New CEO at SurveyMonkey

SurveyMonkey has appointed John Ouren as CEO, replacing Eric Johnson who has stepped down after three years in the role. Ouren is a former employee of the company, and has served on the Board of Directors since 2023 as a representative of its owner, private equity firm STG.

Ouren started his career at McKinsey, and moved to the insights sector only in 2007 when he joined research software and services firm MarketTools as EVP of the ZoomPanel and TrueSample brands. When SurveyMonkey acquired MarketTools in 2011, he joined the company for a year in an SVP role, before leaving to serve as Executive Chairman of Symphony Advanced Media, for two and a half years and CEO of pharma intelligence firm AlphaImpactRx for two years concurrently. For the past decade he has been an operating partner at STG, responsible for managing the private equity firm's investments in Escalent, Onclusive, and Moveable Ink, in addition to SurveyMonkey. He holds a B.S. in Electrical Engineering from UT Austin and an MBA from Stanford University's Graduate School of Business.

During Johnson's tenure, the company returned to its original name (it was briefly Momentive), and expanded its core product capabilities. In addition to DIY surveys and forms provider SurveyMonkey, the group now includes LaunchPad, offering ready-to-run market research solutions; SurveyMonkey Apply for application and program management; and Wufoo for online forms and payments.

STG is a private equity partner to companies in software, tech-enabled services, data, and analytics. J.T. Treadwell, its Managing Director, says Ouren's 'long history' with SurveyMonkey, and experience in tech and MR leadership, makes him 'the ideal executive' to drive its next chapter.' Treadwell continues: 'He brings a deep appreciation for the product, culture, and the massive market opportunity ahead, and I know will be a great leader for the business as CEO. We would also like to extend our sincere thanks to Eric for partnering with us to create a financially and operationally solid foundation, and we look forward to building upon this with John.'

'I am incredibly proud of what this team has accomplished' says Johnson, 'and how we navigated a period of unprecedented change. SurveyMonkey has a solid foundation, a clear strategic direction, and a bright future ahead. I know the company is in extraordinary hands with John.'

Web sites: www.surveymonkey.com and www.stg.com .

All articles 2006-23 written and edited by Mel Crowther and/or Nick Thomas, 2024- by Nick Thomas, unless otherwise stated.