Sharing an email to my work family

Today we shared the news that I'll be handing over the reins as CEO of Upwork. I sent the following message to our team here and thought I'd share it on LinkedIn as well. Thank you to the many members of my extended community here who have been part of my journey at Upwork.

Hi team, 

In a few minutes we will publicly share the news that I am handing over the reins as CEO of Upwork to a wonderful internal successor: Hayden Brown. While I have been talking to Hayden and planning for this day for a long time, my deep passion for this company, our team and our community makes this the hardest email I’ve ever had to write. 

My decision is driven by how I’ve prioritized my two “families” - all of you here at Upwork, and my family at home. I’ve given everything to our work family for the past seven years - my soul, my undivided energy, and my nights and weekends. This has created “family debt” (like “tech debt”). Now is the time to start repaying the debt and spend quality time with my wife and our kids before my oldest leaves the house. 

I also feel like the timing is right for the company. We are in great shape, with a clear strategy to move upmarket that I believe will take our company to the next level. We have proven that our sales model works at scale to support this move. Upwork Business has clear product/market fit (as Upwork Enterprise has had for a while). And with over ten thousand active mid-market clients still using Basic or Plus and usually not at scale, our sales team has plenty of clients to target. We already have traction, we closed 4x more Upwork Enterprise and Business deals in the first half of 2019 compared to the first half of 2018, and the team is poised to build upon this momentum in 2020. Closing more deals will help accelerate our growth, expand our margins and create significantly more interesting and higher-paying work for the professionals and agencies working via Upwork. 

In looking back at my last seven years at this special company, I’m deeply appreciative of what our team has accomplished. I’ve often said this takes all of us - You. Me. Everyone. We have a remarkable team, powered by deep values and a common sense of purpose. The people and our shared passion for our mission is what drew me here - the opportunity to work with an exceptional team transforming work for the better. I am incredibly proud of what we have accomplished:

• We’ve grown from a little known brand used by a handful of small companies for mostly non-recurring work to a brand that is helping define the future of work. 
• We’ve dramatically increased NPS (now higher than AmEx and on par with Amazon) and significantly grown GSV, through both much stronger acquisition (around >$300M in GSV this year alone) and stronger retention (we’ve been above 100% client spend retention since the beginning of 2018). 
• We’ve dramatically improved the quality of clients, jobs and freelancers, progressively moving to a curated network where great outcomes are assured for both parties, and where close to 90% of freelancers are ID-verified. 
• We have a sales model that works, a great 125%+ spend retention for clients on Upwork Business and Enterprise and a large number of existing mid-market clients that we can upgrade. Upwork is now used by over 30% of the Fortune 500. 
• And we’ve had countless successes across all functions in the organization, including all of the incredible team members who built the foundation for us to successfully take the company public in 2018 and to operate it at an even higher standard since. 

But more than anything, I’m thankful that we have been able to and will continue to help improve the lives of so many people. Our mission is to create economic opportunities so people have better lives. Our annual Freelancing In America study tells us that 46% of freelancers are unable to take a traditional job due to health issues, care duties or geography, and my experience engaging with our community confirms that. It’s also inspiring that we enable the other 54% to access freedom and flexibility, including the oft-mentioned “digital nomads” (inspiring to me, but not very practical with four kids).

Hayden is the right choice to lead Upwork into the future because of her experience, passion and knowledge. We’ve worked together for seven years. When she joined the company as the head of our marketplace product, she demonstrated a steady commitment to thoughtful marketplace design, A/B testing to drive results, and instituted machine learning and data science techniques to improve matching outcomes on our site. Then, as head of all of product and design, she excelled in a highly complex job that is central to our company, and required analytical and intuitive thinking in addition to a passionate heart. Most recently, she stepped up to also help lead marketing, advancing our efforts there with her commitment to building a unified brand strategy and innovating in paid acquisition. Now she will lead Upwork. This is not a coincidence, but the logical result of years of preparation and long-term succession planning by Upwork’s board. She is more ready to take on this job than I was in 2015, and I have complete confidence that she will take the company to the next level. 

As for me, I look forward to spending more time with my family, including a full summer break with my children while they’re off from school. I will remain on the Upwork board and will also serve as an advisor to the board. I will be nearby if you need me, but I will stay out of Hayden’s way, so don’t expect to see me in the office as much. 

Thank you again to all of you for your passion and dedication to the company. This company matters. Your work matters. I count on you to keep at it and build an even stronger business that creates more economic opportunities for hundreds of thousands of talented professionals around the world.

You. Me. Everyone.

Stephane