This was originally posted on LinkedIn on August 23, 2016.
It is a big day for me. Bittersweet is somehow not the right word, but I can’t find the exact correct one. With 3+ years of airplanes twice a week – and an unbelievable 6+ year journey (that started with the CEO role at Crowd Factory before the acquisition), I had been thinking for some time about succession and planning for an opportunity to spend more time with my family. After much consideration, I have decided that as Marketo starts this next great phase of growth as a Vista company, this juncture is the right time for me to pass the baton as CMO of Marketo. I am thrilled at the prospect of spending more time with my wonderful wife and children in the beautiful environs of Bend, Oregon that we call home. I am equal parts excited and proud, as well, to announce Chandar Pattabhiram as Marketo’s new CMO. Chandar has been a terrific leader here these past two years and, I know, will help take our team and our company to new heights.
I say to people – when I am on stage and off – that these years have been the great privilege of my career. I have had the remarkable opportunity to help shape and participate in the early transformation of an industry; I have had the opportunity daily to speak with and learn from the smartest CMOs and marketers around the world; I have had the opportunity to help scale an iconic company; and I have had the opportunity to work with the most creative, inspiring, and collaborative marketing team on the planet. So, in this same moment, I am melancholy because I will miss these people. I will miss working with my partner in crime, David Cain – who, truly, is not only one of the best marketers in world, but, one of the best people in the world – period. I will miss this Marketo team, deeply. I am incredibly proud of the results and leadership that this team created. I have been even more proud of *how* they have done it – always Aspiring to Be Great, always taking care of each other as One Team.
For this great privilege and these great opportunities, I want to say “thank you” to Phil Fernandez and the entire Marketo team and the entire Marketing Nation. I am grateful and proud to have been on this journey together. I thank you for your collaboration and your friendship. And, to be clear, I will always be Purple, and I will always be part of the Marketing Nation! From here at the start of my new chapter, I look forward to watching the next set of wonderful achievements and innovations in this great space.
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