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Profile
Chris Rothstein began his professional career over 14 years ago. Today, he is the Chief Executive Officer of Groove. Groove is the leading sales engagement platform for enterprises using Salesforce.
Rothstein first got his start in 2007 as a CFO at Tech Guru LLC. From there, he went on to Google as a manager, his most recent position prior to joining Groove.
Rothstein graduated from the University of Minnesota | Curtis L. Carlson School of Management with an undergraduate degree in management information systems and entrepreneurial management.
As the CEO and co-founder of Groove, Chris shares many leadership attributes that are common with other successful entrepreneurs. However, his greatest strengths lie in how he manages people and sets them up for success. The following are four strengths that define Chris as a leader and SaaS CEO: Empathy Chris has strived to build a company based on the principles of kindness, empathy, and helping others. From day one, Chris has fostered a management style at Groove that encourages all managers to take the time to understand their employee’s strengths and motivations in order to align their growth paths with their long-term career goals. Chris established “Care More” as the company’s first core value, and it’s clearly evident in every interaction he has with employees, regardless of seniority or title. Transparency Chris believes strongly in transparency and honesty, which he demonstrates in how he runs Groove. Every two weeks, Groove holds all-hands meetings where every department leader provides a thorough overview of their team’s progress towards goals, milestone achievements, areas where they’ve fallen short, and any current challenges. At the end of the meeting, Chris takes the time to personally answer every question – including those submitted anonymously. Chris also shares his monthly investor updates with all employees, so everyone is always aware of how Groove is doing as a company. Chris’ transparent leadership style has helped create a culture where employees feel valued and trusted. Empowers Others Chris would rather set someone else up for success than seek any recognition for his own achievements. Chris also takes pleasure in helping others grow in their careers and exceed their goals. Under Chris’s direction, employees are encouraged to push themselves by owning outcomes, celebrating successes, and giving them a safe space to fail. Always believing the best in his employees, Chris always gives credit to others and offers encouragement and advice to those facing challenges. Technical CEO While Chris has established himself as an empathetic leader, he’s also a technical CEO that goes deep in product strategy. Chris’ deep technical expertise allows him to closely align our GTM strategy with product capabilities, which ensures that our company operates in lock-step. In addition to providing insights and guidance to his product and engineering teams, Chris is also quick to roll up his sleeves to help out when needed. Under Chris’ leadership, Groove has become one of the fastest-growing companies in sales tech. In March, Groove was ranked as one of California’s fastest-growing private companies by the 2021 Inc. 5000 Regionals list. Groove is also one of the 2020 Inc. 5000 fastest-growing privately held companies in the U.S., ranks #16 on the San Francisco Business Times’ “fastest-growing private companies in the Bay Area in 2020” and came in at #191 on the Deloitte 2020 Technology Fast 500 list. By creating a culture of transparency, honesty, and integrity at Groove, Chris also played a role in Groove winning a Gold Stevie Award for Ethics in Sales. Groove’s culture has also enabled Groove to earn Inc. Magazine “Best Workplaces” awards for 2021 and 2020, as well as a 5-star rating from Glassdoor. Chris’ strengths as a technical CEO have also helped Groove win numerous accolades for the quality of the company’s platform. G2 has rated Groove’s sales engagement platform as one of the Top 50 Sales products of 2021, and the quality of its G2-verified reviews have established Groove as the top-rated platform for 11 straight quarters.