Xero's recent executive team building in the United States had a setback as Douglas Jeffries, hired for the role in February and based in San Francisco, resigned saying he preferred to look for other opportunities there. He hasn't even updated his LinkedIn page to reflect the Xero job. His predecessor, Ross Jenkins, who moved from the CFO job to COO, will become acting CFO. In a prepared statement, Jeffries said, "This was a very difficult decision given Xero's momentum and business potential. The decision to leave is entirely based on my personal objectives and the timing is in no way a reflection of business or financial reporting concerns." Considering that the North American CEO Peter Karpas left (probably with some help as the company said it was dissatisfied with leadership here) in September after six months on the job, hmm. In February, Xero made Russell Fujioka U.S. president, replacing Jamie Sutherland, who the company said had done a good job, making GM of U.S. products and solutions. No replacement has been named for Karpas. But despite the musical executive chairs, Xero is selling its story well as it raised $110 million in new capital this year.
XERO BOOMED AND SPENT IN 2015 Featured
Xero grew fast and spent faster for the year ended March 31. The company said its subscription revenue was up for 81 percent for the year just ended. But the loss for the cloud accounting software company rose by 96 percent and increased from 56 percent of operating revenue for fiscal 2015, compared to 51 percent for 2014. Revenue for the recently ended year hit about $81.5 million while its loss rose to roughly $54 million. New Zealand-based Xero said it ended 2015 with 475,000 paying customers, 67 percent higher than a year earlier.
