John Wiseman recently joined Addepar as Chief Revenue Officer to lead the go-to-market (GTM) teams, inclusive of Sales, Client Management, Services, Partnerships and Multi-Product Solutions. 

We sat down with him to find out what drew him to Addepar and what motivates him. 

What did you do prior to coming to Addepar? 

Prior to joining Addepar as CRO, I held CRO positions at both FactSet and Real Capital Analytics (RCA). FactSet was a much larger, later stage organization with 1,800+ commercially focused staff and $1.9+ B in revenues, while RCA was the exact opposite. RCA was a much smaller, private company and my mission was to bring greater focus, scale and operational discipline to their GTM teams and overall strategy. The ultimate objective at RCA was to accelerate the growth trajectory and find a strategic partner for its next phase of growth which we achieved with the acquisition by MSCI. I spent the first half of my career on Wall Street holding executive management positions at Instinet and Bear Stearns, with a primary focus on trading technology and GTM strategies. 

Any key highlights during your 30-plus year career? 

I’ve been lucky to be a part of some great companies and teams over the course of my career. There are so many things I’ve been proud to be a part of, but these really stand out to me:  

  • Simply being able to partner with so many different clients and individuals over the years to create value and  bring efficiency to their daily workflows. There is tremendous satisfaction and reward seeing the impact you can have through collaboration.

  • The relationships I have been able to build throughout my career are very important to me. Having been a mentor to many over the years, I find the most satisfaction and joy seeing people flourish and go on to successful careers.

  • In terms of a singular event, while a terribly dark and tragic day for all, I was proud of how Instinet and our team responded in the week following 9/11 to get our trading systems back up and operational to meet our clients’ needs. It was the most united I have ever seen a company in its purpose as well as the nation and world at large. 

What made you want to join Addepar? 

First and foremost, it was Addepar’s culture, executive leadership and reputation in the industry. I was drawn to Addepar’s focus on innovation and dedication to building what has become the industry standard software platform for investment professionals, bringing the best technology and data together in service of client outcomes. 

I have also been impressed by Addepar’s growth trajectory. In particular, over the last couple of years, the team nearly doubled the client base and drove revenue to new heights, proving that despite uncertain market conditions, investment professionals always need best-in-class technology and data to provide informed, precise guidance for their clients. The company did this by investing heavily in R&D and delivering client-centric solutions through the platform. Despite extreme volatility in financial markets with major indexes being down 15-20%, Addepar has experienced an impressive 83% growth rate in platform usage year over year. In 2022 alone, clients created more than 4.4M reports and 411M transactions flowed and tracked through client portfolios.

The company’s 13-year growth history is a testament to its culture, and its passionate, talented people. I am excited to be a part of the Addepar team and share its strong vision for growth around the world and mission to deliver value to our clients at scale wherever they may be.

What did you learn in your previous CRO roles that you’re planning to bring to Addepar? 

Certainly how to operate at scale and drive efficiency through greater focus and alignment within the various roles in a commercial organization. There are some subtle changes that we can make to unlock even greater potential. There are a tremendous amount of positives to build on here and we're off to a really great start. As we look to expand into more geographies and broaden our reach, I look forward to leveraging my global expertise and network.

What are some of the milestones Addepar can achieve in the coming years and why are you excited to tackle them? 

I am focused on our next “double.” This is a benchmark I have used often which means to double our revenues over the next three years.

Looking to 2023 and beyond, Addepar has an ambitious roadmap to continue broadening capabilities based on client feedback, and a strong vision, fortifying Addepar as the industry standard. Addepar is laser focused on the next stage of expansive global growth in its client and partner base and product offerings.

We now have 850 clients and tens of thousands of advisors and investment professionals in more than 30 countries who manage and advise on over $4 trillion in assets, growing on average at a rate of more than $15 billion per week. We will focus on continuing to build on these impressive numbers as we bring our cutting-edge platform to even more clients around the world. 

What is your team leadership approach? 

To foster trust and collaboration. You do that by earning people’s respect each and every day. Listening and being responsive to the team and our clients in a very authentic way. We are in a people business and it’s all about trust and the relationships we build — both with our clients and our Addepar teammates. The most important element of business is the connections we make with each other, understanding our people and clients. My approach is to align deeply with leaders across the organization so that we can ensure we’re prioritizing to deliver the most value to our clients.

If we continue to ensure that Addepar’s technology stack and platform innovation meet and exceed our clients’ needs worldwide, while remaining nimble enough to provide tailored services, I believe that Addepar will be the platform of choice amongst investment professionals globally. 

Outside of work, what do you do to decompress?  

I love spending time outside of work hiking, skiing and doing anything that has to do with a river or mountain. Certainly, there is no greater joy than doing these activities with my wife and three sons. I have also played and coached lacrosse my whole life. I was the head coach at my local high school for more than 10 years and now I am the assistant coach of the Ireland Men’s National Lacrosse team. We will be participating in the 2023 World Lacrosse Championship taking place in San Diego this summer. It should be a lot of fun!