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Sounding Board, which started as a platform to connect leaders to coaches through a marketplace, realized early in the pandemic that mentorship needs a refresh.
“We've always delivered coaching in this traditional services format,” said Christine Tao, Sounding Board CEO and co-founder. “Well, we're not in the office anymore so we actually have to speak differently about how we're developing our talent and our leaders.” The insight led to the launch of a software platform that let users not only connect with coaches, but also track goals on an ongoing basis.
Image Credits: Sounding Board
Now, nearly a year after landing a Series A with this vision, Sounding Board has closed a $30 million Series B led by Jazz Venture Partners and joined by Gaingels as well as angel investors such as theBoardlist’s Sukhinder Singh Cassidy, Ancestry.com’s Deb Liu, Udemy’s Yvonne Chen and DocuSign’s Tammy Aguillon. Previous investors in the company include Canaan Partner and Precursor Ventures.
The round also saw JAZZ Venture Partners’ John Spinale join the board, an addition to Sounding Boards’ all-female team (and all-female board). "The joke is that we actually had to add diversity to our board … a man,” Tao laughed.
The fundraise comes off of solid growth for Sounding Board, which touts that it has had sequential growth for the past seven quarters. While Tao wouldn’t share specifics on revenues, the company said revenue was in the "multimillions" in the past and annual bookings have increased more than 350% year over year. Looking at stickiness, Sounding Board claims that net revenue retention is over 200%, meaning that existing customers continue to pay for the platform as time goes on.
BetterUp, one of Sounding Board’s largest competitors, has been on a recent acquisition spree that illustrates a similarly shifting focus on the software behind coaching. It bought Motive to help BetterUp clients understand the emotional context behind data that they already aggregate, through engagement surveys or polls. The unicorn also scooped up Impraise, which uses technology to help managers better support their direct reports, through real-time performance reviews and more seamless feedback channels.
Tao thinks BetterUp’s growth has helped elevate the importance of executive training to investors but still sees room for more leadership-focused services instead of a broad-based coaching tool. Over the last year, the co-founder said she’s seen a lot of solutions that are focused on helping individuals manage their capacity through supporting mental and emotional state (e.g., BetterUp care).
“But alongside that you actually also need to have real skills and capability to be able to manage and effectively communicate,” she said. Sounding Board is more interested in solving for the capability side of executive training, and for now, has no plans to focus on the mental health aspect of it. Of course this could cause competitors to win market share from Sounding Board if they offer both sides in a rich way. For now, Sounding Board’s customers don’t seem to mind.
“If you think about your company's benefits [with mental health], it’s a bit more hands off … it’s kind of there and then you choose whether or not you opt into it but it’s really meant to be there for employees," she said. “Whereas I think for capability-building there is this business need, investment they want to make and a level of responsibility that they have.”
Sounding Board currently has 100 customers, including Plaid, Chime and Bill.com.
Executive coaching for employees is complicated and emotional
Vancouver, British Columbia–(Newsfile Corp. – December 3, 2021) – Entheon Biomedical Corp. (CSE: ENBI) (OTCQB: ENTBF) (FSE: 1XU1) ("Entheon" or the "Company"), a biomedical company focused on the research and development of psychedelic drugs and leading-edge biomarkers to provide personalized treatment of addiction disorders, is pleased to announce that Timothy Ko, Entheon's Chief Executive Officer, will be presenting at the 2nd Annual H.C. Wainwright Psychedelics Conference being held virtuall
Paris Hilton is celebrating how far herself, Britney Spears and Lindsay Lohan have come. In a new episode of her podcast "This Is Paris, Hilton" — who just celebrated her wedding to Carter Reum and is currently on her honeymoon — shared that it has been 15 years since she was snapped in a car with Spears and Lohan outside of the Beverly Hills Hotel.
Los Angeles, California–(Newsfile Corp. – December 3, 2021) – The Schall Law Firm, a national shareholder rights litigation firm, reminds investors of a class action lawsuit against Meta Platforms, Inc. f/k/a Facebook, Inc. ("Facebook" or "the Company") (NASDAQ: FB) for violations of §§10(b) and 20(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and Rule 10b-5 promulgated thereunder by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.Investors who purchased the Company's securities between November 3, 201
VICTORIA — British Columbia's health minister says the province is "ahead of the curve" on recommendations by a national advisory group that Canadians ages 50 and older get a COVID-19 booster. Adrian Dix says his ministry announced weeks ago that it would start its booster program and already 470,000 people have had a third shot. B.C. reported 405 new COVID-19 cases on Friday, along with six deaths, to bring the active case count to 3,071. The recommendation from the National Advisory Committee
"I want the world to think good things about Brown boys. We aren’t bad, or mean, or trouble; we are smart, fun, and creative," says Demetrius "Lil Dee" Maurice Davis, Jr.
