-resumes.html?_bhlid=1b5906cdc6781a738a150d9c32f846ebf11fc318https://substack.com/home/post/p-175615945https://ramp.com/data/ai-index?utm_source=econlab.substack.comhttps://medium.com/@samuelvandeth/crossing-the-chasm-162802d1cf27https://x.com/TrungTPhan/status/1922669292929024017/photo/1https://x.com/zerohedge/status/1977902195472322620?s=42https://topline.beehiiv.com/p/the-era-of-haves-and-have-notshttps://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cpd2qv58yl5ohttps://www.linkedin.com/posts/cj-gustafson-13140948_imagine-getting-called-into-your-cfos-office-activity-7381681514532458496-NOqa/https://fortune.com/2025/10/01/red-lobster-ceo-damola-adamolekun-comeback-plan-bankruptcy/https://fortune.com/2024/11/13/red-lobster-ceo-damola-adamolekun-says-endless-shrimp-is-never-coming-back/#https://www.relay.app/Today's podcast is brought to you by MetronomeYou just launched your new AI product. The new pricing page looks great. But behind it? Last-minute glue code, messy spreadsheets, and running ad-hoc queries to figure out what to bill. Customers get invoices they can't understand. Engineers are chasing billing bugs. Finance can't close the books.With Metronome, you hand it all off to the real-time billing infrastructure that just works—reliable, flexible, and built to grow with you. We turn raw usage events into accurate invoices, give customers bills they actually understand, and keep every team in sync in real time.Whether you're launching usage-based pricing, managing enterprise contracts, or rolling out new AI services, Metronome does the heavy lifting so you can focus on your product, not your billing.That's why some of the fastest-growing companies in the world, like OpenAI and Anthropic, run their billing on Metronome.Visit metronome.com to learn more. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit cjgustafson.substack.com

Check out Mostly Growth and get episodes early. Available on all platforms.* YouTube* Spotify* AppleConference season is back, and CJ and Kyle are swapping stories from the stage—how to nail a keynote, whether conferences are worth the money, and why your walkout song matters more than you think. From there, they dig into a new a16z report revealing where AI startups are actually spending their dollars, and CJ shares results from his summer survey showing that CFOs talk a big game about measuring AI ROI—but nobody knows how to do it. The crew also unpacks how SaaS companies like Slack are bundling AI into their products and hiking prices, before spiraling into a late-night “potentially reliable” rabbit hole featuring a Soviet pole vaulter, beat-and-raise forecasting, and J. Edgar Hoover. They close with lessons on pricing in the real world (yes, Amsterdam's architecture is involved) and one experiment CJ tried this week.Timestamps:00:00 Preview and Intro02:03 Walkout Songs & Kicking Off Conference Season04:12 Sponsored Segment — Metronome05:16 How To Give a Great Keynote and Not Bore the Room11:16 Are Conferences Worth the Money16:02 What AI Companies Are Actually Paying For — The a16z Report21:56 Summer Survey Results: The Elusive ROI of AI23:56 Why No One Knows How To Measure ROI on AI29:38 SaaS Companies Forcing AI — Bundling, Pricing, and Pushback35:32 A Potentially Reliable Thing I Read at 2 AM36:02 Soviet Pole Vaulter, Beat-and-Raise Forecasting & Hoover's Borders41:02 Pricing in the Real World — Lessons from Amsterdam's Skinny Houses44:37 Something I Tried This Week — FixyerEpisodes Referenced: ⁠Are You Bad at LinkedIn… or Is the Algorithm Lying?⁠⁠Why Founders Are Posting Sad Dinners⁠Links:⁠⁠⁠https://www.getmobly.com/⁠⁠https://a16z.com/the-ai-application-spending-report-where-startup-dollars-really-go/⁠⁠https://www.growthunhinged.com/p/how-to-nail-your-next-big-talk⁠⁠https://www.leahtharin.com/p/113-vincent-pierri-how-to-deal-with⁠⁠https://www.freepik.com/⁠⁠https://cluely.com/⁠⁠https://www.mostlymetrics.com/p/it-was-the-summer-of-25⁠⁠https://www.crescendo.ai/⁠⁠https://www.linkedin.com/posts/justintropic_slack-just-raised-prices-125-by-forcing-activity-7379132597009870848-XI6N/⁠⁠https://www.mostlymetrics.com/p/what-a-soviet-era-pole-vaulter-can-teach-us-about-beating-and-raising⁠⁠https://www.nytimes.com/1972/05/03/archives/j-edgar-hoover-made-the-fbi-formidable-with-politics-publicity-and.html⁠⁠https://www.reddit.com/r/todayilearned/comments/73vh2j/til_that_the_dutch_government_once_enforced_a_tax/⁠⁠https://www.clearspaceliving.com/blog/why-dutch-stairs-are-so-steep/⁠⁠https://mjwrightnz.wordpress.com/2012/10/28/amsterdams-taxing-narrow-houses/⁠⁠https://www.fyxer.com/Today's podcast is brought to you by MetronomeYou just launched your new AI product. The new pricing page looks great. But behind it? Last-minute glue code, messy spreadsheets, and running ad-hoc queries to figure out what to bill. Customers get invoices they can't understand. Engineers are chasing billing bugs. Finance can't close the books.With Metronome, you hand it all off to the real-time billing infrastructure that just works—reliable, flexible, and built to grow with you. We turn raw usage events into accurate invoices, give customers bills they actually understand, and keep every team in sync in real time.Whether you're launching usage-based pricing, managing enterprise contracts, or rolling out new AI services, Metronome does the heavy lifting so you can focus on your product, not your billing.That's why some of the fastest-growing companies in the world, like OpenAI and Anthropic, run their billing on Metronome.Visit metronome.com to learn more. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit cjgustafson.substack.com

Thirty Second Street Jazz gives fresh Spins to important Jazz. Friday October 10 at 7pm at Metronome in Saint Paul, Thirty Second Street Jazz plays its take on the Miles Davis LP Kind of Blue, plus its original music and unique mashups. But what's a mashup? When bassist Scott Anderson talked to Phil Nusbaum about Thirty Second Street Jazz, Scott first addressed the difference between a mashup and a medley.

Check out Mostly Growth and get episodes early. Available on all platforms.* YouTube* Spotify* AppleAI may be rewriting the playbook for growth, but it's also leaving behind some of the old startup gospel. CJ and Kyle (with Ben jumping in) dig into what happens when the “rules” no longer fit — from dead frameworks and disappearing SEO traffic to board members quietly checking out.Is T2D3 Dead? Did AI Kill It? The “triple-triple-double-double-double” path to $100M ARR worked in the old SaaS world. But what happens when AI companies blow past $100M in less than a year — often with questionable margins and pass-through revenue?SEO Down 20–40%: Is AEO the Savior? Google traffic is tanking. ChatGPT is rewriting recommendations. Is “AI Engine Optimization” the new growth channel, or just SEO with a different wrapper?The Brutal Tech Job Market CS grads face unemployment rates double those of art history majors. With 5,000+ applications going nowhere, does anyone get hired without networking or Loom videos anymore?Is Your Board Quiet Quitting? When growth slows and AI isn't your story, some VCs go ghost. From missing intros to pushing for M&A, boards are quietly exiting stage left.Business Blunders* Hospital Bed LinkedIn Photos: Hustle so hard you end up in the ER (and still post about it).* The @Company Non-Tag: Execs copy-paste updates but forget to actually tag anyone. Peak passive-aggressive LinkedIn.* Ramp's Y-Axis Crime: A 0.4% bump in weekend meals turned into a chart that looked like the apocalypse. Two burritos never looked so big.Pricing in the Real World: Bob's Barricades It's not Bob, it's Happy — and he's quietly running a barricade rental empire. Fifty cents per cone, thousands per site, tens of millions a year. The most Florida business model you've ever heard.Something We Tried This Week Kyle runs a test with Typeform — what worked, what didn't, and what it says about the state of survey tools today.Today's podcast is brought to you by MetronomeYou just launched your new AI product. The new pricing page looks great. But behind it? Last-minute glue code, messy spreadsheets, and running ad-hoc queries to figure out what to bill. Customers get invoices they can't understand. Engineers are chasing billing bugs. Finance can't close the books.With Metronome, you hand it all off to the real-time billing infrastructure that just works—reliable, flexible, and built to grow with you. We turn raw usage events into accurate invoices, give customers bills they actually understand, and keep every team in sync in real time.Whether you're launching usage-based pricing, managing enterprise contracts, or rolling out new AI services, Metronome does the heavy lifting so you can focus on your product, not your billing.That's why some of the fastest-growing companies in the world, like OpenAI and Anthropic, run their billing on Metronome.Visit metronome.com to learn more. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit cjgustafson.substack.com

