A Few Words about Extreme Gratitude

Gratitude.

That’s what I feel after my time at Marketo.

Gratitude... to CEO Steve Lucas for creating a position for me—chief growth officer—and for inviting me to be a member of his Executive Leadership Team reporting directly to him, even though I lacked C-Suite experience and had zero direct reports. My mission was to influence the outside world, and yet Steve gave me access to the inner workings of his amazing leadership team. #Mindshare + #Marketshare

Our North Star wasn’t a $4.75 billion acquisition by Adobe; it was for every company in the world to deeply engage, to build meaningful relationships and to drive loyalty that lasts. Our values were to be radically transparent, boldly accountable and utterly customer obsessed.

Gratitude... for the self-insight I gained. During my days at Eloqua—where I was employee #13—I viewed Marketo as the enemy. But my short time at Marketo was a magical and broadening experience. It made me realize just how competitive I am, and also how times change and we must be capable of changing with them. #FromEloqueenToEloquit

Gratitude… to Robert F. Smith, Founder of Vista Equity Partners and wealthiest African American, for being able to learn from his vision and boldness. Marketo was my first private equity experience; I had always worked for companies funded by venture capital. Before accepting the role, I watched tens of hours of videos of Robert to learn about Vista's track record, investing strategy and values. I have yet to meet Robert, but engaged with numerous Vista leaders in Marketo board meetings and Vista Consulting Group's best practice sharing summits. #IncredibleTeam #SeeItBeIt

Vista's investment in Marketo was pivotal in igniting the company and generating the growth that now brings benefits to Marketo’s customers, employees and partners. Vista bought Marketo in May 2016 for $1.8 billion, when the company’s bookings were flat and EBITDA was negative. 27 months later, we were acquired for $4.75 billion, yielding Vista a sweet $3 billion profit, the biggest realized profit from a single company in the private equity firm’s 18-year history.

Gratitude… to know and work with so many talented professionals. Outspoken and opinionated, I’m a potential PR nightmare; there are days I wonder why anyone would invite me in the room, never mind hand me a microphone.

I’ve had a blessed and unorthodox career, and can still remember being little more than a quota-crushing salesperson. It has been an honor to have played a small role in this extraordinary time at Marketo, and I am so very grateful.

This note from Steve means EVERYTHING to me. #gratitude