Damian Lillard talked about his relationship with Neal Olshey following Olshey's firing.
PRINCETON, BRITISH COLUMBIA — British Columbia's public safety minister got a first-hand look Friday of the destruction caused by torrential rainstorms that forced rivers over their banks and ripped away roads and bridges. Mike Farnworth visited Princeton and said he saw "incredible devastation" to homes and infrastructure in the southern Interior town, about 280 kilometres east of Vancouver. "It’s heartbreaking. You talk to people and it’s emotional just to look at it," he said in a telephone i
DENVER (AP) — A judge ruled Friday that a man charged with killing 10 people at a Colorado supermarket earlier this year is mentally incompetent to stand trial and ordered him to be treated at the state mental hospital to see if he can be made well enough to face prosecution. Ahmad Al Aliwi Alissa, 22, is accused of opening fire at a busy King Soopers in the college town of Boulder in March — killing a police officer, shoppers and several store employees. District Attorney Michael Dougherty said
EL PASO, Texas, December 04, 2021–El Paso Electric Issues an All Source Request For Proposal to Reliably Meet Growing Demand for Texas Customers by 2025
If you want to boost happiness, make journaling a habit with these pro tips.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The House committee investigating the Jan. 6 Capitol insurrection has postponed a deposition with a former Justice Department official Saturday due to a “medical condition that precludes his participation," according to a panel spokesman. The committee had scheduled the second interview with Clark, who had aligned himself with former President Donald Trump last year as he tried to overturn his defeat, after Clark declined to answer questions at his first deposition in November.
The residents of Lasqueti Island in B.C.'s Gulf Islands found themselves without postal service this week after their postmaster did not meet the Canada Post vaccine mandate requirements and was placed on unpaid leave last Friday. As of Nov. 26, employees of Canada Post — like other federal employees — had to disclose their vaccination status. Those who don't, or who say they won't be fully vaccinated, were put on an unpaid leave of absence. "It seems that the postmaster did not meet the Canada
At a recent FYC event for FX's "Reservation Dogs," co-creator Sterlin Harjo explained the importance of interconnectivity.
PALO ALTO, Calif., Dec. 03, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Bitcoin Latinum (LTNM), the next generation, insured, asset-backed cryptocurrency, hosted GENESIS, a massive sold-out party on Wednesday, December 1st at Mr. Jones in Miami during Art Basel, in partnership with TapStats Inc. A-list rap superstar Quavo of Migos performed, along with Grammy-nominated rapper Tory Lanez. The exclusive, celebrity packed Bitcoin Latinum event was hosted by founders Dr. Don Basile (Bitcoin Latinum) and Sensei Paul Mi
This flowy blouse has over 14,800 shoppers swooning.
Italian firefighters improvised a system of ropes and descended down a 20-meter-high wall at a dam in Caccamo, Sicily, to save a dog that had fallen into the dam’s waters, footage released on December 3 shows.Video uploaded by the Italian fire and rescue service, Vigili del Fuoco, shows firefighters from Palermo Province rescuing the small animal at Rosamarina Dam. According to local reports, the dog was in danger of drowning when it was rescued. Credit: Vigili del Fuoco via Storyful
More than two weeks since the Trans Mountain pipeline temporarily shut down amid devastating flooding in British Columbia, industry officials in Alberta still do not expect it will have a significant impact on oil production. The pipeline is considered one of the main arteries shipping oil from Alberta to B.C., typically transporting about 300,000 barrels per day of light crude as well as refined gasoline and diesel to the West Coast. Trans Mountain Corp., the federal Crown corporation that oper
OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt denied clemency on Friday for a death row inmate sentenced to die for the 1985 shooting death of a Putnam City schoolteacher. The Republican governor's decision clears the way for Bigler Stouffer II, 79, to receive a lethal injection at 10 a.m. Thursday at the Oklahoma State Penitentiary in McAlester. It comes despite a 3-2 recommendation from the state’s Pardon and Parole Board that Stouffer’s sentence be commuted to life in prison without parole.
Lamb’s family released nine balloons into the sky, representing the nine seconds it took for police to shoot and kill him.
The Los Angeles City Council voted 11-2 to approve an agreement with LA 2028 to host the Olympics.
