Highlights:
- To mark our 10-year IPO anniversary we sat down with three of our long-time employees: Senior Project Manager Joanna Chen, Regional Vice President of Mid-market Sales Jason Uslan, and Director of Executive Response John Ross, to discuss the IPO and the future.
In celebration of our 10-year IPO anniversary, we’re looking back at our beginnings and taking a moment to appreciate all of the achievements and advancements we’ve made. We had a little over 80 employees pre-IPO, and we spoke to three of them to hear what it was like to go public. Senior Project Manager Joanna Chen, Regional Vice President of Mid-market Sales Jason Uslan, and Director of Executive Response John Ross reflect on the last decade at RingCentral and look forward to our future with new CEO Tarek Robbiati at the helm.
Advancing and achieving.
Ten years ago, RingCentral had about 80 employees. Today we’ve grown to more than 6000 internationally at more than 10 locations around the globe. With offices in the US, Europe, the Middle East, and Asia, RingCentral has become a global leader in cloud-based communications.
Reaching the IPO goal.
Jason Uslan joined RingCentral 11 years ago in Upmarket Sales out of the Denver office, when there were just 3 people on the team! He didn’t really know what to expect at first, but everyone believed in the product and the mission and RingCentral just kept growing and growing. Over the years, the growth of RingCentral has taken Jason all around the world. After starting in Denver, he’s had the opportunity to work in Charlotte and now in the London office where he and his wife are raising their family. Jason reflects on how it felt to reach the IPO goal:
“It was a special moment to be able to celebrate with the people you love working with. We all had a common goal and always worked together to achieve great things. Working together to reach a common goal like going public speaks a lot to our culture at RingCentral, and why after 11 years, I’m still here.” -Jason Uslan, RVP Mid-market Sales
Early growing pains lead to success.
Senior Project Manager Joanna Chen joined RingCentral 12 years ago and was one of the first China office employees, which was still under construction and just beginning to take shape. She recalls being eager to get started and doing a little bit of everything including recruiting, human resources, office coordination, and project management. The challenges of working for a new company at its very beginnings attracted her and years later when RingCentral went public, she was sure she had made the right decision. “When I first started there were just 3 people in our office, now we have outgrown the whole building!”
Celebrating at the NYSE.
With 17 years as Director of Executive Response, John Ross was RingCentral’s 13th employee and one of the few employees to attend the IPO bell-ringing ceremony. “I remember when we first found out we were going public 10 years ago – it was such a special moment. We’ve worked so hard and after all this time, our hard work paid off and we thought if we can do this – we can do anything.” John thought this was only the kind of stuff you saw on TV – and it was happening to them! He was one of the few who made it to the floor of the New York Stock Exchange to witness the official bell-ringing ceremony. There was a huge RingCentral sign and balloons. RingCentral’s name was everywhere. “To be there in New York for the bell ringing was an amazing feeling. Even though we weren’t executives, or VPs at the time, we made an impact – and the company recognized us for that.”
A bright future.
With so much success under his leadership, everyone wanted to thank co-founder and former CEO, now Chairman of the Board Vlad Shmunis, for his vision and passion for innovating and for believing in them. Everyone we spoke to was excited about our most recent change and wanted to extend a very warm welcome to new CEO Tarek Robbiati. We are sure the next ten years will be filled with more amazing successes. John noted, “We’ve got awesome people, a great vision, and we’ve accomplished a lot. I’m very proud. I’m hopeful and excited for the next 10 years at RingCentral – I can’t wait to keep going and show everyone what else we have in store.”
Originally published Sep 12, 2023
