Top SaaS CEOs 2018LEAVE A REPLY
Profile
Following his role as Head of Customer Acquisition at Bonobos, Ryan Urban founded Wunderkind (formerly BounceX) in 2012. Since then, Ryan has led the behavioral marketing and analytics software company through massive growth and change. Often praised for his bold leadership style, Ryan and the Wunderkind team achieved impressive growth over a three-year period, winning Inc.com’s “Fastest Growing Software Company in America” award in 2016. With global clients like Uniqlo, Jetblue and Hugo Boss, Ryan attributes the company’s success to putting value in front of revenue, hustling, and not shying away from polarizing decisions.
Under Ryan’s leadership, Wunderkind has been consistently praised as a leader in employee retention and workplace culture. Earlier this year, the Company raised $37 million in Series B funding led by Battery Ventures with participation from existing investors. Over the next two years, the Company is planning to expand to 600 employees globally with a concentration in its NYC and UK offices. Today, over 350 companies work with BounceX. Ryan is frequently touted as a thought leader in the marketing technology space regularly called on by Forbes, TechDay, Entreprenuer.com, and Ad Age.
He is a mobilizer and is always in the trenches. Ryan brings people together and builds them up. After coming from jobs on Wall Street and in fashion– two industries that are notorious for unhealthy competition and knocking people down, I expected tech to be the same and was reluctant to enter the workforce again. Ryan made me think differently, and although I was told I could have any job I wanted, I exclusively went on a search for a company with a stellar culture. I haven’t been at BounceX long, but you can tell by his aura that he wants people to be their best, and expects you to be involved. During our LGBTQ+ Pride company happy hour I was sitting at my desk finishing up some work. He went over to every individual and told them to come support and join the team. To me, that is someone who uses their social and political power for good, understanding that they have not a choice, but the obligation and platform to speak out.
Ryan is incredible at motivating everyone at the company on an individual level. Whether it’s standing up in front of the entire company during quarterly all-hands or walking around the office making small talk or just saying a quick hello, he truly makes you feel as though we’re all in this together. Ryan really cares about the people working at his company, and it shows in everything he does.
Ryan cares more about his company and employees than any CEO I’ve worked for. He’s always in the office talking to people individually and he truly wants to build the best company to work for. Plus, he was integrally involved in designing our new One World Trade Center office which I think might be one of the coolest and most inclusive offices in the city, if not the world.
Ryan is one of the most passionate people I’ve met. He is never just thinking ahead–he’s thinking way ahead. While still being incredibly accessible to all his employees, he leads with knowledge, understanding and a true desire to create a company that makes a difference to all its clients while keeping its employees happy.
Ryan is an incredible leader – he is trustworthy, passionate, intelligent, and (most importantly) kind. He treats every single person at the company exactly the same, with the same amount of trust and credibility – whether you’re an entry level coordinator, or VP who reports into him directly.
Ryan is a peerless marketer and his vision and compassion to change the marketing landscape drive the energy and the culture of BounceX as an exciting and dynamic workplace. He is invested in seeing people and their ideas succeed.
Ryan is a visionary leader who is willing to evolve to culture, people and product. Throughout BounceX’s growth, Ryan has remained accessible to all and had maintained all the amazing qualities we love about him.
Ryan has an infectious energy that has spread across the entire company. I’ve been here for a year now, and I can say, without a doubt, that he is the best CEO I have ever had the pleasure of working for.
Ryan truly cares about the people at BounceX, both personally and professionally. He’s dedicated to growing an inclusive and powerful group and supporting all employees through a wide variety of means.
Ryan is truly helping an industry + beyond. He has created a company culture that is unlike anything I’ve been lucky enough to be a part of and continues to innovate and adapt to what the market needs.
Ryan Urban is a visionary who pours his passion into BounceX every day. He promotes an incredibly people focused, positive culture, makes sure everyone has a home here. He is incredibly authentic.
Ryan eats, sleeps and breathes BounceX and is fully focused on driving performance for clients. He’s transparent with the company about wins AND losses and is a great CEO and face of the company.
promoting diverse and welcoming culture for all employees, encouraging true “family feel” of office, incredibly sharp and excited about the product which rubs off on all employees
Passion. Cares an incredible amount about the people and not just the numbers. Always seems to know what is next and best for company in relation to industry. Trust him blindly.
Providing transparency Creating a collaborative, welcoming environment Practicing what he preaches Not afraid to roll up his sleeves Entrepreneurial spirit Innovative
Driven, intelligent and (most importantly) personable. It’s rare for a CEO to know who you are, let alone host office hours to pick his brain and talk about the company.
Ryan is a visionary. He cares about the people who work with him and shows this in how he prioritizes transparency in the company. He aims to provide value always.
There should be extra “stars” on the survey question for Energy, because Ryan Urban possesses enough electricity to fill an entire stadium all on his own.
Ryan is such a great and motivating leader. He inspires me each and every day and makes me want to continue to grow and get better at what I do.
His mission is not to make us money but to deliver the best results possible for our clients. Needless to say our clients love him and us.
Super intelligent and industry leading ideas, really really cares about his employees and makes them feel like they’re a part of something.
Cares about his employees like family, provides culture of innovation and improvement, immensely dedicated to the company.
Ryan has the most energy of any person I know. This is invaluable as a CEO. He is also extremely intelligent.
Still very much involved in the day-to-day of the business and is very approachable. High energy. Visionary.
Cares about employee happiness, growth, company goals, profitability, and being a partner to our customers