# The CFO Who Was “Ill Equipped” to Save Lehman Brothers

Page: https://stenobird.com/podcast/run-the-numbers-6739797/the-cfo-who-was-ill-equipped-to-save-lehman-brothers
Text version: https://stenobird.com/podcast/run-the-numbers-6739797/the-cfo-who-was-ill-equipped-to-save-lehman-brothers.md
Podcast: [Run the Numbers](https://stenobird.com/podcast/run-the-numbers-6739797)
Published: 2026-07-06T09:02:00+00:00
Episode link: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/cjgustafson222/episodes/The-CFO-Who-Was-Ill-Equipped-to-Save-Lehman-Brothers-e3lja8j
Audio file: https://anchor.fm/s/10e7a9a40/podcast/play/122316499/https%3A%2F%2Fd3ctxlq1ktw2nl.cloudfront.net%2Fstaging%2F2026-6-2%2F427263632-44100-2-27ba0d5486287.mp3
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JSON: https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/run-the-numbers-6739797/episodes/the-cfo-who-was-ill-equipped-to-save-lehman-brothers
Duration seconds: 2774

## Resource

What actually prepares someone to become a CFO? CJ revisits Erin Callan’s short, brutal run as Lehman Brothers CFO and pulls lessons from past guests on operational reps, simple communication, fast-moving bad news, budget mistakes, and why great finance leaders can’t just report the numbers, they have to shape them. — SPONSORS: Anrok is the sales tax platform that watches your exposure everywhere, automates compliance, and flags risk before it turns into a surprise back-tax letter from a state you've never set foot in. Companies like Anthropic, Notion, and Vanta already trust Anrok to stay ahead of rules that move faster than any spreadsheet can. Talk to a sales tax expert for a personalized exposure estimate at https://www.anrok.com/rtn 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 Pulley is an equity management platform that lets you issue options, model dilution, and complete 409As without your cap table turning into a spreadsheet disaster. Founders raising, hiring, and scaling use Pulley to keep equity clean and stay focused on building. Learn more or request a demo at https://pulley.com/mostlymetrics 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 i…

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## Transcript

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