I met with HR and leadership. I felt the CRO was strong, seasoned, and a good leader. The CEO was in contrast to that. Yet, I am positive she knew the company and industry inside and out. I am confident she cared about the company culture. Those things must win points with employees. However, the CEO spent over 20 years with the company, leading their brand and marketing efforts prior to her promotion. That may be the issue. There was a clear lack of comprehensive marketing experience necessary to drive growth in a modern mid-market company. The brand identity, GTM strategy, online presence, and MarTech is horribly dated and inefficient. There was also no apparent understanding on how to navigate from A to Z in an evolving market. There is so much potential for the company. Marketing could be the primary value lever. But, I got the clear impression that the brand and marketing would not be allowed to grow beyond the CEO's foundation without a "heavy hand" acting as an anchor. They claim to want a "tree shaker". It is definitely what they need. But I think they are only ready for a limb shaker. Anything else will feel like a tree breaker to them. It is the understandable owner/founder mentality. Marketing and the brand are her "baby" and she can't see anything wrong with it. However, successful owners move past this growing pain, albeit with effort. Experienced CEOs brought in from the outside will understand this. WebCE follows a formal management system that has merit, so common direction and purpose should not be an issue for them. So, once good people are in place and aligned with top-down goals, make them accountable, collaborate, but then get out of their way.