Five years ago, I was given the unique opportunity to join Plaxo as its CEO.
I knew that I was joining a talented team with a promising product–in a market that was just starting to appreciate the value of an open, social approach to communications. However, I had no idea how exciting, challenging, rewarding, and fulfilling the next several years would be. Plaxo would have its share of successes—and make more than its share of mistakes. We would release great products. We would help create the life-streaming category. And, with the help of Joseph Smarr and John McCrea, we would change the way that the industry thought about the Social Web. Ultimately, we would grow to be both a service that was used by tens of millions of people around the world and a technology platform used by some of the world’s leading service providers. Along the way, we brought in great people and built an incredible team.
In July of 2008, Plaxo’s history began a new chapter, when we became part of Comcast Interactive Media. Not only was this a good outcome for our investors, it also proved to be a great move for our customers, our employees, and –of course—for Comcast. Since the acquisition, we have continued to grow both the Plaxo team and the Plaxo service, and we are actively involved in projects across Comcast that are aimed at defining the future of television and communications.
While I am very excited about what the future holds for Plaxo and Comcast, my passion is in building new companies. At the end of this month, I will be leaving Plaxo to start working on my next company. Several months ago, in anticipation of this change, I began working with my colleagues to put in place the next generation of leadership at Plaxo. Fortunately, we both had a tremendously talented long-timer at Plaxo (Ryan King) and we were able to bring an impressive new leader into Plaxo (Justin Miller). When I leave Plaxo, Justin will be taking over as President and CEO, and Ryan will be assuming the role of Chief Operating Officer.
Justin and Ryan will be sharing more of their plans for Plaxo over the coming weeks. And, when it is time to announce my next project, I’ll be sure to do so via Plaxo.
However, I wanted to take this opportunity to thank all of the people who have made my time at Plaxo so rewarding. I’d like to thank Plaxo’s founders (Todd Masonis, Cameron Ring, and Sean Parker) and Plaxo’s original VP of engineering (Rikk Carey) for starting such a great company. I’d like to thank our investors and board (Sequoia, Ram Shriram, Globespan, Cisco, Ron Conway, Tim Koogle, Harbinger Ventures, and DAG) for their support and patience throughout the years. I’d like to thank Sam Schwartz, Amy Banse, Charlie Herrin, Ian Blaine, Eric Budin, and the many great people at Comcast for working so hard to make the acquisition and integration a success . I’d like to thank all of the talented and hard working people at Plaxo, who gave their nights, weekends, and more to make the company a success. And, finally, I’d like to thank the over 20 million Plaxo customers for all their support through the years.
While my 5+ year journey with Plaxo is coming to an end, the company is more dedicated than ever to the exciting work we have at Comcast, and to delivering on the vision of a truly smart, socially-aware address book . While I won’t be directly involved going forward, I will definitely be cheering from the sidelines.
Ben Golub
President and CEO
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