CFO Life
What No One Tells You About Becoming a CFO Before 30
The title looks great on paper. The reality is messier, lonelier, and more instructive than anything I studied at McCombs.
Read more →I'm Jonathan Fan — CFO who raised $81M, worked across 6 industries, and now shares what school never taught about finance, leadership, and building a career that actually matters.
Experience & credentials
I started my career chasing a title. At 24, I became a CFO at a startup — and it nearly broke me. What they don't tell you: the sleepless board meetings, the fundraising rejections, the loneliness of being the only finance person in a room full of dreamers.
I went on to work across 6 industries — Intel, AMD, Chowbus, Kandi, Outdoorsy — before finding my footing. Along the way I helped raise $81M in a Series E, built FP&A functions from scratch, and ended up on an AFP panel talking about it.
Now I create content under the 空中MBA (Air MBA) brand — helping finance professionals and founders learn what school skips. 400K+ views, 31 countries, and still going.
Work with me →Real insights from the trenches of CFO life, fundraising, and building a finance career in the modern era.
The title looks great on paper. The reality is messier, lonelier, and more instructive than anything I studied at McCombs.
Read more →Three things we did differently. One thing almost killed the deal.
Read more →Six industries, multiple titles, and one hard truth about how finance careers actually advance.
Read more →Distilled from six industries, two degrees, and a lot of expensive mistakes.
Read more →Not doom. Not hype. A practical look at how CFOs and FP&A teams are actually using these tools.
Read more →War stories and survival tactics from the other side of the table.
Read more →Whether you're a founder, a finance pro, or someone figuring out what's next — I've probably been there.
Direct access to my brain. We dig into your specific situation — fundraising strategy, FP&A structure, career pivots, hiring your first finance person.
A focused engagement for founders who need a real CFO — but not full time. We define the problem, build the model, and leave you with a system that works.
I speak on CFO leadership, FP&A transformation, AI in finance, and the realities of building a finance career in the startup era. AFP 2026 panelist.
“The content Jonathan creates is genuinely rare — the kind of financial honesty you only get from someone who has actually been in the room.”
— AFP Conference Attendee, 2025