See it to be it
EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW
“ Why am I the only female CEO in data management ? There should be more of us . That ' s a big part of my goal . I ' m all about making sure that there are more women by the time I leave this industry ”
Jill Stelfox CEO , Panzura
and marketing expert for technology companies that had great tech but didn ' t really understand how to scale or go to market – and that ' s like our superpower .
“ If we fell in love with the product or the company , we would make an equity investment , and so we fancied ourselves as part consultancy , part investor . When we got to know Panzura , we were like ‘ this is so amazing , we should actually buy the whole thing ’. And that ' s how it happened .”
But that is not the most interesting part of this story . Falling in love was just the start . The decision to buy the San Josebased company was made and then terms formally agreed in a matter of weeks , with the deal completing on 7 March 2020 . That date is significant , as it was also the day that California ‘ closed ’ due to COVID .
“ We officially took over the company on 7 May , and that was the first day of the COVID lockdown in California and we have employees all over the world ,” says Jill . “ Imagine doing an employee all-hands on
See it to be it
Jill argues that just because you don ' t see it doesn ' t mean that you can ' t do it . “ You can definitely do it . It ' s a proven fact that whether it ' s people of minority , race or gender equality , people need to see it to be it , and more is always better . And there ' s literally not enough of us . I mean , why am I the only female CEO in data management ? There should be more of us for sure . That ' s a big part of my goal . I ' m all about making sure that there are more women by the time I leave this industry .” Zoom at that moment in the pandemic and finding out the company ' s been sold and I ' m your new CEO . What I saw on that Zoom call was employees that , yes , they were excited , but they were also concerned . That kind of solidified for me that I have to focus on employees first , and if our employees were super happy and mentally strong , that we would be a great company .”
Jill and the leadership team put personal coaching in place , with every employee having access – not just for health , wellness and business issues , but life complications caused by COVID too , such as home schooling .
“ People first led us to caring about customers which led us to the growth that we ' ve had in terms of a company since we bought it – 485 % growth ,” says Jill .
That growth has been achieved with a number of tailwinds – not least the rapid digital transformation accelerated by the
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