The following email was sent out to all Own employees on Tuesday, November 15 from Own CEO Sam Gutmann.
Dear Owners,
Today was one of the hardest days in the history of Own.
While we’ve grown significantly year over year, the world has changed much more dramatically and as a result we have had to make a strategic organizational realignment, impacting approximately 170 employees worldwide. While this decision was extremely challenging, and has affected all geographies and departments today, we remain extremely positive about our future.
Over the summer we shared that we needed to focus on efficient growth. We’ve worked extensively with our executive team and board of directors to refine our plans to best succeed in today’s market. As challenging as today has been, it will help us calibrate our investments to the realities of the world around us.
We know how difficult this day has been for all involved. To the group of people leaving us today, thank you. You are each an important part of Ow’’s culture and journey, and we sincerely appreciate your contribution.
We have made some interim organizational changes that will enable us to prioritize our focus on opportunities that present the most upside and long term viability.
- Charles Johnston will continue to lead the direct sales organization and will also take on the customer success and sales development teams.
- Ori Yankelev will focus on alliances and our company expansion into new ecosystems, while gaining leverage from our indirect sales channels.
- While we search for a new leader, Revenue Operations will move under finance reporting to Jake Kornreich, and will be consolidated to incorporate sales enablement and deal desk, with the combined team reporting to Jessie Wheeler and Colin McGlynn through the end of the year.
While the action we had to take today is painful, we have incredible momentum that we will continue to carry Own forward. Let’s not too quickly forget our recent big wins: over the last year we’ve entered two new ecosystems; in August we welcomed our 5,000th customer; signed some of the largest contracts ever in Q3, our second best quarter ever; we have more than 500 5-star AppExchange Reviews; and recently received an extraordinary customer Net Promoter Score of +62. Lastly, we are well capitalized, and this action will allow us to continue operating from a position of financial strength.
I am so thankful for the tireless work and dedication from each and every one of you to make these wins possible. We will succeed in the days ahead by continuing to roll up our sleeves, putting our customers at the heart of everything we do, and providing best in class products and services. Thank you for your ongoing dedication to the future of Own. Let’s drive forward together.
Best,
Sam
