Today, I’m humbled and honored to be addressing you as the new CEO of Drift, as David Cancel steps into a new role as Executive Chairman.
I’ve known both David Cancel and Elias Torres for more than 20 years, and have been a long-time advisor and fan of Drift, dating all the way back to 2015: before the company had a product, was spelled with two “ts” (Driftt) and was simply a seed of an idea, based on a visionary premise: to fix the broken state of B2B buying and address a problem future customers didn’t even know they had — a painful buyer experience that would only be exacerbated by a global pandemic.
Fast forward to today, and it’s incredible to see what Drift has accomplished in the past seven years. With nearly 600 employees across six global locations, 5,000+ customers, a conversational product suite with solutions across marketing, sales, and service, and one of only 1% of unicorns with Latinx founders, Drift has solidified its position as a dominant category creator and leader.
More importantly, it’s gotten to that place by creating an enduring company with a purpose bigger than profit — putting its customers at the center of everything it does, championing DE&I, creating space for other Latinx entrepreneurs, and investing in STEM education — all thanks to co-founders who have personally dedicated their time and money to create a more equitable future through technology.
While I’ve had the good fortune of building and leading teams both in early stages of growth, as well as scaling businesses to IPO, this moment in time at Drift feels uniquely special. We’re poised to transform and disrupt the conversational and digital experience space yet again.
We know that 97% of companies report Covid-19 accelerated their digital transformation by six years and that 80% of sales interactions are happening online. Buyers have all the control and want what they want, when they want it. And yet, the reality is most enterprise companies aren’t equipped to meet buyers where they are. They throw money at the problem and reuse the same old sales, marketing, and service tactics that aren’t working.
And to compound the problem — money is becoming harder to throw around. In a world where growing global uncertainty and economic unrest exist, businesses have to find ways to create positive buying experiences — and in turn, drive pipeline and revenue — often with fewer resources than they’ve had before.
Drift is the answer to the problems so many businesses face. We help organizations create phenomenal digital customer experiences in efficient and effective ways in this uncertain world — so organizations don’t have to sacrifice customer experience or pipeline and revenue.
The Drift Conversation Cloud empowers businesses to create positive buying experiences across every stage of the customer lifecycle, one conversation at a time.
As I step into this amazing company at this particular moment in time, I know that our greatest days lie ahead. Our customers, our employees, and our partners have brought us to where we are today, and I couldn’t be more excited about the places we’ll go tomorrow and beyond.
We’re just getting started ⚡️
Scott