This week, the gals show their homeland some love with some truly dark cases. Topics include a stalker of servers, hypnotism in the courtroom, and a criminal chameleon. Support your local musicians with some MetroNOME beers, stay out of remote cemeteries, and tune in for Minnesotan Murderers. For a full list of show sponsors, visit https://wineandcrimepodcast.com/sponsors. To advertise on Wine & Crime, please email ad-sales@libsyn.com or go to advertising.libsyn.com/winecrime.

I was eating steamed broccoli during a thunderstorm while editing a good chunk of this, and Jess just brought home some carrot cake muffins let's go dude

Professional pianist Abebi Stafford and student saxophonist Sam Stauning stopped by the Jazz88 studios to talk about the fundraiser concert the MN Hard Bop Collective is hosting on Monday, August 11. The concert will feature a student ensemble with Stauning alongside pianist Basil Saathoff and guitarist Kyle Baxter. The concert will also feature a professional performance with Abebi Stafford on organ, Jesse Simon on drums and Ian Duerr on guitar. Stafford and Stauning discussed navigating a rhythm section free performance and also reflected upon the skills one can learn performing in a casual setting like the Sit-In Series.

Nikolay and Michael are joined by Andrew Johnson and Nate Brennand from Metronome to discuss MultiXact member space exhaustion — what it is, how they managed to hit it, and some tips to prevent running into it at scale. Here are some links to things they mentioned:Nate Brennand https://postgres.fm/people/nate-brennandAndrew Johnson https://postgres.fm/people/andrew-johnsonMetronome https://metronome.comRoot Cause Analysis: PostgreSQL MultiXact member exhaustion incidents (blog post by Metronome) https://metronome.com/blog/root-cause-analysis-postgresql-multixact-member-exhaustion-incidents-may-2025Multixacts and Wraparound (docs) https://www.postgresql.org/docs/current/routine-vacuuming.html#VACUUM-FOR-MULTIXACT-WRAPAROUNDmultixact.c source code https://github.com/postgres/postgres/blob/master/src/backend/access/transam/multixact.cAdd pg_stat_multixact view for multixact membership usage monitoring (patch proposal by Andrew, needing review!) https://commitfest.postgresql.org/patch/5869/PostgreSQL subtransactions considered harmful (blog post by Nikolay) https://postgres.ai/blog/20210831-postgresql-subtransactions-considered-harmfulvacuum_multixact_failsafe_age doesn't account for MultiXact member exhaustion (thread started by Peter Geoghegan) https://www.postgresql.org/message-id/flat/CAH2-WzmLPWJk3gbAxy8dHY%2BA-Juz_6uGwfe6DkE8B5-dTDvLcw%40mail.gmail.comAmazon S3 Vectors https://aws.amazon.com/blogs/aws/introducing-amazon-s3-vectors-first-cloud-storage-with-native-vector-support-at-scale/MultiXacts in PostgreSQL: usage, side effects, and monitoring (blog post by Shawn McCoy and Divya Sharma from AWS) https://aws.amazon.com/blogs/database/multixacts-in-postgresql-usage-side-effects-and-monitoring/Postgres Aurora multixact monitoring queries https://gist.github.com/natebrennand/0924f723ff61fa897c4106379fc7f3dc And finally an apology and a correction, the membership space is ~4B, not ~2B as said by Michael in the episode! Definition here:https://github.com/postgres/postgres/blob/f6ffbeda00e08c4c8ac8cf72173f84157491bfde/src/include/access/multixact.h#L31And here's the formula discussed for calculating how the member space can grow quadratically by the number of overlapping transactions:Members can be calculated via: aₙ = 2 + [sum from k=3 to n+1 of k]This simplifies to: aₙ = (((n+1)(n+2))/2) - 1~~~What did you like or not like? What should we discuss next time? Let us know via a YouTube comment, on social media, or by commenting on our Google doc!~~~Postgres FM is produced by:Michael Christofides, founder of pgMustardNikolay Samokhvalov, founder of Postgres.aiWith special thanks to:Jessie Draws for the elephant artwork 

