Refocus and COO Promotion for Momentive

Momentive - formerly SurveyMonkey - has announced a $200m share repurchase program and plans for a renewed focus on delivering stockholder value. The firm has also promoted Priyanka (Pri) Carr from General Manager of its MR business, to COO.

Momentive was recently due to be acquired by customer experience (CX) specialist Zendesk for around $3.8 bn, but last week Zendesk shareholders rejected the proposed deal. The Momentive Board has now authorized a $200m share repurchase program to fund plans to use the 'strengths of its products, its hybrid go-to-market strategy, and its strong financial profile' to accelerate value creation for stockholders.

In a letter to stockholders, Momentive explained its four-pronged strategy, which includes focusing on clearer market positioning: its GetFeedback customer experience offering will become a 'cornerstone' of the group. It also intends to develop products focused on customer personas and purpose- built solutions; and plans to deliver more to existing customers, as it says only 6% of its customers currently use more than one of the group's products. CEO Zander Lurie comments: 'The setbacks we've faced are transient. We compete in a massive market and we maintain a valuable portfolio of products that address specific challenges our customers face, in small and large companies alike. Our sales-assisted business is strong, and our team is committed and inspired to drive value for our customers and shareholders'.

As part of these plans, Carr (pictured) will now lead product strategy, design, methodology and research, bringing products to market and driving related growth plans. The company says it believes that unifying these functions under one leader will enable more customer-centric product innovation. Company President Tom Hale will be leaving the business after nearly six years. In addition, Momentive has entered into an agreement with its stockholder Legion Partners, and has appointed the latter's Sagar Gupta to the Board of Directors; while Brad Smith, who has served on the Momentive Board since 2017, is stepping down as a director.

Web site: www.momentive.ai .