E51: A Crash-course in Global Payments with Brex COO Camilla Matias Morais

In this episode, CJ discusses the business of global payments and B2B fintech with Camilla Matias Morais, COO of Brex. Camilla came up in the FP&A world and is a stellar guide to Brex’s strategic bets and moats. Also covered is how she balances the COO role of risk management and company strategy while also being in the weeds with customer feedback. — **PSA: Run The Numbers has a new Spotify and Apple show link. Follow the links to subscribe and ensure you'll never miss an episode Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/run-the-numbers/id1723787140 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0zQCkklNnVgMD364kCW5SV — SPONSORS: Maxio is the only billing and financial operations platform that was purpose built for B2B SaaS. They're helping SaaS finance teams automate billing and revenue recognition, manage collections and payments, and put together investor grade reporting packages. 🚀 Request a demo at www.maxio.com/runthenumbers for 10% off your first year. NetSuite provides financial software for all your business needs. More than 37,000 thousand companies have already upgraded to NetSuite, gaining visibility and control over their financials, inventory, HR, eCommerce, and more. If you're looking for an ERP platform ✅ Now through April 15th NetSuite is offering a one-of-a-kind flexible financing program https://netsuite.com/metrics  Attio is the next generation of CRM. It’s powerful, flexible and easily configures to the unique way your startup runs, whatever your go-to-market motion. The next era deserves a better CRM. Join OpenAI, Replicate, ElevenLabs and more at https://bit.ly/AttioRTN Thoropass provides complete compliance management, continuous monitoring, and security audits through intuitive software and expert guidance – allowing you to do business with confidence. Learn more: https://bit.ly/Thoropass 🔒 Tropic is the next-generation Procurement Platform that’s helping modern CFOs take control of their budgets and bottom line. By combining approval workflows, supplier management, and pricing benchmarks all in one place, Tropic makes savings opportunities easy to find and act on. 🌴 Visit www.tropicapp.io/metrics to learn how. — FOLLOW US ON X: @cjgustafson222 (CJ) @turpentinemedia — TIMESTAMPS: (00:00) Preview (01:06) Intro (02:21) Sponsor: Maxio | NetSuite (05:39) Exploring Fintech Monetization and Business Models (09:36) How the Founder of the Fyre Festival Possibly Started a Credit Card Company (11:11) Making Money Out of Free Fintech Services (14:26) Competitive Moats in Fintech (16:11) Global Expansion: Brex's Strategy for Success (21:01) Sponsor: Attio | Thoropass (23:01) B2C FinTech versus B2B FinTech (29:57) Lifetime Value of a Brex User (32:44) Brex’s Northstar Metric (34:45) Revenue Per Rep: A Deep Dive into Sales Metrics (38:04) Balancing Strategy and Execution: Insights from a COO (39:07) Credit Limit and Managing Risks (44:06) Frameworks for Success: Metrics, Talent, and Internal Mobility (50:24) Avoiding Burnout (54:42) Camila’s Career Screw-Up (58:43) Brex’s Software Stack - Sponsored by Tropic (1:00:10) Wrap