Why customer count can mislead

In this episode of Run the Numbers, CJ sits down with Jason Lee, CFO of Faire, to unpack the economics of wholesale marketplaces. They break down how Faire connects independent brands with local retailers, the key metrics that matter in marketplace businesses, and ROI as a decision-making framework. Jason also shares lessons from scaling Square through its IPO and how finance leaders navigate valuation resets in private markets.

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SPONSORS:

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Tabs is an AI-native revenue platform that unifies billing, collections, and revenue recognition for companies running usage-based or complex contracts. By bringing together ERP, CRM, and real product usage data into a single system of record, Tabs eliminates manual reconciliations and speeds up close and cash collection. Companies like Cortex, Statsig, and Cursor trust Tabs to scale revenue efficiently. Learn more at https://www.tabs.com/run

Abacum is a modern FP&A platform built by former CFOs to replace slow, consultant-heavy planning tools. With self-service integrations and AI-powered workflows for forecasting, variance analysis, and scenario modeling, Abacum helps finance teams scale without becoming software admins. Trusted by teams at Strava, Replit, and JG Wentworth—learn more at https://www.abacum.ai

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LINKS: 

Mostly Talent: https://mostlymetrics.typeform.com/to/cLTxtAsN

Jason: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jason-lee-11787020/

Faire: https://www.faire.com/

CJ: https://www.linkedin.com/in/cj-gustafson-13140948/

Mostly metrics: https://www.mostlymetrics.com

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TIMESTAMPS:

0:00 Preview and intro

3:01 How Faire serves retailers

5:49 Revenue model and retention metrics

8:21 Recurring vs. reoccurring revenue

11:54 Sponsors — Metronome | RightRev | Rillet

15:17 Input vs. output metrics

17:13 The business equation

19:08 Metric ownership

22:07 Killing metrics: signal to noise

23:21 800 metrics at Faire

24:51 Customer count as a misleading metric

26:04 Sponsors — Tabs | Abacum | Brex

29:25 Planning cadences at Faire

32:41 When to reallocate resources

36:40 ROI as a framework

40:25 Portfolio view of investments

43:53 Discipline is knowing where to say yes

47:11 Faire's valuation reset

50:49 Tender offer mechanics

55:33 Screwing up IR at Square IPO

56:52 Advice to younger self

58:44 AI at Faire

59:32 Claude connected to data warehouse

1:00:16 Tariff analysis with AI

1:02:38 Credits

#RunTheNumbersPodcast #Marketplace #CFO #SaaS #FinanceLeadership