Webflow Appoints Linda Tong as CEO, Vlad Magdalin to Remain as Chief Innovation Officer

Maybe you've noticed, but there's been a bit of “sea change” in CMS leadership over the last year (among other industries). Here are just a few examples of the notable transformation at the top:

• In November of 2023, Kontent.ai appointed Mark Ruddock as Chief Executive. 
• In April of this year, Contentful’s Steve Sloan left the post where he served since 2019, handing the reins over to Karthik Rau.
• At Sitecore, Dave O’Flanagan officially took the helm after an interim spell, serving in the wake of long-time CEO Steve Tzikakis. 

One could draw quick conclusions from the repetitive exodus of leadership.

On the upside, the “COVID Years” were like the Gold Rush, with demand for digital transformation reaching epic proportions. To keep pace, vendors built and bought, leading to some astounding seed rounds and acquisitions. A couple of quick examples come to mind: In 2020, Episerver bought Optimizely. A year later, Sitecore consumed CDP and digital commerce vendors Boxever and Four51 to complete its DXP puzzle. The list goes on – and after runs like that, a CEO might want a break from the cycle of chaos. 

On the downside, the economics are less enticing. The SaaS market is clearly softening (just ask Salesforce), and CMS vendors are looking at new ways to ignite value beyond adding generative AI features. In some cases, having a new vision and go-to-market strategy – and someone to shepherd it – is a sage solution.

Clearly, there are a multitude of factors contributing to these changes in “The Big Chair.” And while acquiring and adopting new technologies will continue to be a focus for enterprises – particularly those that optimize performance and reduce costs – modernizing websites and content management systems are still visible line items in corporate budgets. As such, vendors are doubling down on creative ways to position as brands tighten their tech belts. 

Downstream, website builders are experiencing similar economic and competitive pressures. With a bevy of choices – including automated, AI-powered features in platforms like Squarespace and Dorik.ai – users are more discriminating, and even agencies are assessing the value of more attractive affiliate terms as they consider what tools to use.

Now, Webflow is joining the ranks of its CMS “cousins,” elevating Linda Tong from COO and President to the role of CEO. The company’s founder, Vlad Magdalin, shared the news in an open letter to staff and later to the world. 

Unlike similar departures from the top ranks, Magdalin will stay on full-time as Webflow’s Chief Innovation Officer (following a planned sabbatical). The role will entail exactly what it sounds like: helping the company build and support what it now calls a “Website Experience Platform.” Magdalin will focus on product evolution, customer and community intimacy, recruitment, and evangelizing the Webflow mantra.

Magdalin will also continue to chair Webflow’s board of directors, which Tong formally joined this week with her appointment as CEO. 

Bringing deep experience and “infectious energy” to the CEO role

Magdalin announced the news ahead of the company’s “Webflow Together” meeting yesterday. In the message, he described Tong as an ideal choice to assume command based on her deep experience and “infectious energy” to lead Webflow in its next chapter. 

Tong has served as President and COO at Webflow since June of 2022, overseeing a number of key achievements – including the recent acquisition of Intellimize. Prior to Webflow, she had a string of really big jobs. These included leadership roles at Cisco's AppDynamics, focusing on innovation across its product offerings. During her tenure, she was ultimately promoted to General Manager of the AppDynamics division. 

She also spent three years at Google, sharpening her product marketing chops in a multitude of areas, including Android OS channels and applications. There was also a stint at the NFL for two years. 

Betwixt the market-leading brand experience, Tong has also served in an advisory role at companies startups and been involved with venture partners. She even held a limited partner role with a Bay-area organization called Operator Collective – a venture fund comprised of leading tech executives from a variety of backgrounds. 

Over the last few years, Magdalin and Tong have been functioning as a sort of “dynamic duo” at Webflow, shaping the company’s trajectory as a unified leadership cabal. This special relationship has clearly permeated Webflow’s culture, with staff clearly aware of the pairing's collaborative force.

“For those of you who’ve had the privilege of working with her over the last few years and seeing her take on more and more responsibility across the company, Linda becoming our next CEO might feel entirely obvious,” said Magdalin. “And it’s so clear why that sentiment exists – because from day one, she has been my #1 partner in navigating scale, tackling unprecedented challenges, and chasing new opportunities. Linda deeply understands our team, our customers, our partners, our community, our business, and our culture. And she has led businesses many times larger than Webflow in the past, and has a proven track record of navigating the kinds of scale that are still ahead of us. She’s the perfect fit for this role.”

Why now?

