From Spreadsheet Startup to The Stock Exchange
Three and a half years white-knuckling one hell of a startup ride, and I've got the artboards to prove it. I joined Smartsheet in 2015, founded their first Creative Services department, and rode the waves all the way through to a successful IPO. Hundreds of projects, occasional day-drinking, and one really strange white-elephant gift exchange were only a few of the highlights.
SMARTSHEET
// 2015 - 2018
TEAM:
ANITA GARDNER
SHAWN HARSTAD
ALEX HUBBARD
MEGAN HAGGERTY
MY ROLE:
DIRECTOR
MANAGEMENT
CREATIVE OVERSIGHT
CONTRIBUTOR
I remember the smell of the fresh paint on the 13th floor on my first day - they’d just broken over 100 employees. Years later, I cheered along with 1000 coworkers as they rang the bell at the stock exchange.
I tried counting how many projects, artboards, and presentations I’d participated in while amongst the blue-SaaS halls of Smartsheet, but that’s the kind of thing I’d probably need peyote and an isolation tank to really take stock of. Along with a team of assassins, I got to start their first real visual system and write the rules to it, so that was cool too.
I printed out enough style guides to bankrupt them more than once, I’m certain of it. In my last week on the job, we probably had enough printouts to either recycle them into a life-sized Scottish castle, or use them as kindling to burn down their competition. Not sure I’d advise either option.
