The founder and CEO of Namely, Matt Straz, has been removed as CEO in an abrupt announcement today. Their Board of Directors has determined that his “actions were inconsistent with that which is expected of Namely leadership”.
Forbes is reporting that employees were notified in an all hands meeting Tuesday afternoon. The company issued this press release saying that a new CEO search has already begun. Straz had been a founder of the company that started in 2011. They have raised over $160 million in funding to date.
Namely is a company that provides HR solutions, resources and best practices to help clients achieve their workplace goals. The company is steadfast in its goal to model the best workplace practices, including demonstrating commitment to its values by taking decisive action if or when anyone, including its CEO, acts contrary to those values.
Board member Elisa Steele will lead the Office of the CEO. Elisa has more than 25 years of leadership experience at several of the world’s leading technology companies. She last served as President & CEO of Jive Software and has held senior positions at Microsoft, Skype, Yahoo!, NetApp and Sun Microsystems.
Along with Elisa Steele, the Office of the CEO will also include Dan Murphy, CFO; Paul Rogers, CTO; and Graham Younger, President and CRO – all of whom are recent additions to Namely’s executive team as the company scales beyond $50M of ARR (annual recurring revenue).
“On behalf of the Board of Directors, I am confident that, together with the entire leadership team, we will ensure the company’s operations are smooth during this transition and that we will continue to serve our customers well,” said Elisa Steele. “Namely is a company with a great team of people and a great product. We are undoubtedly well-positioned to attract a stellar CEO to take the company into its next chapter.”
The Board of Directors has begun a formal search to identify a permanent successor.