Before the Outcome Was Known | Jonathan Carr, CFO, Armis

Dec 24, 2025

Jonathan Carr, CFO of Armis and a finance leader with experience at SurveyMonkey and Atlassian, shares compelling insights into leadership and growth. He recounts his early challenges, including spearheading a complex Oracle implementation at a manufacturing plant. Carr emphasizes the importance of taking stretch roles to prepare for CFO responsibilities and discusses Armis's unique position in cybersecurity. He also highlights the significance of measuring unit economics early and adapting strategies as needed to ensure business success.

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ANECDOTE

Thrown Into A Systems Rollout

Jonathan Carr led an Oracle implementation at a Puerto Rico manufacturing plant with no prior systems experience.
The six-month project forced cross-functional collaboration and taught him to peel back layers to understand complexity.

ANECDOTE

Building Finance From Ground Up

Jonathan joined SurveyMonkey when it was under $100M revenue and helped build finance capabilities from scratch.
He supported capital raises and acquisitions that dramatically expanded the company's strategic options.

INSIGHT

Influence Comes From Helping Others Win

Carr believes influence is earned by helping partners win while protecting company results.
Seeing the company through others' lenses made his FP&A work more strategic and effective.

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As the year comes to a close, we’re revisiting a conversation that feels newly relevant. This week, we’re re-releasing our CFO Thought Leader episode with Jonathan Carr, recorded three years ago—long before any exit was in view, but rich with insight into how he thinks about leadership, growth, and decision-making under uncertainty.

That mindset was shaped early. Just 18 months after finishing college, Carr was placed in charge of a major Oracle implementation at a Stryker manufacturing plant in Puerto Rico. He had never led systems work before. The advice from his division controller was simple and direct: “find the opportunities that either get you promoted or fired,” Carr tells us.

The six-month project forced him to work across manufacturing, IT, and finance to understand how transactions actually flowed through the plant. Carr describes the learning process as peeling back layers “like an onion,” where each answer revealed more complexity, he tells us. It was an early lesson in getting out of one’s comfort zone and doing work before feeling fully prepared.

That approach carried forward as Carr moved through FP&A, accounts receivable, and customer-facing roles, and later joined SurveyMonkey when the company was generating less than $100 million in revenue. There, he helped build finance capabilities, supported acquisitions, and participated in capital raises totaling nearly $1 billion, with less than $100 million in primary capital, Carr tells us.

Later, at Atlassian, Carr was part of the finance leadership team during the company’s transition from on-premise software to the cloud. The shift required conviction, transparency, and clear communication with employees and investors, even as near-term economics changed, Carr tells us.

In the episode we’re re-releasing today, you’ll hear Carr reflect on growth, influence, and adaptability. “I reserve the right to get smarter,” he tells us—a line that neatly captures how he has approached each chapter of his career, long before the outcomes were known.