The latest from the frontlines of the world’s fastest growing companies and the teams doing the work.

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These are the most notable hires, promotions, and departures within the US tech community in the last week. For executive news updated daily, check out The Org's News tab.

week 46

The Biggest Moves in Tech This Week

Talkspace has revealed that its co-founders, Oren Frank and Roni Frank, have both stepped down from their respective executive and board roles after the company's disappointing Q3 results.

Roni Frank (L) and Oren Frank (R). Image courtesy of Talkspace

Talkspace co-founders Roni Frank and Oren Frank

Talkspace’s Co-Founders Exit After Disappointing Q3 Results

AI search company Yext has expanded its burgeoning public sector team with four new executives

Editorial credit: rblfmr / Shutterstock.com

Yext

Yext Expands its Nascent Public Sector Team With Four New Execs

Gorgias is a startup that offers e-commerce businesses a platform to automate answers to the most common questions received from clients thanks to its machine learning algorithm. In an interview with The Org, entrepreneur and CEO Romain Lapeyre shared how the team went from persevering to find product-market fit to reaching a 200% yearly growth rate and building a client roaster of more than 7,200 merchants across the globe.

Gorgias CEO Romain Lapeyre and CTO Alex Plugaru. Image Courtesy of Gorgias.


Gorgias CEO Romain Lapeyre and CTO Alex Plugaru

How Gorgias Is Helping Thousands Of Shopify Businesses Turn Their Customer Supports Into Profit Centers

After six years on the job, Doug Merritt has stepped down as Splunk’s President and CEO effective immediately. Graham Smith, the Chair of Splunk’s Board of Directors, has assumed the role on an interim basis.

Splunk's former CEO Doug Merritt. Image courtesy of Splunk

Doug Merritt

Splunk's CEO Departs as Company Reveals Positive Cloud Growth 

Lyft has upped its General Counsel Kristin Sverchek to serve as its first-ever President of Business Affairs according to a recent SEC filing.

Lyft was started in 2012 as a spinout of parent company Zimride. Image Credit: Lyft

Lyft hero image

Lyft Names its First-Ever President of Business Affairs

Mark Zuckerberg is synonymous with Facebook, but what else does the tech mogul own?

Editorial credit: Frederic Legrand - COMEO / Shutterstock.com

Mark Zuckerberg

What Companies Does Mark Zuckerberg Own?

Twilio has bolstered its c-suite with new product and legal executives from Google and Impossible Foods respectively. 

Dana Wagner (L) and Eyal Manor (R). Images courtesy of Impossible Foods and Eyal Manor via Twitter.

Dana Wagner and Eyal Manor 

Twilio Names Ex-Googlers as Product and Legal Chiefs

Salesforce has come a long way from its one-bedroom, basement roots in San Francisco's Telegraph Hill.  It has quickly become one of the largest CRM companies in the country, and has a massive workforce of  45,000+ employees. The Org broke down the leadership team at Salesforce and analyzed the experience the current team is bringing in the company's 22nd year. 

Salesforce Hero Image

Mapping out the People with Power at Salesforce

week45

CloudBees has selected Audrey Zhao as its new CFO to oversee the enterprise software delivery company’s accounting, business operations, financial planning and analysis, legal, and procurement organizations. 

Audrey Zhao. Image courtesy of CloudBees, Business Wire

Audrey Zhao

CloudBees Selects a CFO With IPO Experience as it Reportedly Eyes Public Debut

Buy Now, Pay Later or BNPL is having a moment across the world. In Latin America in particular, fintechs and established banks are betting on the payment method synonymous with online shopping to acquire more customers and offer much-needed payment alternatives to a region that stands out for its unbanked population. The Org rounded up a list of companies building strategic partnerships in the region to capitalize on the BNPL boom. 

LuegopaGo's Co-founders Martin Pelaez and Emilio Villegas. The duo started a credit-based purchases startup in February 2021.

LuegopaGo Founders

Startups Are Banking on a Credit Boom in LatAm

TripAdvisor is on the hunt for a new CEO after its co-founder and long-time CEO, Stephen Kaufer, announced he will step down from his position in 2022.

