Becoming a Non-Founder CEO with CEOs from Alltrails and Weedmaps

Did you know that more than half of the CEOs at today’s top-performing tech companies did not start the company they now lead?

From Sundar Pichai at Google to Satya Nadella at Microsoft, these non-founder CEOs have taken the helm of some of the world’s most innovative and successful companies. But what makes a non-founder CEO successful, and how do they navigate the unique challenges of taking over an established company?

Join us for a thought-provoking discussion on Non-founder CEOs, where our expert panelists will share their insights and best practices for those interested in pursuing a non-founder CEO position or excelling in their current role.

Watch the Full Conversation

Meet the Panelist

Ron Schneidermann is an entrepreneur who is passionate about building great companies that help people have authentic, organic, real-world experiences. He is the CEO of AllTrails, the most trusted and used outdoors platform in the world. In 2005, Ron co-founded Liftopia, the global leader in ski lift ticket bookings, and was Head of Growth at Yelp Reservations. Ron attended UCLA, earning his bachelor’s degree in Communications, and lives in California with his wife Jenny, their three children, and their dog Sally. Ron loves riding his mountain bike, but his all-time favorite trail is the Na Pali Coast Trail in Kauai.

Chris Beals is a technology executive and startup advisor with a focus on ecommerce and SaaS. He was most recently the CEO of WM Technology, the parent company of the largest online cannabis marketplace, Weedmaps, and WM Business, a suite of SaaS solutions for cannabis brands/retailers. During his 7 year tenure at the company, Chris grew the company from $35mm to over $200mm in ARR and oversaw the transition of the business from listings into online ecommerce with business in 7 countries and 37 states. During that time, he also built out through M&A rollup and internal development the WM Business SaaS suite (e.g. CRM, logistics, embedded ecommerce, in-store display, API engine). He then led the company through its NASDAQ IPO in July 2021. Prior to Weedmaps, Chris provided turnaround and operating advice to SaaS, software and healthcare companies at PE-style credit fund and prior to that was a practicing attorney focusing on technology and healthcare.

Host: Anish Shah, Founder + CEO at Ruckus – Anish is the CEO & Founder of executive search agency Ruckus. Anish has worked in-house in Growth roles at Snapfish and Getable. He started Bring Ruckus as a Growth consultancy 11 years ago working with 40+ clients, then re-focused his firm on executive recruiting for Growth leaders.