A message from our CEO

Today we are announcing that Alex MacCaw, Clearbit’s co-founder and CEO, is moving to a chairman of the board position. Matt Sornson, co-founder and CMO, will be moving into the interim CEO position.

Below is a message from Alex to the company:

First off, I want to congratulate the team on our best quarter ever, both from a revenue and retention standpoint. An incredible accomplishment, especially given what’s going on in the world.

In each all-hands over the last five weeks you have heard about the transformation this company is undergoing. A transformation that is required for us to get to $100m dollars in revenue.

Each stage of the journey is different. The journey from 0 to $1m in revenue is different from the journey from 1m to 10m, and from 10m to 30m. As we think about the journey to $100m in revenue, what got us here won’t necessarily get us there.

Our goal is to accelerate out of the COVID curve. The good news is that there are signs that this is already happening. We have beaten all of our sales and retention targets. You should all be proud of yourselves. We have rallied through COVID and come out on the other side growing, cash flow positive, with an incredible future in front of us.

What's clear about the road to $100m is that it’s going to take a team effort, one where we walk lock step together, aligning product, engineering, and go-to-market teams towards a singular vision.

As many of you have felt over the years, for better or for worse I have been a very engineering focussed leader. My strengths lie in the early stages of a company... the proverbial zero to one. Those skills are a critical part of getting a company off the ground, but they’re not the skills that take a company to $100m in revenue.

After much thought, I have come to the conclusion that, to give this company the best chances to accelerate out of the curve, we need a leader fit for the stage; a leader who can align the whole company and bring us together as one cohesive team.

Typically founders don’t reach this conclusion themselves - it’s something ‘decided for them’ by their investors. I’ve been fortunate enough to surround myself with an incredible group of people who love me enough to give me critical feedback and it’s with their help that I’ve come to this decision.

So today I’m stepping down as CEO of Clearbit and moving to a chairman of the board role.

Picking a new leader for Clearbit is no small task, and the leadership team and I are committed to making the best possible decision for the company and everyone here. We have started  a CEO search which will be shepherded by our COO and the board.

Whoever we pick as the next CEO will be fully capable of taking the company to $100m in revenue and beyond, while at the same time not sacrificing our unique and special culture.  

Matt Sornson has been interim CEO for the past 2 months and is our internal candidate. He and the leadership team have brought new energy and drive to the company. Matt has been with Clearbit since its founding five years ago and we’ve built this company side-by-side together. Nobody is closer to our customers, and nobody has the history and context that Matt has.

This is a tough moment, and yet even though I’m sad I'm moving away from day-to-day operations to the chairman of the role, I can honestly say I’ve never been more excited about Clearbit’s future, the big bets we’re taking, and the years ahead!

It has been the privilege of a lifetime building this company and serving as your CEO. I thank you all from the bottom of my heart.