RightNow Executive Management
RightNow people are motivated, ambitious and are attracted to the excitement and opportunity of working for a company intensely focused on customer service solutions. RightNow sets the standard and pace for innovative, rapid product development and business growth.
Executive Management Team
Board of Directors
Executive Management Team
Greg Gianforte, CEO and Founder
Greg Gianforte has led RightNow from its founding in 1997 to nine
consecutive years of revenue growth, 19 consecutive quarters of
cash-flow positive performance, and a successful IPO. His market
vision, leadership, entrepreneurial philosophy, and commitment to
ethical business practices has enabled RightNow to consistently
grow—during a period when many other software companies have
stumbled—and to achieve remarkable levels of customer loyalty and
satisfaction.
Ernst & Young awarded Greg the Pacific Northwest 2003 Entrepreneur of the Year for the software category. A panel of independent judges evaluated the excellence and extraordinary success of outstanding entrepreneurs in such areas as innovation, financial performance, and personal commitment to their businesses and communities.
Greg founded Brightwork, a pioneering developer of network management applications, in 1986. With 75 employees and software installed on more than 150,000 Novell systems nationwide, Greg sold the company to McAfee Associates in 1994. He was retained by McAfee to run its North American sales operation, which he grew from $25 million in revenues to more than $60 million in under a year. During Greg's tenure, McAfee was selected by Fortune Magazine—based primarily on its Internet selling approach—as one of the "10 Coolest Companies in America."
Greg is also the author of Bootstrapping Your Business: Start And Grow a Successful Company With Almost No Money.
Greg holds a BE in electrical engineering and an MS in computer science from Stevens Institute of Technology.
Susan Carstensen, COO
As Chief Operating Officer, Susan directs the company's field
operations through the regional GM's while also leading marketing,
technology operations and development. A 23-year veteran in
corporate management, Ms. Carstensen has held a number of senior
management positions at public companies. She joined RightNow as CFO
in 1999 when the company's annual revenue was $2 million. Under
Ms. Carstensen's guidance, the company completed its initial public
offering in 2004 and recently reported 2007 revenue of $112 million.
Prior to RightNow, Ms. Carstensen spent five years at Powerhouse
Technologies in various management positions, including CFO, and was a
key player in the organization's financial turnaround. She also has
experience with Martin Marietta Astronautics Group and Ernst &
Young. Susan holds a BS in Business and a BA in Political Science from
Montana State University.
Jeff Davison, CFO
Jeff is
responsible for the company's finance organization. He joined
RightNow Technologies in November 1999 as controller, and a year later
was promoted to vice president sales operations. Jeff served in that
role until April 2006 when he was promoted again to vice president
finance and operations.
Previously, Jeff was the corporate controller for Powerhouse Technologies, a gaming technology company, and vice president finance and controller for United Tote Company and the Sunland Racetrack and Casino, both divisions of Powerhouse Technologies. Jeff has previous experience with PacifiCorp and KPMG, both in Portland,Oregon. He is a CPA and graduate of Montana State University.
Mike Myer, Vice President of Development and CTO
Mike leads the company's product design, development and quality
assurance efforts, and serves on the executive management team. Mike
brings to RightNow extensive experience in computer research and
product development gained at AT&T/Lucent Technologies/Bell
Labs. At Bell Labs Research, which he left in 1998 to join RightNow,
Mike developed a first-generation DSL System, a breakthrough for
high-speed consumer internet access over existing phone lines. At
Lucent, Mike was a lead developer in the redesign of AUDIX, the
company's highly successful voice-messaging product. He also took part
in the introduction of several innovations in voice-message networking
topologies. At AT&T, he was a principal architect for an
operations support system (the world's largest at the time) designed
to accommodate 1,000 support technicians simultaneously. Mike has an
MS degree in Computer Science from Rutgers University.
Alan Rassaby, Vice President of Legal and Risk Management, General Counsel, Secretary
Alan joined RightNow in June 2000 and leads the company's legal, risk
management, corporate services and HR initiatives. Alan is also a
member of the executive management team. Since 1986, he has held a
number of senior management positions in government and private
industry. From 1994 to 1998, Alan was an Australian-based partner in
Phillips Fox Lawyers, one of the largest law firms in the Asia Pacific
basin, where he specialized in technology and health care
clients. From 1998 to 2000, Alan was the senior vice president, legal
and administration for Powerhouse Technologies and senior
vice-president and general counsel of Anchor Gaming (NASDAQ:SLOT)
after Anchor's acquisition of Powerhouse. Alan has Arts and Law
degrees from the University of New South Wales in Australia, and a
Master
of Laws from the London School of Economics and Political Science of
London University. Alan is a member of the State Bars of Oregon (USA),
New South Wales and Victoria (Australia).
