Jill Stelfox has departed as CEO and executive chairwoman at cloud file services collaborator Panzura, with former CRO and Chief Transformation Officer Dan Waldschmidt moving into the top spot in her stead.
Panzura started out as a file sync and share business, but didn’t grow enough. It evolved into a cloud-based file data services supplier after the company was refounded by Jill Stelfox who led a private equity buyout by Profile Capital Management in May 2020. The firm was restructured and then grew its business in competition with CTERA and Nasuni.
Waldschmidt said in a statement: “I am incredibly proud of the impressive growth that this team has achieved to date. However, our ambitions are higher and the impact we plan to deliver for the enterprise is much greater. We are confident we can move even faster to provide customers with unrivaled value, security, visibility, and control of their stored data.”
Panzura chairman and Profile Capital Management president Ben Chereskin said: “Dan is well positioned to progress Panzura into a leading enterprise-grade business platform, and it is a natural transition given his deep industry experience and intimate knowledge of the company.”
Waldschmidt joined Panzura in 2020 as part of Stelfox’s team, where Panzura says he played a key role of crafting the strategy for revenue generation and moving Panzura into the enterprise market. As CRO, he led a 150 percent year-over-year increase in the customer base. Waldschmidt also guided 288 percent revenue growth over three years, 125 percent net retention, and maintained 98 percent brand loyalty. He negotiated agreements with 84 partners, and successfully developed and deployed an international revenue expansion plan.
He became the Chief Transformation Officer in April last year. In a LinkedIn post he said: “With Panzura revenue established at record levels, I turned my focus to combining strategic foresight with effective implementation to lead significant improvements in operational efficiency and accelerated service delivery. We are successfully navigating a comprehensive digital transformation, strengthening Panzura’s standing in the market and elevating our customer experience.”
And Stelfox? A Panzura spokesperson said: “Jill has moved on from the firm and we wish her the best in her future endeavors.” Waldschmidt said: “I want to thank my co-refounder, Jill Stelfox, for her service to the company as CEO. Jill and I came into the company together and we achieved significant progress.”
Bootnote
Waldschmidt is an author and elite ultra-marathon runner, holding a record for running the equivalent elevation of Mount Everest in a single attempt.
