In this episode of Run the Numbers, CJ sits down with Jake Kornreich, CFO of CoLab and former CFO of Own, live from the New York Stock Exchange. Jake breaks down the six-part framework behind Own’s $2.1B sale to Salesforce, why “control your destiny” matters, how CFOs should think about IPO readiness, board communication, share price theater, and why great finance leaders operate beyond the spreadsheet.
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SPONSORS:
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EY has been part of Silicon Valley since it was just a valley, helping the most successful names in tech go from startup to exit to megacap. With teams across strategy, tax, audit, and transactions, EY helps you get your financials right early, long before your investors start asking for it. You build the next big thing, and EY will help you build it right. Learn more at https://www.ey.com/techstartups
SpendHound cuts your SaaS and AI spend by up to 30% using real pricing benchmarks across 10,000 vendors, so you always know what fair pricing looks like before your next renewal. Rated #1 on G2 in SaaS spend management, it's free forever for teams up to 1,000 employees. Sign up by June 12th and get $500 just for getting started. Go to https://www.spendhound.com/cj
Brex is an intelligent finance platform with AI-powered agents that capture expenses automatically, enforce policy before the spend happens, and close your books in minutes instead of weeks. 35,000+ companies like OpenAI, Coinbase, Anthropic, and DoorDash already run on Brex. It's time to get Brex AF. Learn more at https://www.brex.com/metrics
Aleph is a modern FP&A platform built for teams that want more than another planning tool. By connecting your ERP, CRM, and other systems into one trusted data layer with AI workflows, Aleph helps you move faster with real-time insights. Get a personalized demo at https://www.getaleph.com/run
RightRev is an automated revenue recognition platform that lets your product team ship new pricing without asking finance for permission, and your sales team close deals without creating downstream chaos. Check out their free tool at calculator.rightrev.com It scores your rev rec process, shows what's exposing you to risk, and tells you exactly where to focus before it bites you in the rear end. Check it out at https://calculator.rightrev.com
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LINKS:
Mostly Talent: https://mostlymetrics.typeform.com/to/cLTxtAsN
Guest: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jake-kornreich/
Company: https://www.colabsoftware.com/
CJ: https://www.linkedin.com/in/cj-gustafson-13140948/
Mostly metrics: https://www.mostlymetrics.com
TIMESTAMPS:
0:00 Preview and Intro
2:20 First stock
3:28 Benefits of going public today
5:42 Come-up: chief of staff to CFO
6:31 Running HR like a sales org
8:32 Control your destiny
9:24 Synergies with Salesforce
10:09 Sponsors — Rillet | EY | SpendHound
13:10 Do your own ROI due diligence
14:40 Share price equals entertainment
16:26 Disciplined execution
17:45 Performance, not stories
19:24 Activist investors and the acquirer's board
20:13 Write the memo for the other side
20:45 Sponsors — Brex | Aleph | RightRev
24:02 Triangulate your way to success
25:18 Your board takes snapshots, you run the movie
26:21 Knowing when to sell
27:16 Valuation limits your exit options
27:38 Stakeholder comms during the acquisition
29:58 CFO as operator, not just function
31:31 What is CoLab?
32:09 Why Jake joined post-Series C
33:50 Personal product market fit for CFOs
35:27 Lightning round
35:42 Screwed up: $5M budget error
36:17 Advice to younger self
36:41 Finance software stack
37:34 Culture of expense discipline
38:22 Credits