Jason Mittelstaedt, CMO
Jason has successfully led RightNow's global marketing team-including
products group, field marketing, industry marketing, marketing
communications, and corporate communications-to record-setting results
in terms of sales pipeline, media awareness, and attendance at
corporate events. He played a key role in crafting and executing the
strategy that transformed RightNow from a niche eService player into a
publicly held company offering the industry's most complete on demand
CRM solutions. In his previous positions within product management, he
spearheaded RightNow's entry into marketing automation from the
drawing board to its current position as the leading marketing
solution in on demand CRM. Prior to joining RightNow, Jason held
several positions at Intel Corporation-ranging from strategic planning
to management of OEM distribution channels. He received his BS in
Physics from Northwest Nazarene University.
Michael Saracini, Vice President and General Manager, Americas
Mike oversees RightNow's field-based operations in the Americas, including sales, professional services, channels and alliances, and serves on the company's executive management team. Mike joined RightNow in August 2005 as Vice President of Sales to lead growth in the United States and Canada. In April 2007, he was promoted to Vice President & General Manager, Americas, with expanded responsibility for field-based operations in North and Latin America.
Mike's experience includes seventeen years of sales and executive leadership with some the most recognized companies in the software and technology industry, including Siebel Systems, Computer Associates, AT&T Capital, and GRID Systems. He held a number of senior sales leadership positions over a six-year period with Computer Associates, culminating in the role of Senior Vice President and Group General Manager. In that role, he led a 200+ person organization with revenue responsibilities of $1.2 billion.
Steve Daines, Vice President and General Manager, Asia/Pacific
Steve joined RightNow Technologies in June 2000 following a successful
13-year international career with Procter & Gamble. While with
P&G, Steve spent seven years managing operations in the United
States, where he rapidly progressed through the organization with
increasing levels of responsibility. In 1991, P&G asked Steve to
transfer to China, where he served six years leading the company's
business expansion in China and Hong Kong. Over the past seven years
at RightNow Technologies, Steve has held several executive leadership
positions including vice president of customer delivery and vice
president of North America sales. Steve holds a BS degree in
Chemical Engineering from Montana State University.
Joseph Brown, Vice President and General Manager, Europe, Middle East, and Africa (EMEA)
As EMEA General Manager, Joe is responsible for leading business growth across RightNow's vertical markets, territories, and partner channel. Joe joined RightNow in 2005 as Vice President of Voice Solutions to spearhead its voice-enabled CRM strategy. During this time he was responsible for directing technical development, product management, and go-to-market strategies for all of RightNow's voice solutions.
Joe brings with him more than 25 years of technology industry experience in building, developing, and expanding sales and marketing organizations through multiple distribution channels. He is the former CEO and general manager of Edify, which, under Joe's guidance, enjoyed substantial revenue growth via direct and indirect channels, to become a leading vendor within the multi-channel contact center market. Prior to this, he was senior vice president of worldwide field operations at Auspex Systems and vice president of marketing for Unisys Corporation's UNIX Systems Division.
Scott Creighton, Vice President of Business Development
Scott joined RightNow in 2006 as vice president of business
development to manage the company's global alliances and
partnerships. Prior to joining RightNow, Scott was Oracle's vice
president of global CRM marketing, where he was responsible for
overall CRM go-to-market strategy, CRM product marketing, and business
development. He previously held several senior positions at Siebel
Systems—the most recent being VP and general manager of manufacturing
and distribution industry solutions, where he built one of the
company's largest vertical business units. A 25-year veteran of the
technology industry, Scott began his career with a ten-year stint at
EDS, after which he held several management positions at MCI
Systemhouse, including vice president of global alliances. He
received his BA in Economics from the State University of New York.
Laef Olson, CIO
As CIO, Laef Olson leads RightNow's strategy and vision for the
company's technology operations and is responsible for RightNow
on demand hosting and data center management, internal systems design
and development, and corporate security. He also plays a key,
external role as a company spokesperson for RightNow hosted services.
Prior to joining RightNow, Laef was group vice president of global
technology operations of Travelport Inc., where he managed systems
engineering and 24/7 operations capability for the company's global
infrastructure supporting Orbitz, Cheaptickets, and eBookers. In that
role, he led the successful transformation of the Orbitz search and
booking technology into a multi-brand platform. Before Travelport,
Laef served as chief technology officer for cars.com, and also held
several technology management positions in the financial services
industry. Olson received his MBA from The University of Chicago
Graduate School of Business, and his BA in economics from Wheaton
College in Wheaton, IL.
Board of Directors
Gregory M. Avis
Gregory M. Avis began his venture capital career in 1984, joining Summit Partners upon its formation. Mr. Avis is currently a member of the firm's Investment Committee and Board of Directors, and is also a member of the Investment Committee of the Summit Accelerator Fund.
