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| == Upwork Management == | | == Upwork Management == |
| None of the founding members of Upwork is involved with its management. However, some executives have been with the company for a long time. The following are important individuals responsible for the day-to-day operations of the company.
| | ''See also: [[Upwork:Management]]'' |
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| === 1. Hayden Brown ===
| | A brief summary of Upwork management characteristics and our assessment will be published here. |
| Hayden Brown is the CEO of Upwork. She became CEO in December 2019 following the resignation of Stephane Kasriel<ref name=":02">https://investors.upwork.com/news-releases/news-release-details/upwork-announces-leadership-transition</ref>. We believe Stephane Kasriel may have been forced to resign after Upwork's stock shed 22.5% in November. The stock movement occurred after the company narrowed its 2019 guidance to $301-$301.5 million compared to the previously stated $300-$304 million<ref>https://www.fool.com/investing/2019/12/10/why-upwork-stock-dropped-225-in-november.aspx</ref>.
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| Hayden Brown holds an A.B. in Politics from Princeton University. Before being named the CEO, she served as Chief Marketing & Product Officer, a position she had held for nine years. She is considered one of the oldest serving executives, having joined the company in 2011<ref name=":02" />.
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| Hayden began her carrier at McKinsey & Company, where she was part of the Strategy team. Before joining Upwork, she worked at LivePerson as the head of corporate development. She also previously worked at Microsoft, performing strategy and M&A roles<ref name=":02" />.
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| Her greatest attribute is boldness. This was showcased when Upwork purged 1.8 million freelancers after she took over as the CEO. Before the purge, Hayden had said during the fourth quarter 2022 earnings call conference, "Our goal is to become the world's top provider of flexible talent solutions by attracting the best clients, with the best work opportunities, for the world's best talent."<ref>https://www.businessofbusiness.com/articles/18-million-users-have-been-purged-from-gig-economy-site-upwork/</ref> Since what she did was meant to improve the quality of the marketplace, we view her as someone willing to take tough actions for the greater good.
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| Hayden Brown is also a people-centric person. She usually starts her day by calling clients and freelancers to understand their problems and communicate the best action to her team. She is also at the forefront of championing a people-centric culture in the company.
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| === 2. Thomas Layton ===
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| Thomas Layton is the executive chairman of the board and one of Upwork's oldest board members. He joined the oDesk board of directors in 2006 while being the CEO of Open Table<ref>https://www.upwork.com/press/releases/thomas-layton-ceo-of-open-table-joins-odesk-board-of-directors</ref>. During his tenure as the CEO of Open Table, he grew the number of members from 500 to more than 7,000. Layton was the CEO of Open Table for over six years. In December 2011, he was appointed as Upwork's executive chairman of the board. Before taking up the chairmanship position, Layton was the CEO of Metaweb Technologies, which Google acquired in 2010<ref name=":3">https://www.upwork.com/press/releases/odesk-names-thomas-layton-executive-chairman-2</ref>.
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| Layton holds an MBA from Stanford University Graduate School of Business. He also has a BS from the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill<ref name=":3" />.
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| === 3. Melissa Waters ===
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| Melissa Waters is the current Chief Marketing Officer for Upwork. She joined the company at a time when the company started focusing on brand marketing to drive awareness about the potential of its platform. Before joining Upwork in January 2022, Waters was the global vice president of marketing at Instagram, one of Meta's platforms. Before her work at Meta, she led marketing and business development roles at Hims & Hers, a leader in telehealth. Melisa also held marketing executive roles at Pandora and Lyft in the past<ref>https://investors.upwork.com/news-releases/news-release-details/upwork-welcomes-melissa-waters-chief-marketing-officer</ref>.
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| Waters holds a BA in journalism and public relations from the University of Houston. She also has an MBA from Babson F.W. Olin Graduate School of Business<ref>https://www.linkedin.com/in/melissawaters/</ref>.
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| === 4.Erica Gessert ===
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| She is Upwork's CFO. Gessert was appointed on March 28 to replace Jeff McCombs who left the company in December 2022. Until her appointment, Erica was Paypal's chief transformation officer, reporting to the company's CEO and senior vice president of finance & analytics. She has held many senior leadership roles since 2015.
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| Before Joining Paypal, she held many senior roles between 2009-2014 at Sprint Corporation<ref>https://investors.upwork.com/news-releases/news-release-details/upwork-appoints-erica-gessert-chief-financial-officer</ref>.
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| Her LinkedIn profile reads, "In March 2017, Erica's role expanded to include management of all regional operational finance, with the CFOs of all regions reporting to her in an integrated operational finance function."<ref>https://www.linkedin.com/in/erica-gessert-9282943/</ref>
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| === 5.Sunita Solao ===
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| On April 6, 2023 Upwork announced that Sunita Solao will join Upwork as chief people officer (CPO), starting from May 2023.She brings over 20 years of human resource and business growth experience to the company.Solao previously served as vice president, people at Convoy reporting to the CEO. She has also held several HR and people leadership positions at eBay and Airbnb<ref>https://investors.upwork.com/news-releases/news-release-details/sunita-solao-joins-upwork-chief-people-officer
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| https://www.linkedin.com/in/sunitasolao/</ref>.
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| == Competition == | | == Competition == |
