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Run the Numbers · Today · 50 min

Why Databricks’ Sid Kumar is Always Planning

In this episode of Run the Numbers, CJ welcomes back Sid Kumar, who has led go-to-market through perpetual, cloud, SaaS, and consumption models at CA, AWS, HubSpot, and now Databricks. They cover how consumption changes the sales org, why customer success has an identity crisis, how to build a commission stack, and what ARR actually means. Sid also shares how AI is reshaping capacity planning and why he thinks annual planning is giving way to continuous planning. — SPONSORS: Abacum puts your actuals, forecasts, models, and business context in one place, so you can update the plan, run scenarios, and answer "why did this change?" without rebuilding the story from six spreadsheets and a Slack thread. Connect your source systems, keep models and assumptions aligned, and give leaders trusted answers while decisions are still being made. Go to abacum.ai/mostly-metrics. RightRev is a revenue recognition platform built for the AI economy, helping finance support usage-based pricing, credits, hybrid contracts, seats plus consumption, and whatever commercial model comes next. It gives product teams the freedom to keep innovating without outdated revenue systems slowing them down. Learn how RightRev can help at https://rightrev.com/cj Fidelity Private Shares gives founders the structure and simplicity to focus on what actually matters - building your company. If your startup needs a little extra support (and let’s be honest, who doesn’t need a little help now and then), then you’re in for a pleasant surprise with Fidelity. If you stay investor ready, you don’t have to get investor ready. Check out www.fidelityprivateshares.com Rillet is an AI-native ERP built for modern finance teams that want to replace NetSuite and close faster. With revenue recognition, close management, multi-entity support, and native Stripe and Salesforce integrations, Rillet helps scaling companies run their finance stack in one place. Hundreds of teams, including Windsurf and Mercor, use Rillet to make the zero-day close real. Book a demo at https://www.rillet.com/cj Cloud Capital helps you say goodbye to on-demand rates for cloud. Committing more cuts the rate you pay for cloud infrastructure by 20–60%. Commit wrong and you pay for capacity you'll never use. Cloud Capital underwrites that risk, so you capture the savings of deeper commitments without locking in architecture or putting engineers on it. Go to www.cloudcapital.co Brex is an intelligent finance platform that combines corporate cards, built-in expense management, and AI agents to eliminate manual finance work. By automating expense reviews and reconciliations, Brex gives CFOs more time for the high-impact work that drives growth. Join 35,000+ companies like Anthropic, Coinbase, and DoorDash at https://www.brex.com/metrics EY works with high-growth tech companies to navigate the messy realities of scaling—from regulatory requirements to IPO readiness. By helping teams get it right early and often, EY lets founders stay focused on building while reducing risk as they grow. Learn more at https://www.ey.com/techstartups — LINKS: Mostly Talent: https://mostlymetrics.typeform.com/to/cLTxtAsN Craig on Linkedin: linkedin.com/in/craig-bealmear-a375573 Oklo: https://oklo.com/ CJ: https://www.linkedin.com/in/cj-gustafson-13140948/ Mostly metrics: https://www.mostlymetrics.com — TIMESTAMPS: 0:00 Cold Open 2:52 Go-to-Market 5:05 Perpetual, SaaS, Consumption 7:01 The Contract Isn’t the Moment of Truth 10:24 A Different Kind of AE 17:41 Customer Success’s Identity Crisis 20:23 Hunter vs. Farmer 22:44 Motion Specialization 23:50 Building the Commission Stack 28:07 CAC and LTV 29:54 What ARR Means 33:44 Pattern Matching With Data 38:13 Forecasting 38:59 Always Be Planning 41:10 AI and Capacity Planning 43:48 Will AI Change Sales Ops? 46:16 The Player-Coach Is Back 46:44 Getting Hands-On With AI 48:08 Hot Take on Annual Planning #RunTheNumbersPodcast #Databricks #GoToMarket #SalesOps #ConsumptionPricing

0:00-50:43

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show notes

In this episode of Run the Numbers, CJ welcomes back Sid Kumar, who has led go-to-market through perpetual, cloud, SaaS, and consumption models at CA, AWS, HubSpot, and now Databricks. They cover how consumption changes the sales org, why customer success has an identity crisis, how to build a commission stack, and what ARR actually means. Sid also shares how AI is reshaping capacity planning and why he thinks annual planning is giving way to continuous planning.

—

SPONSORS:

Abacum puts your actuals, forecasts, models, and business context in one place, so you can update the plan, run scenarios, and answer "why did this change?" without rebuilding the story from six spreadsheets and a Slack thread. Connect your source systems, keep models and assumptions aligned, and give leaders trusted answers while decisions are still being made.

Go to abacum.ai/mostly-metrics.

RightRev is a revenue recognition platform built for the AI economy, helping finance support usage-based pricing, credits, hybrid contracts, seats plus consumption, and whatever commercial model comes next. It gives product teams the freedom to keep innovating without outdated revenue systems slowing them down. Learn how RightRev can help at https://rightrev.com/cj

Fidelity Private Shares gives founders the structure and simplicity to focus on what actually matters - building your company. If your startup needs a little extra support (and let’s be honest, who doesn’t need a little help now and then), then you’re in for a pleasant surprise with Fidelity. If you stay investor ready, you don’t have to get investor ready. Check out www.fidelityprivateshares.com

Rillet is an AI-native ERP built for modern finance teams that want to replace NetSuite and close faster. With revenue recognition, close management, multi-entity support, and native Stripe and Salesforce integrations, Rillet helps scaling companies run their finance stack in one place. Hundreds of teams, including Windsurf and Mercor, use Rillet to make the zero-day close real. Book a demo at https://www.rillet.com/cj

Cloud Capital helps you say goodbye to on-demand rates for cloud. Committing more cuts the rate you pay for cloud infrastructure by 20–60%. Commit wrong and you pay for capacity you'll never use. Cloud Capital underwrites that risk, so you capture the savings of deeper commitments without locking in architecture or putting engineers on it. Go to www.cloudcapital.co

Brex is an intelligent finance platform that combines corporate cards, built-in expense management, and AI agents to eliminate manual finance work. By automating expense reviews and reconciliations, Brex gives CFOs more time for the high-impact work that drives growth. Join 35,000+ companies like Anthropic, Coinbase, and DoorDash at https://www.brex.com/metrics

EY works with high-growth tech companies to navigate the messy realities of scaling—from regulatory requirements to IPO readiness. By helping teams get it right early and often, EY lets founders stay focused on building while reducing risk as they grow. Learn more at https://www.ey.com/techstartups

—

LINKS: 

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

Craig on Linkedin: linkedin.com/in/craig-bealmear-a375573

Oklo: https://oklo.com/

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

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

—

TIMESTAMPS:

0:00 Cold Open

2:52 Go-to-Market

5:05 Perpetual, SaaS, Consumption

7:01 The Contract Isn’t the Moment of Truth

10:24 A Different Kind of AE

17:41 Customer Success’s Identity Crisis

20:23 Hunter vs. Farmer

22:44 Motion Specialization

23:50 Building the Commission Stack

28:07 CAC and LTV

29:54 What ARR Means

33:44 Pattern Matching With Data

38:13 Forecasting

38:59 Always Be Planning

41:10 AI and Capacity Planning

43:48 Will AI Change Sales Ops?

46:16 The Player-Coach Is Back

46:44 Getting Hands-On With AI

48:08 Hot Take on Annual Planning

#RunTheNumbersPodcast #Databricks #GoToMarket #SalesOps #ConsumptionPricing

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