In this episode of Run the Numbers, CJ Gustafson sits down with Angela Chen, former CFO of The North Face and Mars Veterinary Health, to unpack how finance leaders build and scale iconic consumer brands. Angela shares how to measure brand equity, why the CFO should act as an architect of growth, and how capital, talent, and strategy connect inside a scaling business. They also get into humanistic leadership, consumer-margin tradeoffs, and what a 39-cent Taco Bell taco can teach finance teams about growth.
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SPONSORS:
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 built for teams that have outgrown spreadsheets and billing tool workarounds. It handles high-volume subscriptions, usage-based contracts, and mid-cycle upgrades, so you can scale without scrambling at month-end. For RevRec that keeps your books clean, visit https://www.rightrev.com/CJ
Rillet is an AI-native ERP built for modern finance teams that want to close faster without fighting legacy systems. Designed to support complex revenue recognition, multi-entity operations, and real-time reporting, Rillet helps teams achieve a true zero-day close—with some customers closing in hours, not days. If you’re scaling on an ERP that wasn’t built in the 90s, book a demo at https://www.rillet.com/cj
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
SpendHound is a SaaS spend management platform built for finance and procurement teams that want visibility and leverage in every deal. By tracking all your software, benchmarking pricing across thousands of vendors, and surfacing contracts and renewals, SpendHound helps you stop overpaying and negotiate with confidence. Trusted by teams at ZoomInfo and Hootsuite. Get started at https://www.spendhound.com/cj
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
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LINKS:
Mostly Talent: https://mostlymetrics.typeform.com/to/cLTxtAsN
Guest: https://www.linkedin.com/in/angelachensf/
Company: https://sku.is/
CJ: https://www.linkedin.com/in/cj-gustafson-13140948/
Mostly metrics: https://www.mostlymetrics.com
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RELATED EPISODES:
Minted’s CFO: Half the Year Happens in One Month
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TIMESTAMPS:
0:00 Preview and intro
2:45 Measuring brand equity
5:09 CFO as architect of growth
7:11 Connecting money, ideas, and talent
7:52 North Face vs. Mars: where to invest
10:52 Sponsors — Aleph | RightRev | Rillet
14:14 Scaling North Face 5x without diluting the brand
16:31 From technical brand to lifestyle brand
19:30 Quality of revenue
21:49 Seasonality and Q4 concentration
24:01 Sponsors — EY | SpendHound | Brex
27:14 Retailers shouldn't own factories
31:30 Supply chain and 18-month product cycles
33:23 Humanistic leadership in finance
34:32 Purpose and profit are mutually reinforcing
36:15 Purpose vs. profit in public companies
38:05 Playing to Win framework
39:47 Operational cadence and the gas gauge
43:02 Killing bad projects: the battery jacket story
44:16 Taco Bell and 39-cent margins
47:10 Lightning round
47:36 Screwed up: hiring on credentials
48:27 Advice to younger self: network is the work
50:07 Craziest expense story: snowcat ski trip
50:50 Credits