Loving & Leaving Yelp
It’s with a heavy heart that I share with you that I am leaving Yelp. This was a difficult decision, but for me it just felt like the right move at the right time.
It really has been quite an amazing journey for me (especially the early years). I helped Yelp open the first NY office (and the second and third NY offices, respectively), stood on the NYSE floor and announced Yelp’s IPO, was promoted from Manager to Director then to Head of Yelp’s National Sales (later rebranded ‘Brand Solutions’) division, worked directly with the CRO & executive team. During my tenure, led my team to grow display revenue 2000% while overcoming challenges. In recent months, I was part of the tough decision for Yelp to close the display sales division, subsequently helping everyone I had hired transition to new roles within Yelp or transition to new roles outside of Yelp.
It’s hard to believe that 7 1/2 years ago, I was trying to get big brands to pay attention to Yelp (“what is Yelp?”) and dare I say buy display advertising (“Can we skin Yelp with our branded creative assets?” “No way in hell!”) — At the time Yelp itself still wasn’t sure where display advertising even fit in. Though as a nice complement to Yelp’s native local search products, I was able to help educate and create an internal comfort level selling unobtrusive display advertising on Yelp that became increasingly valued by brand advertisers & aimed to never impede on user experience.
I thank my colleagues for being some of the most inspiring, driven, focused and fun people I have had the pleasure of meeting & working alongside.
As I wrap up things at Yelp, I am headed off to explore my next life chapter. I will continue my involvement in helping early-stage companies realize their full potential (Advisor, Investor, Founder, Board Director) while also spending more time with family & friends including trips to San Francisco, the Midwest (Ohio, Illinois, Wisconsin & Michigan), skiing in Vail & taking my dad to Sweden — his dad immigrated to NYC from Jönköping and we’ve often talked about visiting my grandfather’s home country. I am excited to have a little headspace to enjoy the things that we all put off or forget about because our “busy” lives get in the way.
In the not-so-distant future (most likely by the fall), I plan to seek out and find the next ‘Yelp,’ a company I believe in as much as I believe in Yelp. I expect to contribute to the success of that company in an even more massive way. If you have anything interesting I should review, feel free to email me (pjunger@gmail.com)… For now, I am just enjoying time away from work for the first time ever.
I’m excited about the future of Yelp and will continue to be an active supporter & advocate for the company and all the success ahead to accomplish.
This isn’t goodbye, I am confident that I will cross paths again with many Yelpers for years to come. I look forward to that, and to writing the next chapter.
Feel free to follow me on Twitter or LinkedIN. Look for future posts on Medium.
Read another Medium post from Preston…
