Upwork:Management
Return to: Upwork
Discussion: Upwork Management
Senior 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.
1. Hayden Brown
See also: Detailed Infos and complete watch list in Upwork:Sheet
Hayden Brown is the CEO of Upwork. She became CEO in December 2019 following the resignation of Stephane Kasriel. Hayden was unanimously appointed by the board[1]. 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[2].
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[1].
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[1].
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."[3] 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.
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.
Read more here: Upwork: CEO Hayden Brown
2. Thomas Layton
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[4]. 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[5].
Layton holds an MBA from Stanford University Graduate School of Business. He also has a BS from the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill[5].
3. Melissa Waters
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[6].
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[7].
4.Erica Gessert
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.
Before Joining Paypal, she held many senior roles between 2009-2014 at Sprint Corporation[8].
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."[9]
5.Sunita Solao
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[10].
6. Zoë Diamadi
On May 22, Upwork annouunced that Zoë Diamadi has joined the company as general manager of enterprise business. Her previous roles include " six years as GM of LinkedIn Elevate, building the leading employee advocacy solution for enterprises, as well as time spent in executive positions for LinkedIn’s B2B organization, helping scale its three enterprise business lines." Before joining Upwork, she was an operating advisor at Bessemer Venture Partners[11].
Calls with executives
Hayden Brown
| Date | Topic | Assessment | Link |
|---|---|---|---|
Senior C-Suite executives who left Upwork in the past few months
It seems that Senior executives are either getting fired or leaving the company for better opportunities.
Eric Gilpin, General Manager of Enterprise Business
- Gilpin got publicly fired in Upwork's Q1 2023 investor letter[12].
- He will stay with the company until the end of the second quarter of 2023[12].
- He was with Upwork for over seven years[13].
- Gilpin was replaced by Zoë Diamadi[14].
Saty Bahadur, Chief Technology Officer(CTO)
- On March, 2023, Saty Bahadur left Upwork[15].
- He was with Upwork for almost two years[15].
- Upwork did not disclose his departure. We found out through his LinkedIn profile[16].
- The CTO position is still vacant.
- On March 20, 2023, Bahadur joined Appen as its CTO[17].
Zoë Harte, Chief People Officer(CPO)
- On January, 2023, Zoë Harte, left Upwork[18].
- She had been with the company for 10 years[18].
- Upwork did not announce her departure.
- On February, 2023, she joined Transcarent as its chief people officer[19].
- She was replaced by Sunita Solao on May, 2023[20].
Sam Bright, Chief Product and Experience Office
- On December 2022, Sam Bright left Upwork to become VP, General Manager of Google Play[21].
- He was with the company for two years[22].
- Upwork did not announce his departure.
- The position of Chief Product and Experience Office is still vacant.
Jeff McCombs, CFO
- On September, 2022, Upwork announced that Jeff McCombs will leave the company at the end of the 2022 financial year[23].
- It seems McCombs was fired from his position as CEO Hayden Brown said during the press release, "Jeff and I both agree that now is the right time for a transition, as Upwork continues innovating, evangelizing, and scaling the world’s work marketplace."[23]
- He was with Upwork for two years[24].
- Jeff was replaced by Erica Gessert[25].
Junko Swain, Chief Accounting Officer
- On June, 2022, Swain left the company[26].
- He had been with Upwork for over six years[27].
- He was replaced by Oliver Marie who was Upwork's Controller since January 2021[28].
- Like so many other departures, Upwork did not announce Swain's departure.
Vikas Agarwal, VP of Engineering
- On January, 2023, Vikas Agarwal, VP of Engineering with focus on payments, enterprise, trust & safety, left the company[29].
- Agarwal was with Upwork for two years[29].
- Upwork did not announce his departure. We found out through his LinkedIn profile[29].
Apurva Garware, VP Product, Talent Marketplace and Loyalty
- On September 22, 2022, Apurva left Upwork after being in the company for two years[30].
Fran Murphy, VP of Community
Serge Doubinski, VP of Growth
- On August, 2022: Serge Doubinski, left Upwork[32].
- He had been with the company for over a year[32].
Dr. Adam Ozimek, its Chief Economist
- On March 2022, Dr. Ozimek left the company[33].
- He had been with Upwork for almost three years[34].
- On March, 2022, he joined Economic Innovation Group as its chief economist[34].
- He was replaced by Kelly Monahan, Ph.D on June 2023[35].
