Ask any business manager about the “three Ps in business” and they will likely say People, Process, and Product. However, ask any finance team member at Cribl that question, and you’ll likely hear a different answer: Precision, Predictability, and Performance. These are the three Ps that guide CFO Zach Johnson’s data-driven approach to financial leadership.
Johnson’s career journey provides the context for this unique framework. At Splunk, he witnessed firsthand how a company could grow from roughly $40 million in revenue and 130 employees to more than $1.5 billion and nearly 2,000 employees, he tells us. During this period, Splunk navigated a complex transition from on-premise software to cloud-based solutions, forcing the team to reevaluate pricing, infrastructure, and market strategies. That experience taught Johnson how to deconstruct challenges into measurable components that teams could understand and act upon.
Read MoreNow, at Cribl, Johnson applies his three Ps to ensure a sustainable, value-driven path forward. “Precision” involves rigorous financial processes—clean audits, timely closes, and granular understanding of key metrics. “Predictability” means setting realistic forecasts, tightening pipeline management, and increasing confidence in decision-making. “Performance” emerges naturally once the first two Ps are in place—improved unit economics, stable revenue growth, and a roadmap toward greater shareholder value, he tells us.
But numbers alone don’t drive results. Johnson emphasizes building strong teams and fostering a learning culture. By ensuring every team member aligns with the broader vision, he creates an environment where the three Ps define not only what finance does, but helps others understand why it matters.
“Winning is learning, because success follows rather than leads. So, even if a project, proposal, company, or team ends up being unsuccessful from a monetary perspective, treat it as a learning opportunity.” —Zach Johnson, CFO, Cribl
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CFO Playbook:
- Prioritizes holistic metrics (like Rule of 40) to balance growth and profitability.
- Emphasizes cross-functional collaboration to ensure company-wide alignment around financial goals.
- Focuses on flexible planning to adapt quickly to market shifts and technology transformations.
- Develops and mentors high-performing teams, fostering a culture of continuous learning and accountability.
CFOTL: Tell us about Cribl what does this company do and what are its offerings today?
Johnson: Outside of being a funny name and a fun word to say, (the name ‘Cribl’) actually comes from a sifter that gold miners once used. If you think of data as the new oil—or the new gold—Cribl is the sifter, the filter that ensures you get the most value surfacing to the top.
Cribl was founded in 2017 by three co-founders who said, ‘We’re not going to look at the market and say, hey, that’s a $100 billion TAM—let’s just get 1% of it.’ Instead, (they asked), ‘What challenges have we experienced ourselves, and how do we solve them in a way that delights customers?’ Clint Sharp, our CEO, was a practitioner. He understands the pain and challenges of IT and security professionals who deal with exponential growth in machine data—data that expands at a 28% CAGR while budgets remain flat. Many organizations have countless tools to manage, often with limited staff. So, how can we give these teams more leverage?
Machine data—this unstructured data—comes from applications, servers, cloud providers, and other infrastructure. (Cribl focuses) on filtering, shaping, and routing that data so it becomes truly valuable. By tackling real problems and empowering customers, we might create a market (segment) ourselves or find our place in one. Ultimately, our approach is about solving genuine pain points and delivering real value, not just chasing a large market number.
Cribl | www.cribl.io | San Francisco, CA