Top ConnectWise Executive Adam Slutskin Leaves After 8 Years

ConnectWise Chief Revenue Officer Adam Slutskin has left the company after helping the IT service management vendor grow revenue 17-fold and carry out three key acquisitions.

Slutskin announced his departure in a LinkedIn post on Saturday, saying he wishes to spend a little down time with family as he begins exploring what to do next. He joined the Tampa, Fla.-based company in May 2009, and was promoted to Chief Revenue Officer in June 2015, where he lead a 300-person team across business development, channel, sales operations, account management, and marketing.

"I do leave this company in fantastic shape. I groomed my leadership team well, and they are set to fly," Slutskin wrote in a LinkedIn comment. "There are many contributing factors that lead to any departure. I am extremely hungry and motivated to repeat this success, which I am very confident I can do."

[Related: ConnectWise To Add AWS, Cisco To CloudConsole, Double Number of Users By End of Year]

Despite reporting directly or indirectly into three CEOs and partnering up with four different CFOs and COOs, Slutskin said ConnectWise delivered year-over-year sales growth in 95 of his 97 months at the company.

In fact, Slutskin said June 2017 was the most successful month in ConnectWise history, with the company delivering top-line performance nearly double what the company did in Slutskin's entire first year. Slutskin also recruited or influenced the hiring of COO Jason Magee and CMO Scott Marshall, according to his LinkedIn profile, as well as recruiting most of ConnectWise's revenue leadership team.

"Adam Slutskin has decided to leave ConnectWise to pursue, in his own words, his 'next great adventure," ConnectWise CEO Arnie Bellini told CRN in a statement. "On behalf of everyone at ConnectWise, I want to thank Adam for all he did for the company. We will fully support him in pursuing his dreams."

Slutskin declined to comment for this story, citing the terms of his severance agreement. Bellini said he would function as ConnectWise's combined CEO and CRO for the foreseeable future, while Steve Farnan - an eight-year ConnectWise veteran – has been promoted from vice president of sales to senior vice president of sales.

Slutskin asked his LinkedIn followers to make him aware of any career opportunities he should explore, saying he was looking to join a "great company" looking for a "dedicated and passionate leader."

"I am eager to identify a company that is looking to grow revenue rapidly, enhance their culture, and have a damn good time doing it!" Slutskin wrote.

Slutskin additionally said he participated in the evaluation of and was responsible for the revenue functions of ConnectWise's 2010 acquisition of remote monitoring and management vendor LabTech, 2011 acquisition of quoting and proposal vendor Quosal, and 2015 acquisition of remote connect vendor ScreenConnect.

ConnectWise additionally tasked Slutskin with creating the company's worldwide sales strategy and sales targets, which included the establishment of quotas, associated compensation plans, and go-to-market sales strategies.

On the channel side of the equation, Slutskin said he formed partnerships with distributors like Ingram Micro, Synnex, Tech Data and Arrow, as well as security and backup vendors like Webroot, StorageCraft, Veeam, Acronis, ESET and Malwarebytes.

Before entering the IT industry, Slutskin spent 23 years in the U.S. Air Force as both an active and reserve aircrew member. Slutskin also enjoyed stints at Holden Partners, Broadwing Communications, CA Technologies and Professional Services Automation (PSA) competitor Kaseya before joining ConnectWise in March 2009.

TaylorWorks has been a ConnectWise partner for nearly a decade, but owner Tim Taylor became most acquainted with Slutskin after writing the book "How To Start and Run a Successful I.T. Company Without Losing Your Shirt."

Taylor pitched Slutskin on his book, and Slutskin invited Taylor to visit him at ConnectWise headquarters and talk about the book. Taylor said he found Slutskin to be very ongoing, personable, upbeat and friendly.

"I hate to see him go," Taylor said. "He's a really nice guy, and seemed to run a real great team there."

The Longwood, Fl.-based MSP now has 15 employees using the ConnectWise suite to maintain 1,500 to 2,000 client endpoints, Taylor said. He said the acquisitions of LabTech, Quosal and ScreenConnect had facilitated more linkages among the tools, creating a better user experience.

With Slutskin's departure, Taylor urged ConnectWise to remain focused on its core SMB customer base and not get distracted by the temptation of trying to impress larger clients.

"I would imagine, at the size they are now, one person leaving shouldn't hurt too badly," Taylor said. "They're the 800-pound gorilla. As long as they keep innovating and don't get too big for their britches, they should be alright."

Snap Tech IT has been very impressive by the enthusiasm and camaraderie Slutskin and his team had, according to Karl Bickmore, CEO of the Tempe, Ariz.-based ConnectWise partner. Bickmore said Slutskin was a big part of ConnectWise's culture, and make sure his team both worked hard and had a lot of fun together.

"As an advisory council member, I saw innovation and a constant search for how to up his game," Bickmore told CRN. "He was constantly bringing new ideas to the table to find new ways to reach new partners."