HubSpot co-founder Brian Halligan is back as chief executive, five years after he stepped down. He replaces Yamini Rangan, who also leaves the board, with immediate effect from 12 November, the company announced. HubSpot calls it a “refounding” of the company.
Halligan told Bloomberg’s Brody Ford that he plans to overhaul HubSpot’s product, culture and sales processes.
“I don’t want to see HubSpot swallowed up by a private equity firm or shrink,” Halligan told Bloomberg. “I want to rebuild it and reimagine it.”
HubSpot’s shares had lost half their value this year through Wednesday, on slowing growth and fear of disruption from AI-native tools, Bloomberg reported. The company may have focused too much on short-term financial targets rather than great products, Halligan said.
“I don’t know if you looked at the last earnings, but the numbers aren’t great,” he told Bloomberg.
From founder to board and back
Halligan co-founded HubSpot in 2005 with Dharmesh Shah, its chief technology officer, and ran it for 16 years. He led it through its stock market listing to a market value of more than $30bn in 2021, the company said. He has sat on the board since 2005.
He stepped down as CEO in 2021 after a snowmobile accident, Kevin McLaughlin noted for The Information. Since then he has spent time at Sequoia Capital, including hosting its podcast, according to Bloomberg.
“This is a refounding, and I can’t wait to start!” Halligan said in the announcement.
Under Rangan, who took over in September 2021, HubSpot grew from 135,000 customers to more than 311,000. Revenue rose from $1.3bn in 2021 to an expected $3.7bn in 2026, according to the company. Rangan will stay until 1 December to hand over.
“Brian knows this company better than anyone, and I have tremendous confidence in his leadership as HubSpot enters its next chapter,” Rangan said.
A new finance chief from Adobe
HubSpot is also changing its chief financial officer. Kate Bueker will retire on 11 February 2027, which the company called long planned. Karen Burgess will replace her.
Burgess is chief financial officer of Adobe’s Creativity and Productivity unit, a $20bn business, and has been at Adobe since 2002. She joins HubSpot on 30 November and takes over as CFO in February.
Many software companies face a crisis of confidence about the AI era, Bloomberg reported. Adobe named a new CEO in September, and Workday has also changed its leadership. ServiceNow’s shares had their record 25% drop last month.
HubSpot said in October it would cut 660 jobs as it pivots to AI. On Thursday, it reaffirmed the guidance for the fourth quarter and full year it gave on 4 November.