The story of the Internet company that’s based around a great idea but still struggles to make money is one that’s almost as old as the Internet itself, and few companies have lived that story as much as Foursquare has. Its explosive popularity has died down immensely in recent years, and it’s only just now adopting a solid business plan, but a comeback is within the realm of possibility. The man who wants to bring about this comeback is Jeff Glueck, the former COO of Foursquare who’s responsible for implementing the business plan it’s using now. He’s replacing co-founder Dennis Crowley as CEO, and will be stepping into the position with $45 million in new funding, but will it be enough? Only time will tell.
Foursquare has been a fantastic idea in search of a business plan for as long as it’s been alive. Efforts to monetize the platform via ads in its app (now apps) have not made the grade. Now, the last of the cool standalone Web 2.0 companies has a new hit revenue stream in its business and enterprise location services and it’s looking to capitalize on that with some restructuring and new funding. Foursquare has raised $45 million in equity financing. The Series E round is led by Union Square Ventures, with Morgan Stanley and previous investors including DFJ Growth, A16z and Spark Capital participating. In addition, co-founder and CEO Dennis Crowley is moving to an executive chairman position and Jeff Glueck has been appointed the company’s new CEO. Glueck had been serving as COO and overseeing the enterprise businesses that have become the majority revenue stream for Foursquare. Chief Revenue Officer Steven Rosenblatt has been appointed Foursquare’s president and, Crowley says, Glueck’s ‘co-pilot’. Rosenblatt had previously been at Quattro and at Apple as a director of iAd. Other moves include Kinjil Mathur to CMO and Jonathan Crowley to VP of Product. Rory Parness (VP Finance), Meghan Lapides (VP HR), and Brian Chase (General Counsel) also join the executive team.
