My Ten Years at Logitech

I just finished my first decade at Logitech today.??

I was thinking I could write about what our Logitech team has accomplished over the decade.? We’re worth >10x when I started as CEO.? We transformed in so many ways. But I have this view that once something is in the past, it’s just to learn from:? not to spend too much time celebrating or regretting.?

So I could write about what I have learned in ten years.? I’ve learned so much from my teammates, partners, board members and just from trying to do things ... from the things that went well, and the many things that didn’t.? I’ve probably learned a lot more from the things that didn’t work or stopped working than from those that did.??

Or I could just reflect on the many individuals who made a mark on Logitech or on me: there were so many of you, from the casual ones in the hallway, to the dinners or one on ones with my many partners (throughout the company), or the emails and texts.? I've been deeply affected by the thousands of interactions with entrepreneurs, creators, and all types of people outside of Logitech.? But there are too many individuals to cover here; it would be a book.

These ten years have been amazing.

After thinking about looking back, I thought:? I’m really just so excited about looking forward to the next ten years that I don’t want to spend time on the past.? I just want to ‘transform forward’.? What’s to come will be so much more amazing!!!

What I would like to do today though is thank people.???

I want to thank my first board members and Guerrino Deluca, the Chair, for making a bet on a first time CEO with no tech experience, an English major no less! I also want to thank the current Board (and its evolutions along the way), including today’s Chair, Wendy Becker, for the continued progress as a constructive partner, challenging but supporting, as we’ve become a bigger and more complex company.? I was so immature in the early days, feeling defensive about way too much and not embracing the questions and challenges that were so healthy.? It took me a while to learn to embrace my Board, but the Board stuck with its headstrong ‘adolescent’ CEO until today, when I’ve finally learned how effective a board can be for a CEO and a company.? Thank you and I’m sorry I was a slow adapter.?

I want to thank my many partners within Logitech, and many who are not directly on my leadership team.? You have led so magnificently, been led when we needed it, always challenged me, but stayed with me, even when we didn’t agree.? I’ve learned SO much from you, those still here and those who have left.? We have CEOs, Board Chairs, and many leaders in other companies who were our partners here once.? And I cherish them all.? I especially want to thank, though, my team now.? Every transformation is unsettling and exciting at the same time. And we’ve really never stopped transforming for long.? And you’ve ridden, guided, and often driven that roller coaster ride upward.? Thank you.

I’m thankful for all of our current and past employees.? Logitech is a unique culture.? When you speak to someone who spent a lot of time here, you feel their energy for the company as if they still worked here.? Maybe that’s because when you leave you still use the products and have the physical connection to what you’ve left ... so, in a way, you never fully leave the company and its products.? The company culture is also special:? employees get more freedom to act, to create.? It’s sometimes a little chaotic.? And the people, while usually candid, are just very nice and humble.? It’s hard to generalize, but I think most people in the company would agree with those remarks.

Thanks to my industry partners and competitors, who have always raised the bar, challenged me or my thinking, or just inspired me.?

Thanks to so, so many inspirational people I’ve met along the way … inside the company and outside, entrepreneurs, creators, designers, business leaders, and so much more.? So many of you improved my experience this decade, made it more fun, or just gave me an idea or confidence in an idea I already had.? If you’re wondering if I’m referring to you, I am.

Thanks to all of the 70,000 people who have been curious enough to connect with or follow me here, either because you reached out to me or I to you. ? I’m really thankful for the inspiration, learning, and support of you all.? And especially to those who made a comment or just supported my posts … including those who challenged them in public or in private.? You’ve all grown me.? I’m more authentically myself today than I’ve ever been in my life, and so much of that has come from the confidence I got from the day to day contact with my team at Logitech but also from the occasional statement or text of support from someone who only knows me here.? As much as the negatives of social media are talked about, there are huge positives.?

The decade is over, and so is my long ‘thank you letter’.??

I invite you to my next decade now, and I want to be part of yours.? I’ll try to share meaningful things when I think I have something, but I’ll also be always looking for meaning and learning from you.??

Here are a few things I really hope we can all accomplish over the next decade.??

Let’s make this the decade when diversity/equity/inclusion/justice become standard, where the outliers who aren’t diverse and inclusive are unusual (instead of the reverse). ? We have a long way to go, but I believe this is possible.? The momentum has never been so strong.? Every historically marginalized group is on a path now to a healthier place.? It’s still way too slow, but it’s moving.? And we need commitment from the top of every organization and follow through (vision and execution) to get there.???Vision, goals, rewards, processes, outcomes.

Let’s make this the decade when organizations, large and small, hit the brakes on carbon, reverse engines, and get carbon completely under control.? There's no-one who will come and save us. We have to save ourselves. That’s going to take every business leader, investor, and individual who can influence organizations in setting direction and putting pressure on all the right places to will ourselves into a healthy place.? We have to do it.? Logitech is carbon neutral now, and we’ll be carbon negative (climate positive) by 2030.? We need thousands of companies to commit to more aggressive goals.?

Let’s make this the decade when mental health is as mainstream as physical health, when we talk about it openly, and treat every person with the respect they deserve.? This is the decade when the stigma disappears and the support skyrockets. Virtually everyone I know has been touched my mental health issues during the pandemic years. And a great outcome is that it's becoming comfortable to talk about it, whether it's your own issue or your family's. We need every organization to make mental health care as open and standard as physical health care.

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And in Logitech, let’s make this a decade when we demonstrate that the small can be strong, the imperfect can create magic, and the passion in each of us is an incredible power for transformation, for people outside the company using our tools and inside using our abilities.? This can be a more remarkable decade than the one we have just finished in every conceivable way. Even a mouse company can be mighty. Let's prove it.

Thank you for the last decade together. Now I look forward to another decade of transformation!???