Mr. Avis has been instrumental in developing Summit Partners' investment model of backing privately-held later stage or emerging growth companies. These companies are generally in the $2 million - $100 million revenue range and are seeking $5 million - $100 million of either equity capital or a combination of equity and subordinated debt. Mr. Avis has worked with companies in the technology, life sciences, and specialized service industries. Summit, which currently manages over $6.0 billion, is one of the leading private equity firms in the nation.
Mr. Avis has served on numerous boards of directors including CMG Information Services, Inc.; Clontech Laboratories, Inc.; Digital Link Corporation; Ditech Communications; Integrated Systems, Inc.; MCK Communications; Powerwave Technologies, Inc.; and Splash Technology Holdings, Inc. Among others he is also a director of Community Foundation Silicon Valley, San Jose Repertory Theater Company, and the National Outdoor Leadership School Advisory Council.
Mr. Avis received a B.A. degree, cum laude, in Political Economy from Williams College and an M.B.A. with Distinction from Harvard Business School.
William J. Lansing
Will Lansing is President and CEO of ValueVision Media, which owns and operates ShopNBC, an upscale TV and Internet retailer. Mr. Lansing joins ValueVision with more than 15 years of senior management experience, including positions as president and CEO at public companies in the consumer direct marketing and Internet commerce arenas.
Lansing served as President and CEO of Fingerhut Companies, then the nation's second largest catalog retailer and a NYSE-listed company, where he grew revenue, launched new businesses, and managed the sale and transition of the company to Federated Department Stores. Subsequent to the acquisition, he was appointed the additional role of Chairman of Federated Direct with the added responsibilities of Macys-by-Mail and Macys.com.
After Fingerhut, Lansing was CEO of NBC Internet, a NASDAQ-listed company, where he led a strategic repositioning of the company. Prior to Fingerhut, Lansing was at General Electric, where he served as Vice President of Business Development, reporting to Chairman Jack Welch. Prior to his role at GE, Lansing was COO of Prodigy, Inc., where he launched the company's flagship Prodigy Internet offering. Earlier Lansing was a partner at McKinsey & Company. Lansing joined ValueVision from his current role as a partner at General Atlantic Partners, a global private equity firm.
Mr. Lansing earned a J.D. from Georgetown University Law School and a B.A. from Wesleyan University.
Margaret L. Taylor
Margaret L. Taylor has served on the board of directors since April 2000 and is currently the President of PeopleSoft Investments, Inc., a subsidiary of PeopleSoft, Inc. She previously served as the chief executive officer of Venture Builders, LLC, a consulting company for start-up businesses, and she is now acting in an advisory capacity. From 1989 to 1999, Ms. Taylor was the senior vice president of PeopleSoft, Inc., a provider of enterprise application software. Prior to joining PeopleSoft, she held various management positions for The Hibernia Bank of San Francisco, California and the Bank of California. Ms. Taylor is currently a director of Fair Isaac Corporation. She has a B.A. degree in communications and psychology from Lone Mountain College.
Richard E. Allen
Richard E. Allen, former Director, Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of J.D. Edwards & Company, joined RightNow as a board member in June, 2004. During his 18 year tenure at J.D. Edwards, Mr. Allen was involved in the management of the company's finance, information technology, accounting, treasury, investor relations, acquisition, legal, real estate, human resource and administrative activities cumulating in the merger in 2003 with PeopleSoft, Inc. After leading the merger of J.D. Edwards and PeopleSoft and assisting with integration of the two companies, Mr. Allen retired in March 2004.
Before joining J.D. Edwards, Mr. Allen was controller for Luff Exploration, oil and gas exploration and production company, and a senior accountant with Coopers & Lybrand, a public accounting firm.
Mr. Allen is a member of the American Institute of Certified Pubic Accountants, the Colorado Society of Certified Public Accountants, Financial Executives Institute and the National Association of Corporate Directors. Mr. Allen serves on the board of WTS, Inc., and is a member of the Colorado State University Development Council and School of Business Global Leadership Council.
Mr. Allen received a B.A. degree in business administration from Colorado State University.
Thomas W. Kendra
Thomas W. Kendra was appointed to our Board of Directors on March 30, 2007. Kendra is currently the group president of the Security and Data Management Group (SDMG) at Symantec Corporation. Prior to this position, he was the group president of Worldwide Sales and Services. Before joining Symantec in January 2004, he spent 26 years at IBM, where he was a member of their senior leadership team.
During his career at IBM, he held executive positions in software, hardware and support. In his role as vice president of worldwide server sales, he delivered significant share gains and nearly $13 billion in annual revenue. Other executive positions he held at IBM include vice president of marketing and sales for the database division; vice president of software for the Western United States; and director of support and services for IBM's U.S. software business.
Kendra received a bachelor of science in business administration from Indiana University in Bloomington.
