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Knak hires Denver-based executive to spearhead software firm’s sales strategy

December 2, 2024

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Knak has tapped a veteran U.S. sales executive to fill the new role of chief revenue officer as the Ottawa software firm ramps up its quest to reach $50 million in annual recurring revenues. Greg LeNeveu took charge of Knak’s 16-person sales team on Monday. LeNeveu most recently served as chief revenue officer of PhotoShelter, a New York-based company that makes software that helps customers host and organize online photo galleries and other media files. LeNeveu, who was born in southwestern Ontario and now lives in the Denver area, was hired after an extensive seven-month search. He will be the main architect of Knak’s sales strategy as the company – which specializes in a no-code platform that simplifies the process of creating email marketing campaigns and landing pages – looks to grow its annual recurring revenues from just over $10 million a year to $50 million and beyond. “We got a ton of interest,” Knak co-founder and CEO Pierce Ujjainwalla said. “There’s a lot of good talent out there right now. I wanted someone who has been successful at companies that are small – that don’t have a big brand name behind them but who figured out how to do the sales motion without that.” In LeNeveu, Ujjainwalla believes he’s found exactly that. The University of Colorado alumnus, who graduated with a degree in economics, has led sales teams at a number of high-growth enterprises in the United States. They include Moogsoft, a startup founded in the San Francisco Bay area in 2012 that makes an artificial intelligence platform that helps customers detect and fix malfunctions in their tech infrastructure. LeNeveu spent three years as the company’s chief revenue officer from 2015-18, where he spearheaded a go-to-market strategy that helped the startup land series C and D financing rounds. “I wanted the aggressiveness of the American sellers but (someone) who understands and respects Canadian culture,” Ujjainwalla explained. “I think Greg is a great mix of that.”

Co-founder exits firm

LeNeveu starts his new role just as Knak co-founder and former chief technology officer Patrick Proulx is exiting the firm. Proulx, a key architect of Knak’s tech platform, left the company last Friday. In a LinkedIn post last week, the University of Ottawa computer science grad said he wants to “explore new challenges and opportunities that align with my long-term goals.” Ujjainwalla said Proulx played a major role in Knak’s ascent as one of the Ottawa area’s fastest-growing tech startups. “It’s been quite a journey with him,” he said. “We’re sad to see him go, but it’s an amicable departure. This is what he’s been doing for eight years, and he wants a change.” Engineering lead Joel Chretien has been promoted to vice-president of engineering to help fill the gap left by Proulx’s departure. “He’s very well-respected by all the engineers and knows the ins and outs of our whole app,” Ujjainwalla said of Chretien. “It’s a change, for sure, but people seem to be embracing it. It’s kind of nice to get a fresh perspective on things.” While Knak didn’t have to look far to find a new top engineer, such was not the case with its latest C-suite hiring. Ujjainwalla was initially hoping to bring in a locally based CRO, but he soon realized that finding anyone in Ottawa who met his main criteria – scaling multiple companies to between $50 million and $100 million in ARR – would be a tall order. “It’s basically impossible,” he said. “It’s a handful of people who have done that here.” Ujjainwalla now feels LeNeveu’s base in the U.S. could be a clear advantage for Knak as it keeps building market share south of the border. “The reality is we sell mostly to Americans, so having him in Denver is actually quite strategic for us.” Knak, which employs more than 100 people, currently has six job openings and expects to do “a lot more” hiring in 2025 in an effort to add “more horsepower” to its engineering and sales teams, Ujjainwalla said. Beefing up the platform’s AI capabilities will be a top priority as Knak looks to stay ahead of the competition, he added. Ujjainwalla admits that U.S. president-elect Donald Trump’s threat to slap a 25 per cent tariff on all goods entering the country from Canada worries him a bit. But he said he’s encouraged that business “seems to be opening up a little bit more” in the U.S. lately after many customers tightened their belts on software spending over the past few years. “For us, when we have 90 per cent of our business coming from there, that’s a good sign.”