Okta - Todd McKinnon
Company: Okta
Founded: 2008
What it does: Cloud/mobile identity management software
Funding so far: $155 million
Role at Salesforce.com: As senior VP of engineering, McKinnon grew his his team from 15 to 250 engineers. McKinnon said he loved his job at Salesforce, but saw a huge opportunity in cloud password management that he couldn't pass up. Benioff wasn't too happy and turned down an offer to invest early in Okta.
Zuora - Tien Tzou
Company: Zuora
Founded: 2007
What it does: Cloud billing and invoicing for recurring revenue businesses
Funding so far: $127.5 million
Role at Salesforce.com: Tzou was Salesforce.com’s employee #11 and its first Chief Marketing Officer. Benioff did invest in Zuora when Tzou left Salesforce.com in 2008.
Heresay Social - Clara Shih
Company: Heresay Social
Founded: 2009
What it does: Provides software for financial services teams to better-use social media to boost sales and productivity
Funding so far: $51 million
Role at Salesforce.com: Shih was the first product marketer of AppExchange, the business app store from salesforce.com. She was the product line manager overseeing product marketing and data analytics. She’s also the author of NY Times best seller, “The Facebook Era.”
Connery Consulting - Nancy Connery
Company: Connery Consulting
Founded: 2007
What it does: HR advisory services focused on tech and financial markets
Funding so far: N/A
Role at Salesforce.com: Connery was one of the first 10 employees at Salesforce.com. As the founding VP of Human Resources there, she was responsible for recruiting more than 650 employees. Based on her experience running all of recruiting and HR at Salesforce.com, Connery founded Connery Consulting with another Salesforce.com alum, Thanh Nguyen.
Cloudwords - Scott Yancey
Company: Cloudwords
Founded: 2010
What it does: Cloud-based marketing software that simplifies localization by translating any type of content or document.
Funding so far: $2.4 million
Role at Salesforce.com: Yancey started his career managing the salesforce.com website, before eventually becoming senior product engineer there. Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff and Okta CEO Todd McKinnon have invested in Cloudwords.
Full Circle CRM - Bonnie Carter
Company: Full Circle CRM
Founded: 2010
What it does: Provides marketing performance management solutions for Salesforce marketing users
Funding so far: $500K
Role at Salesforce.com: Carter was senior VP of service and support at Salesforce.com. She realized the need for a more data-driven approach to marketing, so she built Full Circle CRM on top of the salesforce.com platform.
Saleshood - Elay Cohen
Company: Saleshood
Founded: 2013
What it does: Saleshood is a subscription service providing real life sales best practices, and a platform for meeting other sales professionals
Funding so far: N/A
Role at Salesforce.com: Cohen was in charge of creating and executing all sales productivity programs at Salesforce.com, which grew from a $500 million to $3 billion enterprise during his stay. He was named the company’s “2011 Top Executive.”
GetFeedback - Kraig Swensrud and Sean Whiteley
Company: GetFeedback
Founded: 2013
What it does: Online survey software that helps create visually rich, engaging online polls
Funding so far: $2.3 million
Role at Salesforce.com: Swensrud was the chief marketing officer at Salesforce.com, but left after six years with Whiteley, who was senior VP at the time, with the vision of creating a modern survey marketing software.