In this episode of Run the Numbers, CJ sits down with Shiv Verma, CFO of Robinhood, to unpack the company's 2022 "refounding". They dig into why Shiv personally signs off on every headcount and marketing dollar at a $100B+ company, and how Robinhood's capital allocation philosophy — no loss leaders, minimal variable costs, and a hard $100 million ARR bar for new products — shapes everything from prediction markets to private-market investing.
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LINKS:
Mostly Talent: https://mostlymetrics.typeform.com/to/cLTxtAsN
Guest: linkedin.com/in/shiv-verma-6408249
Company: www.robinhood.com
CJ: https://www.linkedin.com/in/cj-gustafson-13140948/
Mostly metrics: https://www.mostlymetrics.com
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TIMESTAMPS:
0:00 Intro
2:21 The 2022 Refounding
8:46 Using NPS
17:53 Moving to a GM Model
19:58 Finance Partners
17:49 Killing Committees for DRIs
20:04 Headcount Requests
27:02 RPM Teams and Efficiency
32:27 The Art of Capital Allocation
33:34 Core, Scaling, and New Seeds
37:07 Funding a New Idea
38:17 Killing OKRs
44:59 No Loss Leaders
48:36 Building Prediction Markets Fast
51:26 Why Shiv Hates Variable Costs
53:37 Market Share Over Revenue
55:59 Forecasting a Volatile Business
59:53 Shiv's Biggest Mistake
1:02:03 Lessons from the Oakland A's
1:04:04 Advice to His Younger Self
1:04:48 Finance Tech Stack
1:05:30 Craziest Expense
