Greg Gianforte
Encyclopedia
Greg Gianforte, is CEO, Chairman and Founder of RightNow Technologies
, provider of cloud-based solutions.
Gianforte founded RightNow in 1997 and took the company public in 2004.
Development Inc., a developer of network management applications. Gianforte served as president and built the company to 75 employees with software installed on 150,000 Novell network systems nationwide, and then sold the business to McAfee
Associates in 1994. Retained by McAfee, Gianforte went on to serve as North American VP, where he grew the company’s North American sales operation from $25 million to more than $60 million in revenues in less than a year. During his tenure at McAfee, the firm was selected by Fortune magazine as one of the “10 Coolest Companies in America,” based primarily on the Internet selling approach that he fostered there.
Gianforte began his career at AT&T Bell Laboratories and was one of the engineers who helped lead AT&T’s Starian Network project.
In 2007 Gianforte was inducted in the CRM Hall of Fame, composed of CRM champions who consistently influence employees, customers, partners, and competitors year after year.
Gianforte received the 2003 Stevens Institute of Technology’s Stevens Honor Award in recognition of his outstanding record of achievement as a top entrepreneur in the computer networking and software industries.
Gianforte was named Pacific Northwest Entrepreneur of the Year by Ernst & Young in 2003. Ernst & Young's Entrepreneur of the Year award recognizes outstanding achievement and innovation in business. Gianforte's innovation, financial performance, and personal commitment to both RightNow and the Bozeman community where the company is headquartered were cited.
CRM Magazine awarded Gianforte the "2003 Influential Leader" award for his successful leadership of RightNow to 18 consecutive quarters of revenue growth during a time when most CRM vendors were struggling to achieve their revenue targets. The award also named Gianforte's role as a champion of the hosted application model, which resulted in RightNow exceeding the 1,000-customer mark that year.
RightNow Technologies
RightNow Technologies is a U.S. software company that develops customer relationship management software for enterprise organizations. It is incorporated in Delaware and headquartered in Bozeman, Montana....
, provider of cloud-based solutions.
Gianforte founded RightNow in 1997 and took the company public in 2004.
Career
Prior to founding RightNow, Gianforte co-founded BrightworkBrightwork
On boats, particularly wooden boats, brightwork is exposed metal and varnished woodworking, though amongst the yachting set it more often refers to the woodwork. The metal is usually brass or bronze that is kept polished, or stainless steel, which requires less maintenance...
Development Inc., a developer of network management applications. Gianforte served as president and built the company to 75 employees with software installed on 150,000 Novell network systems nationwide, and then sold the business to McAfee
McAfee
McAfee, Inc. is a computer security company headquartered in Santa Clara, California, USA. It markets software and services to home users, businesses and the public sector. On August 19, 2010, electronics company Intel agreed to purchase McAfee for $7.68 billion...
Associates in 1994. Retained by McAfee, Gianforte went on to serve as North American VP, where he grew the company’s North American sales operation from $25 million to more than $60 million in revenues in less than a year. During his tenure at McAfee, the firm was selected by Fortune magazine as one of the “10 Coolest Companies in America,” based primarily on the Internet selling approach that he fostered there.
Gianforte began his career at AT&T Bell Laboratories and was one of the engineers who helped lead AT&T’s Starian Network project.
Education
Gianforte holds a B.E. degree in electrical engineering, and an M.S. degree in computer science from Stevens Institute of Technology.Influence and honors
Gianforte was named to TechAmerica Foundtations's Cloud2 Commission in 2011. Gianforte will serve alongside experts from industry and academia on the new Commission on the Leadership Opportunity in U.S. Deployment of the Cloud (CLOUD²) to provide the Obama Administration with recommendations for how government can better deploy cloud technologies.In 2007 Gianforte was inducted in the CRM Hall of Fame, composed of CRM champions who consistently influence employees, customers, partners, and competitors year after year.
Gianforte received the 2003 Stevens Institute of Technology’s Stevens Honor Award in recognition of his outstanding record of achievement as a top entrepreneur in the computer networking and software industries.
Gianforte was named Pacific Northwest Entrepreneur of the Year by Ernst & Young in 2003. Ernst & Young's Entrepreneur of the Year award recognizes outstanding achievement and innovation in business. Gianforte's innovation, financial performance, and personal commitment to both RightNow and the Bozeman community where the company is headquartered were cited.
CRM Magazine awarded Gianforte the "2003 Influential Leader" award for his successful leadership of RightNow to 18 consecutive quarters of revenue growth during a time when most CRM vendors were struggling to achieve their revenue targets. The award also named Gianforte's role as a champion of the hosted application model, which resulted in RightNow exceeding the 1,000-customer mark that year.
Philanthropy
He founded Bootstrap Montana, a program to help entrepreneurs learn the principles of bootstrapping and provide micro-loans to rural Montana entrepreneurs.External links
- Official company biography on RightNow Technologies website
- Profile on Bloomberg Businessweek website
- Profile on Forbes website
- Delta Sky Magazine Profile Montana