Jared Goralnick, VP of Product
- On February 2022, Jared Goralnick left Upwork.
- He was with the company for almost two years[36].
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 https://investors.upwork.com/news-releases/news-release-details/upwork-announces-leadership-transition
- ↑ https://www.fool.com/investing/2019/12/10/why-upwork-stock-dropped-225-in-november.aspx
- ↑ https://www.businessofbusiness.com/articles/18-million-users-have-been-purged-from-gig-economy-site-upwork/
- ↑ https://www.upwork.com/press/releases/thomas-layton-ceo-of-open-table-joins-odesk-board-of-directors
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 https://www.upwork.com/press/releases/odesk-names-thomas-layton-executive-chairman-2
- ↑ https://investors.upwork.com/news-releases/news-release-details/upwork-welcomes-melissa-waters-chief-marketing-officer
- ↑ https://www.linkedin.com/in/melissawaters/
- ↑ https://investors.upwork.com/news-releases/news-release-details/upwork-appoints-erica-gessert-chief-financial-officer
- ↑ https://www.linkedin.com/in/erica-gessert-9282943/
- ↑ https://investors.upwork.com/news-releases/news-release-details/sunita-solao-joins-upwork-chief-people-officer https://www.linkedin.com/in/sunitasolao/
- ↑ https://investors.upwork.com/news-releases/news-release-details/upwork-announces-zoe-diamadi-general-manager-enterprise-business
- ↑ 12.0 12.1 https://investors.upwork.com/static-files/02975692-9913-4671-9c20-96528dd88634#:~:text=We%20delivered%20a%20better%2Dthan,million%20in%20the%20first%20quarter. (page 3)
- ↑ https://www.linkedin.com/in/ericgilpin/
- ↑ https://www.investmentwiki.org/wiki/Upwork:Management#6._Zo.C3.AB_Diamadi
- ↑ 15.0 15.1 https://www.linkedin.com/in/satybahadur/
- ↑ https://www.linkedin.com/posts/satybahadur_ai-appen-activity-7044397364110880768-6I5S?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_desktop
- ↑ https://appen.com/blog/a-letter-from-newly-appointed-appen-cto-saty-bahadur/
- ↑ 18.0 18.1 https://www.linkedin.com/posts/zoeharte_after-almost-ten-years-i-am-leaving-upwork-activity-7004252307802480640-SFEs/?originalSubdomain=tz
- ↑ https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230202005392/en/Transcarent-Announces-Zo%C3%AB-Harte-as-Chief-People-Officer
- ↑ https://www.investmentwiki.org/wiki/Upwork:Management#5.Sunita_Solao
- ↑ https://twitter.com/SamuelRBright/status/1614140505285332992
- ↑ https://twitter.com/SamuelRBright/status/1608934589657141249
- ↑ 23.0 23.1 https://investors.upwork.com/news-releases/news-release-details/upwork-initiates-chief-financial-officer-transition-plan#:~:text=Current%20CFO%20Jeff%20McCombs%20will,to%20identify%20its%20next%20CFO
- ↑ https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeff-mccombs-8287/
- ↑ https://www.investmentwiki.org/wiki/Upwork:Management#4.Erica_Gessert
- ↑ https://www.linkedin.com/posts/junkoswain_upwork-futureofwork-futureofworkforce-activity-6941038543808962560-Auz9/
- ↑ https://www.linkedin.com/posts/junkoswain_upwork-futureofwork-futureofworkforce-activity-6941038543808962560-Auz9/
- ↑ https://www.marketscreener.com/quote/stock/UPWORK-INC-46415520/news/Upwork-Inc-Appoints-Olivier-Marie-as-Chief-Accounting-Officer-40740151/
- ↑ 29.0 29.1 29.2 https://www.linkedin.com/in/vikasagr/
- ↑ https://www.linkedin.com/in/apurvacg/
- ↑ 31.0 31.1 https://www.linkedin.com/in/francis-murphy/
- ↑ 32.0 32.1 https://www.linkedin.com/in/sergedoubinski/
- ↑ https://www.linkedin.com/in/adam-ozimek-3b21873/
- ↑ 34.0 34.1 https://www.linkedin.com/in/adam-ozimek-3b21873/
- ↑ https://www.upwork.com/press/releases/upwork-welcomes-kelly-monahan-as-managing-director-of-new-upwork-research-institute
- ↑ https://www.linkedin.com/in/goralnick/details/experience/