Editorial credit: Sorbis / Shutterstock.com

TripAdvisor

TripAdvisor Begins CEO Succession Hunt Amid Travel Rebound

Effective, January 1, 2022, the US telecom company has promoted its current Consumer Group COO and Deputy CEO Manon Brouillette to run the division that oversees the company's consumer 5G network.

Manon Brouillette. Image courtesy of Verizon

Manon Brouillette

Verizon Selects New Consumer Group CEO to Lead 5G Expansion

From an early age, Wes Kao found the classroom rigid. She wasn’t the best exam sitter, and she often struggled with focusing in class. Kao is the co-founder of Maven, a cohort-based online learning platform building universities of the future. The Org speaks with Kao to learn more about her company that is building the universities of the future.

Maven Founders (L-R) Gagan Biyani, Wes Kao, Shreyans Bhansali. Image courtesy of Maven.

Maven Founders (L-R) Gagan biyani, Wes Kao, Shreyans Bhansali

Maven is Building Universities of the Future

BuzzFeed has named Amita Tomkoria as its SVP for Investor Relations as it prepares to go public.

Amita Tomkoria. Image courtesy of BuzzFeed, Business Wire

Amita Tomkoria BuzzFeed

BuzzFeed Picks Up an IR Leader Ahead of Nasdaq Debut

Almost six months after revealing that he would step down as ByteDance’s CEO, Yiming Zhang has now revealed he will no longer serve as the Chinese tech giant’s Chairman.

ByteDance's São Paulo office

ByteDance’s Chairman Steps Down in the Shadow of China’s Tech Crackdown

A survey by CNBC and Momentive shows that almost twice as many men invest in cryptocurrency as women, and that is true for all racial and ethnic groups. The NFT space is no different. According to a report by ArtTactic, women make up only 16% of the NFT art market. Although the space has definitely given more opportunities for more women to be recognized for their artwork, the top ten NFT artists have been predominantly male, and men still account for 77% of all primary and secondary sales.

IMG 0545

Building Communities for Women in The NFT Space

Surrounded by natural beauty, the secluded state of Alaska is not typically thought of as a startup haven but the state has a small but growing scene. Check out these exciting startups emerging from America’s most northern state.

Image courtesy of Rex Lisman/Shutterstock.com

Anchorage Alaska skyline in winter at dusk with the Chugach mountains behind

Five Tech Startups to Watch in Alaska in 2022

In the Summer of 2017, Christian Wylonis read an article that would change the trajectory of his life.  He decided to leave his job to build a platform where every company in the world could have a public org chart in order to attract, align and retain talent. Fast forward to 2021, The Org has raised a total of $31.5 million from some of the world’s leading investors including Tiger Global, Founders Fund, Sequoia and Balderton.

Co-founders Christian Wylonis (left) and Andreas Jarbol (right). Image courtesy of The Org.

Meet the team

The Biggest Moves in Tech This Week

Talkspace’s Co-Founders Exit After Disappointing Q3 Results

Yext Expands its Nascent Public Sector Team With Four New Execs

How Gorgias Is Helping Thousands Of Shopify Businesses Turn Their Customer Supports Into Profit Centers

Splunk's CEO Departs as Company Reveals Positive Cloud Growth

Lyft Names its First-Ever President of Business Affairs

What Companies Does Mark Zuckerberg Own?

Twilio Names Ex-Googlers as Product and Legal Chiefs

Mapping out the People with Power at Salesforce

The Biggest Moves in Tech This Week

CloudBees Selects a CFO With IPO Experience as it Reportedly Eyes Public Debut

Startups Are Banking on a Credit Boom in LatAm

TripAdvisor Begins CEO Succession Hunt Amid Travel Rebound

Verizon Selects New Consumer Group CEO to Lead 5G Expansion

Maven is Building Universities of the Future

BuzzFeed Picks Up an IR Leader Ahead of Nasdaq Debut

ByteDance’s Chairman Steps Down in the Shadow of China’s Tech Crackdown

Building Communities for Women in The NFT Space

Five Tech Startups to Watch in Alaska in 2022

Christian Wylonis is Making Organizations More Transparent With Public Org Charts