VELL BLOG

April 22nd, 2019

Hope you had a wonderful long weekend!

Welcome to the 61st Edition of the Open Tech Roles newsletter. This newsletter covers open technology roles as of April 12th, 2019 and technology appointments for past 31 days ending April 12th, 2019.

We want your opinion...

Reasons for CIO/Tech departures & effective retention methods

Would love your commentary on the following questions...

(1) What are the reasons CIOs/other heads of technology leave companies?

(2) What are some of the challenges that CIOs/other tech execs face that their CEOs should keep in mind? 

(3) What are some best practices organizations should follow in order to keep their CIOs / other tech execs on board?

Email your thoughts to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. We will summarize and share the responses.

March 20th, 2019

Welcome to our Technology CEO Transitions Newsletter for March 2019.

We research and catalog all open technology CEO roles we can find (as of 3/17) and also the latest appointments for February 18th to March 17th. We use Capital IQ industry classifications and US census geographic regions.

Summary Trends

There are 31 Open Tech CEO Roles and 26 Appointments. The activity seems to have slowed down significantly.

Here is their geographic distribution:

March 15th, 2019

Welcome to the 60th Edition of the Open Tech Roles newsletter. This newsletter covers open technology roles as of March 10th, 2019 and technology appointments for past 28 days ending March 10th, 2019.

Titles are evolving and are specializing:

• The head of technology (IT) role has different titles, historically a CIO, is now either CIO, CTO or Engineering (including CIO role) and a Chief Digital Officer titles (or combinations thereof). Note: sometimes the head of IT is the EVP Tech & Ops with CIO type roots.
• The CTO role has multiple contexts and meanings: (1) CTOs that manage IT (where the CIO reports in); (2) CTOs that manage the tech infrastructure (a more traditional definition); (3) CTOs - Products/ Tech Strategy. They are essentially tech vendor CTOs and typically manage IT as well, but it is not their primary role or orientation.
• More exec titles in Tech: Data Science, Data Protection, CISOs, Chief Data Officers

February 20th, 2019

Welcome to our Technology CEO Transitions Newsletter for February 2019.

We research and catalog all open technology CEO roles we can find (as of 2/17) and also the latest appointments for January 20th to February 17th. We use Capital IQ industry classifications and US census geographic regions.

Summary Trends

There are 28 Open Tech CEO Roles and 42 Appointments.

Here is their geographic distribution:

February 20th, 2019

Welcome to the 59th Edition of the Open Tech Roles newsletter. We have been tracking open technology roles and latest appointments, but have not published it as we have been looking at the breadth of technology executive roles. This newsletter covers open technology roles as of February 11th, 2019 and technology appointments for past 37 days ending February 11th, 2019.

Titles are evolving and are specializing:

• The head of technology (IT) role has different titles, historically a CIO, is now either CIO, CTO or Engineering (including CIO role) and a Chief Digital Officer titles (or combinations thereof). Note: sometimes the head of IT is the EVP Tech & Ops with CIO type roots.
• The CTO role has multiple contexts and meanings: (1) CTOs that manage IT (where the CIO reports in); (2) CTOs that manage the tech infrastructure (a more traditional definition); (3) CTOs - Products/ Tech Strategy. They are essentially tech vendor CTOs and typically manage IT as well, but it is not their primary role or orientation.
• More exec titles in Tech: Data Science, Data Protection, CISOs, Chief Data Officers

January 21st, 2019

Welcome to our first Technology CEO Transitions Newsletter for 2019.

We research and catalog all open technology CEO roles we can find (as of 1/19) and also the latest appointments for December 1st to January 19th. We use Capital IQ industry classifications and US census geographic regions.

Summary Trends

There are 30 Open Tech CEO Roles and 55 Appointments.

January 7, 2019

Happy New Year!

Welcome to the 58th Edition of the Open Tech Roles newsletter. We have been tracking open technology roles and latest appointments, but have not published it as we have been looking at the breadth of technology executive roles. This newsletter only covers open technology roles as of  January 4th, 2018.

Titles are evolving and are specializing:

• The head of technology (IT) role has different titles, historically a CIO, is now either CIO, CTO (including CIO role) and a Chief Digital Officer titles (or combinations thereof). Note: sometimes the head of IT is the EVP Tech & Ops with CIO type roots.
• The CTO role has multiple contexts and meanings: (1) CTOs that manage IT (where the CIO reports in); (2) CTOs that manage the tech infrastructure (a more traditional definition); (3) CTOs - Products/ Tech Strategy. They are essentially tech vendor CTOs and typically manage IT as well, but it is not their primary role or orientation.
• More exec titles in Tech: Data Science, Data Protection, CISOs, Chief Data Officers

December 1st, 2018

Welcome to our Technology CEO Transitions Newsletter.

We research and catalog all open technology CEO roles we can find (as of 11/30) and also the latest appointments for November. We use Capital IQ industry classifications and US census geographic regions.

Summary Trends

There are 42 Open Tech CEO Roles and 46 Appointments.

November 20, 2018

Welcome to the 57th Edition of the Open Tech Roles newsletter. We have been tracking open technology roles and latest appointments, but have not published it as we have been looking at the breadth of technology executive roles. This newsletter only covers open technology roles as of November 12th, 2018.

Titles are evolving and are specializing:

• The head of technology (IT) role has different titles, historically a CIO, is now either CIO, CTO (including CIO role) and a Chief Digital Officer titles (or combinations thereof). Note: sometimes the head of IT is the EVP Tech & Ops with CIO type roots.
• The CTO role has multiple contexts and meanings: (1) CTOs that manage IT (where the CIO reports in); (2) CTOs that manage the tech infrastructure (a more traditional definition); (3) CTOs - Products/ Tech Strategy. They are essentially tech vendor CTOs and typically manage IT as well, but it is not their primary role or orientation.
• More exec titles in Tech: Data Science, Data Protection, CISOs, Chief Data Officers

November 6th, 2018

Welcome to our Technology CEO Transitions Newsletter.

We research and catalog all open technology CEO roles we can find (as of 10/31) and also the latest appointments for October. We use Capital IQ industry classifications and US census geographic regions.

Summary Trends

There are 43 Open Tech CEO Roles and 43 Appointments.

October 7, 2018

Welcome to our Technology CEO Transitions Newsletter.

We research and catalog all open technology CEO roles we can find (as of 9/30) and also the latest appointments for September. We use Capital IQ industry classifications and US census geographic regions. 

Summary Trends

There are 47 Open Tech CEO Roles and 34 Appointments.

Instagram Co-Founders Leave Facebook after Six Years; Tensions over Product Direction

Instagram co-founders Kevin Systrom, 34, and Mike Krieger, 32, have resigned, amidst growing tensions over product direction with Facebook’s CEO, Mark Zuckerberg. They co-founded the photo-sharing mobile phone app company in 2010. Facebook acquired Instagram in 2012 for $1 billion. 

September 9th, 2018

Welcome to the 56th Edition of the Open Tech Roles newsletter. We have been tracking open technology roles and latest appointments, but have not published it as we have been looking at the breadth of technology executive roles. We plan to publish this newsletter again soon, with the appointments from May 16th to mid-September, which number in the hundreds. This newsletter only covers open technology roles as of September 7th, 2018.

Some of the patterns we have seen in our projects are reflected here as well:

September 3, 2018

Welcome to our Technology CEO Transitions Newsletter.

We research and catalog all open technology CEO roles we can find (as of 8/31) and also the latest appointments for the month of July and August. We use CapitalIQ industry classifications and US census geographic regions. 

Summary Trends

There are 59 Open Tech CEO Roles and 124 Appointments.

eSignature Co. DocuSign Board Shuffles after IPO: the Founder, & Chairman and xCEO and Three VCs Step Down. Four Others Named

Just after three months after its IPO, five of twelve of DocuSign’s board members are stepping down. The board appointed three others to the board, in addition to one that was appointed in March of this year. 

July 10th, 2018

Welcome to our Technology CEO Transitions Newsletter.

We research and catalog all open technology CEO roles we can find (as of the end of June 2018) and also the latest appointments for the month of June 2018. We use CapitalIQ industry classifications and US census geographic regions.

Summary Trends

There are 55 Open Tech CEO Roles and 89 Appointments. Here is their geographic distribution: