Therese Tucker is the rare woman in technology to have founded a successful technology company and brought it public. The CEO of BlackLine, a provider of automated finance and accounting software now worth in excess of $1.5 billion, is esteemed for her enlightened entrepreneurship, software programming savvy, and nurturing leadership qualities.
Broad-minded and compassionate, Tucker sports pastel-pink hair and a mile-wide smile that makes her Los Angeles-based employees feel their CEO actually cares about them. She does. “Business should not be purely business,” Tucker opines. “Companies have a social obligation to care about the lives of people in the communities we serve with our products and services.”
Not surprisingly, Tucker created Blackline’s account reconciliation software to make the lives of accountants less dreary and burdensome. She also undertook an initiative over the recent holidays to clothe more than 50,000 homeless people in the city. But it’s her business chops that really set her apart: She single-handedly programmed BlackLine’s initial products and guided its revolutionary concept of continuous accounting that nearly does away with the dreaded financial close.
“The mistake we made was not having specific clauses in our employment contracts regarding confidentiality and reusability.”
Still, she’s as human as the rest of us. “I learned a really valuable lesson about the critical importance of legally sound contracts with employees, one that I will never forget,” says Tucker, shaking her signature pink hair.
The lesson was this: BlackLine gave birth to a competitor. “In California, you’re not allowed to ask an employee to sign a non-compete contract, which are banned,” Tucker explains. “The mistake we made was not having specific clauses in our employment contracts regarding confidentiality and reusability. Regrettably, an employee in our sales group had access to our source code in her laptop. She outsourced the code to India, created a competing product, and sold it.”
BlackLine had little recourse to do anything about the situation, other than take it in stride and double down on making innovative finance and accounting software products to best the competition. The company also retained sharp legal minds to devise crystal clear and enforceable employment contracts on a state-by-state basis.
The tactics worked, helping BlackLine maintain and even enlarge its market lead. The company is one of four technology companies and the only one in its space to be listed as a leader in Gartner’s Cloud Financial Corporate Performance “Magic Quadrant.” “Having good legal counsel and solid contracts with customers and employees pays dividends down the road,” says Tucker.
Once burned, twice shy.
Chief Executive Group exists to improve the performance of U.S. CEOs, senior executives and public-company directors, helping you grow your companies, build your communities and strengthen society. Learn more at chiefexecutivegroup.com.
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1:00 - 5:00 pm
Over 70% of Executives Surveyed Agree: Many Strategic Planning Efforts Lack Systematic Approach Tips for Enhancing Your Strategic Planning Process
Executives expressed frustration with their current strategic planning process. Issues include:
Steve Rutan and Denise Harrison have put together an afternoon workshop that will provide the tools you need to address these concerns. They have worked with hundreds of executives to develop a systematic approach that will enable your team to make better decisions during strategic planning. Steve and Denise will walk you through exercises for prioritizing your lists and steps that will reset and reinvigorate your process. This will be a hands-on workshop that will enable you to think about your business as you use the tools that are being presented. If you are ready for a Strategic Planning tune-up, select this workshop in your registration form. The additional fee of $695 will be added to your total.
2:00 - 5:00 pm
Female leaders face the same issues all leaders do, but they often face additional challenges too. In this peer session, we will facilitate a discussion of best practices and how to overcome common barriers to help women leaders be more effective within and outside their organizations.
Limited space available.
10:30 - 5:00 pm
General’s Retreat at Hermitage Golf Course
Sponsored by UBS
General’s Retreat, built in 1986 with architect Gary Roger Baird, has been voted the “Best Golf Course in Nashville” and is a “must play” when visiting the Nashville, Tennessee area. With the beautiful setting along the Cumberland River, golfers of all capabilities will thoroughly enjoy the golf, scenery and hospitality.
The golf outing fee includes transportation to and from the hotel, greens/cart fees, use of practice facilities, and boxed lunch. The bus will leave the hotel at 10:30 am for a noon shotgun start and return to the hotel after the cocktail reception following the completion of the round.