Once more it's a Wimbledon / golf episode with assorted diversions thrown in as the trio try to fit in a golf podcast around their various diary challenges. Iain is heading off to Edinburgh for the Scottish Open, Andrew is still at Wimbledon and Eddie is embarking on a new career as a yoga instructor. There's an update on his back issues, a look back at some of the stories from Open final qualifying and more than a word or two of praise for Lottie Woad after her dominant victory in Ireland.Visit: www.petermillar.co.ukInstagram: @chippingforecastEmail: tcf@thechippingforecast.co.uk Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

▶▶ FREE Absolute Beginner's Guide to Guitar - https://www.playguitaracademy.com/absolutebeginnersguidetoguitar If you've been chasing speed but still feel like your playing isn't landing right, this episode is for you. Let's talk about why solid rhythm—not flashy speed—is the real secret to sounding like a pro. SHOW NOTES FOR THIS EPISODE- https://www.playguitaracademy.com/blog/why-good-rhythm-is-more-important-than-speed-416 PLAY GUITAR ACADEMY - Instant access to the tabs, backing tracks, and guitar pro files from all my lick videos, Monthly masterclasses, and weekly Q&A. https://www.playguitaracademy.com 1-on-1 Guitar Lessons - https://www.playguitaracademy.com/play-guitar-coaching PLAY GUITAR PODCAST - https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/play-guitar-podcast/id1341900209 https://open.spotify.com/show/0MxjU2Y0L8PoYiTKmCtvpt YOUTUBE  (SUBSCRIBE)- https://www.youtube.com/@playguitaracademy FACEBOOK - https://www.facebook.com/PlayGuitarAcademy/ https://www.facebook.com/groups/playguitargroup/ INSTAGRAM - https://www.instagram.com/playguitaracademy Copyright ©2025 Play Guitar Academy

Have you ever tried to practice rhythm in English before? In this episode, we're diving into the rhythm of English, an essential part of speaking with fluency and confidence. English is a syllable-timed language, meaning that the rhythm is based on the time between syllables, not on individual words.  Let's practice together today with a metronome to help you develop rhythm in English in several different exercises! More episodes on rhythm:  Rhythm of English words: https://hadarshemesh.com/podcast/116/  Practice rhythm in a speech: https://hadarshemesh.com/podcast/47/

In this week's episode of The Rabbit Hole Detectives, Cat, Richard, and Charles are back to chase the provenance of historical objects both real and metaphorical. It's game on as Cat looks into The Lewis Chessmen, Charles is opening his mind to Telepathy, and Richard's hoping to hit the right note as he discusses the Metronome. Plus, our book, The Rabbit Hole Book, is out now and available from all good bookshops! Unfortunately - and very sadly - this is our last episode of The Rabbit Hole Detectives. We realise this might come as a bit of a shock but we just want to send our heartfelt thanks to every single one of our listeners. We've absolutely loved making this show and we're so grateful for your support over the last two years. Please continue to listen to the back catalogue and watch our socials for any updates. With our thanks, Cat, Richard, Charles, and the Disembodied Voice Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices