Joanne Cheng’s career had already carried her through multiple successful exits and leadership roles when an unexpected opportunity arose. Having proven her ability to guide companies to liquidity events and beyond, Cheng had established a new benchmark for any next move: she wanted to steer a firm toward an IPO while serving as its CFO. But then along came Jellyfish, a company whose big day in the public markets would likely be years away.

At first glance, Jellyfish didn’t fit Cheng’s established criteria for her next CFO position. The company was still small—just about 90 people—and lacked a finance team. Yet there was something about Jellyfish that instantly drew her in. Before she fell for the company, she fell in love with its product. As Cheng puts it, “I’ve needed this product at every company I’ve been at. Measuring R&D impact and efficiency is something I’ve thought about for much of my career.”

While the prospect of an IPO was an important consideration, Cheng realized that her passion for Jellyfish’s offering outweighed any reservations about the company’s stage. She saw, firsthand, the immense value this product could bring to finance leaders. It addressed a persistent pain point: quantifying engineering effort and impact.

So, Cheng followed her instincts and joined Jellyfish as its first finance hire—even before an accountant or controller was brought on. In doing so, she committed not only to building a finance function from scratch, but also to a product she genuinely believed in. It was a decision grounded in long-term vision and authentic enthusiasm.

CFO Playbook

• Views the budget as a roadmap, aligning investments with measurable outcomes.
• Bridges cross-departmental gaps by serving as a connector and resource allocator.
• Advocates for data-driven decision-making in resource allocation and project prioritization.
• Balances long-term vision with operational discipline through collaborative leadership.

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