Long-time investor and valley executive Keith Rabois is leaving his chief operating officer position at payment company Square, in a surprise announcement by the company tonight. Chief operating officer Sarah Friar will be acting COO as it looks for a replacement.
Rabois joined in August of 2010 and developed most non-product parts of the company, including marketing, communications, business development, distribution, human resources and risk management according to his CrunchBase bio.
There's more than one way to decipher the reason based on the statements from Rabois and founder Jack Dorsey, below:
Dorsey:
Today I accepted Keith's resignation from Square. When he joined, we had fewer than 30 employees and under 1000 active merchants. Today, over 3 million individuals and businesses are able to accept credit cards with Square, processing over $10 billion annually. We couldn't have done it without him and we wish him well in his next opportunity.
Rabois:
It is amazing what Square has accomplished since August of 2010. When I joined, there were 17 engineers all reporting flatly to Jack. The local coffee shop served as our interview room. Leading our amazing crew has been the most rewarding professional journey of my life. I am forever grateful to Jack, for his confidence in me and to each and every member of the team for allowing me to learn from them.
But every day matters. And it is better at this point for me to be doing something different every day.
As a result, I've decided to resign from Square. I am very excited about what lies ahead for the company. Square could not be better poised for greatness.
I will have more to share about my next opportunity soon.
They both mention a next opportunity, which suggests that part was planned out. Having Friar coming in as an acting COO suggests that part was not — although Friar is widely respected, and her move into the position doesn't necessarily mean his departure was a huge surprise internally.
An often outspoken figure in Silicon Valley, Rabois also serves on the board of Yelp and Xoom, is an occasional angel investor, and was an early executive at Paypal, LinkedIn and Slide. He didn't comment when I reached him tonight, except to say that he'll share more soon.
Keith Rabois is Chief Operating Officer at Square where he oversees the company's business operations including marketing, communications, business development, distribution, human resources and risk management. Keith specializes in transforming early-stage startups into successful businesses and has deep expertise in the financial services industry and government affairs. An accomplished executive, entrepreneur and angel investor, Keith has held leadership roles at PayPal, LinkedIn, Slide and began his career practicing law at Sullivan & Cromwell. Keith was an early investor in several...
Square is a revolutionary service that enables anyone to accept credit cards anywhere. Square offers an easy to use, free credit card reader that plugs into a phone or iPad. It's simple to sign up. There are no extra equipment, complicated contracts, monthly fees or merchant account required. Co-founded by Jim McKelvey and Jack Dorsey in 2009, the company is headquartered in San Francisco with additional offices in Saint Louis and New York City.
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