As Magdalin described it, Webflow is at a pivotal moment in its journey. The company has certainly attained key milestones worthy of applause, but as already noted, the road ahead is paved with challenges. Still, collaboration has proven to be a deep source of inspiration for modeling the right team and culture – something he reflects fondly on.

“When I first had the idea for Webflow, I never imagined that a fledgling idea to empower more people to build for the web would turn into the powerhouse that it is today,” he stated in his open letter. “What Sergie, Bryant, and I began to build in a grungy co-working space in Silicon Valley in 2012 has become something truly transformational.”

With nearly $130 million in revenue from its subscription-based business service, Webflow is certainly moving in the right direction. Magdalin is perhaps most bullish about the prospects of adding Intellimize’s AI-powered personalization – what he sees as the key to unlocking the company’s new position as the “Website Experience Platform.” 

“With this vision, we’re taking the most important part of the digital experience – the website – and creating a seamlessly integrated and visual-first platform that allows marketing teams to break their dependence on code and innovate at speeds they could never reach before,” he described. “We believe that this will not only lead to empowered, revenue-driving marketing teams, but also to a better experience for everyone on the web.”

To achieve what Magdalin describes as Webflow’s “grand ambitions,” it will need a lot. But in his mind, the core components rest with its team around collaboration, execution, and innovation – and helping users unlock their website-building superpowers. Tong’s appointment as CEO and his shift to an innovation focus is meant to accelerate the next steps.

“Webflow is already extraordinary, and in many ways, we’re just getting started,” he said. “I’m so proud of how far we’ve come and I can’t wait to see this new chapter unfold. With Linda now at the helm – along with hundreds of the smartest and hardest working teammates that I’ve ever met all across this company – I know that nothing can stop us from realizing our full potential. Together, we’re unstoppable!”

Why it matters

Website builders are a crafty community. They’re visual designers with a technical penchant, but also pragmatists with a desire to simplify. They seek tools that unleash their creativity while giving them total control over the expression of their ideas across devices – and modern tools are finally starting to pay off on the promise to deliver that experience.

Webflow is, without question, the most robust platform in the website builder ecosystem. It’s rich with features and capabilities, and offers some of the best documentation and video-based teaching resources on the market. And while no drag-and-drop builder will ever be completely bug-free, Webflow’s support continues to earn happy campers across its community.

Visual builders are popping up across the CMS landscape, and with more composable solutions becoming attractive plays, an ecosystem like Webflow will face competition from all sides of the market. Economic challenges aside, the addition of Intellimize’s AI personalization could be a game changer – and with Tong’s product expertise leading the way, it might have all the boxes checked to make a solid run toward growth.

From a CMS feature perspective, Webflow is also building its muscle. Yesterday, the company announced that canvas editing is now available in Webflow, enabling users to edit CMS content directly on the visual canvas and spin up new CMS pages without leaving the Webflow Designer. As Tong stated on X, she's excited about what's on the roadmap in this area of their product.

Community is a dynamic factor for many platform vendors in this space. But loyalty aside, price and value will continue to play a crucial role when acquiring new subscriptions and addressing churn. The intangibles – like ease of use and support – can influence the gravitational forces at play. Webflow will need to be conscious of all these factors while continuing to create clear, value-based messaging for its audiences. 

Growing the appeal with enterprise customers is also in play. Webflow has made significant inroads with larger brands, despite the shift towards more composable solutions. Some companies are very clear about their needs and objectives, and those with the right requirements could be attractive targets for an ecosystem play. And for a no-code website builder, it's opening up some interesting enterprise channels like the AWS Marketplace, where you can procure Webflow Enterprise for $100K with a private SaaS license.

Perhaps the most endearing part of this transition is Magdalin's clear respect and admiration for his successor. This demonstrates a trust in leadership that few brands are often able to mount or manage. There are certainly the external optics of customers, but there’s also the internal confidence of teams. This was handled with a degree of decorum that sets it apart from most other transition plans.

As Magdalin stated to his staff: “From the bottom of my heart, thank you all for trusting me to be Webflow’s CEO for well over a decade. I deeply love this company and our mission, and it’s out of that love that comes to a very heartfelt request: I’m asking each of you to fully rally behind Linda and give her tons of support as she steps into this tremendously important role.

“And Linda – I can’t ever thank you enough for everything you do for Webflow. Thank you for sharing my love for our mission, our team, and our customers. For being such an incredible partner and friend. And for your passion and courage to lead Webflow in this next chapter. I truly can’t wait to keep building this special company side by side with you.”

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