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Joanne Cheng
Chief Financial Officer at Jellyfish
Joanne Cheng is the Chief Financial Officer at Jellyfish, a Boston-based engineering management platform.12 She joined Jellyfish in August 20214, during a period of rapid growth for the company.1
Cheng has over 20 years of experience in growing venture-backed enterprise SaaS companies.2 Prior to joining Jellyfish, she served as the Chief Financial Officer at PatientPing, where she led the company through its acquisition by Appriss Health in May 2021.12
Career Highlights
- Current Role: Chief Financial Officer at Jellyfish (August 2021 - Present)4
- Previous Roles:
- Chief Financial Officer at PatientPing (October 2018 - August 2021)4
- Chief Financial Officer at Test Innovators (May 2017 - October 2018)4
- VP of Financial Planning and Analysis at PeopleFluent (August 2015 - May 2017)4
- Director of Finance at Carbon Black, Inc. (September 2014 - July 2015)4
- VP of Finance and Director of Finance at Brightcove (December 2010 - August 2014)4
Education
Professional Insights
At Jellyfish, Cheng is passionate about the company's product, which measures engineering impact and efficiency.3 She sees Jellyfish as solving a significant market need by providing data-driven insights into engineering teams' work and aligning it with business priorities.3
Cheng is known for her expertise in guiding companies through growth stages and liquidity events. She views budgeting as a strategic tool for aligning investments with measurable outcomes and advocates for data-driven decision-making in resource allocation.3
Highlights
As we dive into budget planning for 2025, aligning Finance and Engineering is more important than ever. With GenAI transforming our workflows, it’s essential that every R&D investment is backed by solid data rather than just intuition. Thoughtful planning and collaboration will be key to making the most of our resources.
In my latest blog, I share how Finance and Engineering can work together for more effective R&D budgeting. Here’s a preview: 1.) Using data to drive budget decisions 2.) Measuring the impact of GenAI on R&D efficiency 3.) The power of open collaboration for setting the right spend priorities
Read the full post to start planning with clarity and confidence:
During this annual budget planning season, leaders are asked to work with limited resources.
More than ever, our R&D teams need to make sound decisions regarding where we invest engineering resources. We must move on from a “gut-feeling” approach and bring a data-driven strategy to the table. With the right approach, engineering leaders can make the right strategic decisions for the R&D organization.
Here are my 3 recommended tips as a CFO for my CTO and VPE colleagues:
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Bring data to the budget process
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Understand benchmark data
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Game out different scenarios
Read my full thoughts on how to approach planning with a data-driven mindset: https://jllyf.sh/3EUwO7w
#CTO #CFO #engineeringleadership #engineeringmanagement #budgetplanning #planning #engineering
