Some tech companies are hesitant about receiving backing from private equity firms, fearing conflict with new stakeholders or a loss of product ownership. Not Khoros.
Khoros was born in 2019, after Vista Equity Partners acquired Lithium Technologies in 2017 and then merged Lithium with social media management company, Spredfast. The result, according to Joseph Fridye, the director of engineering at Khoros, was a company poised for significant growth and profitability.
“The wonderful thing about Vista is they bring tons of experience in growing software companies, being good stewards of funds and recommending smart processes to help us get there,” Fridye said.
He’s not wrong.
Since its founding in 2000, Vista has invested in dozens of recognizable tech brands including SmartBear, Marketo, Datto and Gainsight. This year, the firm was named to Inc.’s “Private Equity 50” list, which honors the most “founder-friendly private equity firms” that help founder-led businesses thrive.
At Khoros, Fridye said investments on behalf of Vista have led to early-career engineering development programs, external training opportunities and experienced professional insights. Below, Fridye told Built In Austin more about the unexpected benefits of working at a private equity-backed company, the future of customer engagement platform Khoros and more.
What’s your role and what are your responsibilities at Khoros?
I’m the director of engineering of our marketing platform. It’s a fun gig that keeps me on my toes because every day is a new challenge. Ultimately, I’m responsible for building and supporting teams so they can execute on our roadmap and keep the platform humming. That translates to lots of recruiting, hiring, one-on-ones and building partnerships across the broader Khoros organization.
I also spend lots of time planning for the future with my teams. I’m always asking myself what investments we need to make in our technology and if we are organized and staffed in such a way so that teams have as much autonomy as possible. I also ask if our processes work for us and whether we are stewarding our budget well.
Lastly, and possibly most importantly, is cultivating a world-class engineering culture we can all be proud of.
What attracted you to Khoros?
I wanted a place where I could grow in technical skill and people leadership. Finding engineering leadership that I could learn from was an essential part of that. Fast-forward to now, and I feel I’ve had the privilege of working for some of the best companies in Austin.
Secondly, I wanted my work to matter and for my role to have an impact at Khoros. I searched for a place where my projects would impact the primary revenue arm of the business. At Khoros, our software is the business, as opposed to being a side interest.
Third, I wanted to be valued as a person and work in an environment where people held mutual respect toward one another. I was looking for leadership who cared about their people and invested in their careers. Everything I saw during the recruiting process was in line with this and has held true ever since.
What would surprise people to know about working at a private equity-backed company?
Working in a private equity-backed company has been the most fulfilling part of my career and much different than I expected. It’s no different than working for any company with growth and profitability in mind. Vista knows we only hit our goals through investing in our people and making customers successful.
The wonderful thing about Vista is they bring tons of experience in growing software companies, being good stewards of funds and recommending smart processes to help us get there. We’ve created programs to hire and support early-career engineers, develop our next generation of leaders and provide other external training opportunities.
Khoros’ Tech stack
What makes the engineering culture at Khoros unique?
We have two foundational values in engineering: “be excellent to one another” and “keep your standards high.” These values heavily influence our day-to-day and transform how we do just about everything.
I have no greater example than how our entire engineering organization responded during COVID-19 and social and economic uncertainty. Though it has always been a priority, caring for the well-being of our employees has been front and center throughout 2020. Whether it’s providing additional time off, being understanding and flexible, or getting creative about maintaining the social fabric of their team, every manager is working hard to ensure people and teams are cared for.
In parallel, we’ve seen partnerships improve between engineering and other functional areas at Khoros, while also seeing our roadmap velocity and platform quality improve. I’m very proud of our whole team.
Working in a private equity-backed company has been the most fulfilling part of my career and much different than I expected.”
What are the technology team’s plans for 2021?
I work on the marketing platform, which helps our customers tell their brand story on social. Outside of the Khoros platform, this can be cumbersome, and the overhead associated with it takes away from what marketers and customer service representatives love to do most. Our platform helps them do more in a smarter way. We are going to build better social workflows and empower them to make better decisions, especially with the help of AI.
We will continue to invest in our engineering happiness by modernizing some aging parts of our platform and building better tools that make us more efficient.
What does your company look for in new engineering hires?
We look for those who share similar values, especially collaborativeness, kindness and keeping a growth mindset, yet those who can also bring a diverse perspective to the team. That’s true for everyone regardless of level.
A demonstrated ability to solve problems through code is essential. The more senior the role, the more we look for pragmatic architectural design skills and the ability to mentor and teach.
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