Vena Solutions has appointed a new CEO, Hunter Madeley. He will take the over from co-founder Don Mal. This is the second time Mal has appointed a successor to his CEO position. This time Vena will hope that the role sticks as it looks to accelerate and growth to well above $100 million.
This time Mal is set to retire from a full time role at Vena, leaving the company to persue some long deferred personal passions. He will remain only in an advisory and support role to the company. He leaves fellow co-founders Rishi Grover and George Papayiannis who will continue to work full time in the business.
This article previously speculated about the reason what prompted Shawn Cadeau to leave the company only a few months after assuming the position of CEO. Recent information received by Enterprise Times has revealed the real reason behind re-appointment of Mal.
Sources close to Vena have revealed that after the hire of Neil Thomas from Adaptive the board felt that Don Mal should re assume the position of CEO. As a founder he was better placed to take the company through the next round of funding. Cadeau left the company and is now Chief Revenue Officer at Jobber.
Veteran of growth companies
Madeley has more than twenty years experience in the software industry. He spent nine years at ADP, rising to become Vice President of Sales and a member of ADP Canada’s Executive Committee. He then moved to Salesforce where, as Vice President of Sales for both Toronto and New York, he grew revenues to $130 million doubling revenues during his four years there. He then spent five years at HubSpot, helping to grow revenues by seven times as its first Chief Sales Officer from $80 million to nearly $600 million. It is for that kind of growth that Vena has hired him.
Madeley commented: “I’ve had the privilege of leading wonderful growth engines at some of the world’s most important companies in cloud software, but I’ve long envisioned bringing that experience back home to help a Canadian tech firm do great things in becoming a global standard. Now is the right time for me and my family, Canada is the right place to build a world-class company, and Vena is the right company with the right culture to make that vision a reality. The team at Vena has done some amazing work together and I’m thrilled to be playing a role in the next phase of our growth.”
Proud to be Canadian
That Madeley is Canadian is important. Having worked in the US, and where Vena’s biggest growth is likely to come from, he understands that market. As a Canadian, educated at York University, Toronto he will also have an affinity and understanding of the culture in a Canadian company. His vision for Vena is also in line with Mal’s. Mal commented in an interview with Enterprise Times about his vision for Vena : “For us it’s just about continuing to build a great company.“ Madeley seems completely in tune with that commenting: “I talk to Canadian tech CEOs all the time and it’s clear the country is at an inflection point. Tech CEOs aren’t building companies to find an exit strategy anymore. We’re building companies to thrive on the world stage – companies built to last.”
On Madeley’s appointment Mal commented: “I couldn’t be more proud of all we’ve accomplished in the eight years since Rishi, George and I founded the company, and Vena couldn’t be in better hands – or better positioned for accelerated growth – under Hunter’s leadership.”
Looking forward to growth
Vena has everything in place to begin the growth it wants. It raised $115 million earlier this yea,r which gives Madeley a significant war chest to work with. The investors will have been involved in the selection process. Peter Arrowsmith, General Partner at JMI Equity and member of Vena’s Board of Directors commented: “We are delighted to welcome Hunter as Vena’s CEO. His exceptional leadership experience, passion for building and empowering great teams, and ability to drive significant growth will help Vena continue expanding its market leadership in cloud corporate performance management and propel the company’s next phase of success.”
Eric Byunn, Partner at Centana Growth Partners and fellow Vena Board member, and who have invested in at least two rounds of funding in Vena commented: “We’re very excited to have Hunter join Vena to continue its innovative expansion as a market leader in FP&A software. He has demonstrated a clear ability to lead companies through transformative growth that delivers value to customers, partners, employees, and shareholders. We also want to thank Don for his years of tireless service to the company, and for bringing Vena to this point of significant momentum.”
Enterprise Times: What does this mean
This appointment has been some time in coming. However, the company will have wanted to get the most recent round of fund raising completed before beginning the search for a new CEO. This takes the job of raising more funds off the table for a while. It lets Madeley find his feet and build a team for growth at Vena. The company has already celebrated a strong start to the year with a 60% growth in ARR in the last year.
In the coming weeks and months expect to hear more from Vena Solutions in the FP&A space, both appointments and greater sales and marketing efforts.
This article was updated from the original following information received.