Austin-based YouEarnedIt rebrands as Kazoo, names new CEO

Six years ago, YouEarnedIt debuted as a platform to let companies provide recognition and rewards for their employees.

Since then, CEO Autumn Manning led the Austin-based company through multiple strategic investments as well as the acquisition last year of Chicago-based HighGround, a human relations software firm.

Now YouEarnedIt is rebranding itself with a new name and a new CEO. Kazoo, as it is now dubbed, will be led by former Google executive Paul Pellman.

Manning will become an external adviser and chief evangelist for Kazoo, the company said.

"I'm in a unique position to continue to represent the company in the market because YouEarnedIt is an extension of what I truly believe is the right thing for companies to do," Manning said. "We were the first platform that really challenged the notion of what it means to give employees something that is rewarding and impactful. Exiting the company doesn't change that."

Manning said she will advise companies about building strong cultures during periods of rapid growth, and she is also working with female entrepreneurs looking to raise funding and scale their businesses.

"What Autumn has created with YouEarnedIt is a testament to her ambition to push the boundaries of how we see our lives at work," Pellman said. "Over the past few months as I've immersed myself in the company and the HR industry, I've become more and more excited for this opportunity."

As part of the reorganization, YouEarnedIt and HighGround, which had previously operated as separate businesses, will unite under the Kazoo brand.

YouEarnedIt operates a platform that lets employees receive digital points from peers to reward them for behavior that generates revenue or reaches other workplace goals. Points can be redeemed for items or activities offered by the company.

Last year, YouEarnedIt received an undisclosed strategic investment from Vista Equity Partners, a $31 billion private-equity firm based in Austin. Prior to that, the company raised funding from investors including Silverton Partners, IDG Ventures USA, Motley Fool and Capital Factory.

HighGround, founded in 2012, makes software used by companies for coaching and for employee evaluations. Before being acquired it raised more than $19 million from investors including Method Capital and Lightbank.

Under the Kazoo banner, the company will continue to provide the YouEarnedIt and HighGround offerings and will add an enhanced version of its feature called Surveys, which seeks employee feedback anonymously. The company has also updated its mobile app so that employees can access the platform from work, home, during travel or in the field.

The Kazoo platform currently has more than 500 global customers and more than 500,000 users, the company said.

Prior to joining Kazoo, Pellman spent four years at Google where he oversaw go-to-market activities launched under the Google Analytics 360 umbrella. Previous to that Pellman was CEO of Austin-based marketing analytics firm Adometry, which was acquired by Google in 2014.

Pellman said he was drawn to Kazoo because at Google he saw the value of creating an environment where employees want to thrive.

"One of the reasons Google is so successful is because they have built a phenomenal culture. They provide all sorts of tools that make it easy for employees to recognize great work," he said. "They provide capabilities for setting goals, providing feedback and creating a performance-based culture where everyone knows where they stand in a very positive way."

Kazoo makes that possible for companies that don't have the resources that the search engine giant has, Pellman said. "Now you don't have to build all sorts of in-house tools to create that same kind of culture," he said.