About Arielle
I’m a growth operator and brand geek based in Chicago. Most of my day is spent as CEO at Balsamiq, where we build the wireframing tool that helps teams around the world make better product decisions. (And yes, it involves some AI.)
I also spend a fraction of my time advising, working with a handful of high achievers and brands who are navigating their own inflection points.
I’ve been in the game for 11+ years. For the first part of my career, I was an ad creative. My job was to make things look good and sound good.
But I learned pretty quickly that a great brand story can’t fix a broken product, and a pretty ad campaign can’t fix a messy operation.
And none of those things in isolation build the momentum you really need to make it.
Pretty quickly, I found myself at the intersection of brand, growth, and product. Mostly at tech companies.
I realized that to build a company that lasts, you can’t just be good at one thing. You have to understand how the whole engine works.
For over a decade, I’ve been building momentum. I’ve worked in early-stage chaos and advised teams at big, complex companies. I’ve helped scale $50M+ revenue engines, led rebrands, pivoted products, and rebuilt teams so they did work that mattered again.
I love what I do, and I’m tinkering often.
Offline, you can usually find me painting, reading, or baking way too many treats (the current obsession is 108 Asian Cookies).
Need a short bio? Copy/paste this:
Arielle Johncox is the CEO of Balsamiq, the wireframing tool that helps teams around the world make better product decisions. Based in Chicago, she brings over a decade of experience spanning creative, marketing, growth, and product, helping teams regain momentum and build resilient businesses. She also serves as a strategic advisor to people and brands navigating critical inflection points.
Some of the tools in my rotation lately: