Reported yesterday and confirmed this morning, founder and CEO Tim Westergren has left Pandora. He steps down from the chief executive position, and exits the board of directors. President Mike Herring likewise leaving. The CFO is now interim CEO. A new board member takes a seat, as directors start searching for the next CEO. Continue Reading
“2016 was a very significant year for Pandora, with progress on every important front. We enter 2017 with a clear set of strategic priorities and a solid plan to execute against them.” That was Pandora CEO Tim Westergren starting his company’s Q4 earnings call yesterday. Always optimistic, he laid out 2017 goals at a pivot point for the company he founded. Continue Reading
In a peculiar mix of pain and gain, Pandora released news that encompassed significant staff layoffs and upbeat earning guidance. Timed after market close on Thursday, the double message caused an eight percent stock rise at one point after-hours. Continue Reading
Often the most interesting parts of an earnings call are beyond the numbers, especially in the investor Q&A which follows the prepared statements. We took a deep dive into the unscripted portions of last week’s Pandora Q2 results. Continue Reading
In a keynote interview at MIDEM over the weekend, Pandora CEO Tim Westergren talked about Pandora’s plan to build an on-demand service to complement its market-leading streaming radio platform, and the company’s support of the music industry. Along the way, Westergren reiterated his company’s explicit mission to replace broadcast radio, and why that’s a good thing for listeners and musicians. Continue Reading
“Before I turn to the corporate update and the latest quarterly results, I want to offer some perspective on this company that I founded with two friends over 16 years ago.”
That is how Tim Westergren, Founder and second-time CEO of Pandora, began yesterday’s earnings call for Q1 2016. In a remarkable stretch of speech-making from him and COO Sara Clemens, Pandora set the stage for its Q1 financial reporting by aligning with musicians and detailing how its products and business strategies differentiate from competitors.
Click through for details and perspective. Continue Reading
Yesterday’s announcement that Pandora switched out its CEO, replacing Brian McAndrews with Tim Westergren, was startling both in unexpectedness and lack of explanation. Tim Westergren is Pandora’s founding visionary, a musician with technology chops. What does this change signal? Continue Reading
Pandora has announced a feature that allows musicians to easily speak to their listeners, similar to a radio station’s pre-recorded musician promo, but with more real-time control. Called AMPcast, it is a dead-simple (and cool) tool for musicians to engage with listeners. Continue Reading
Pandora founder and Chief Strategy Officer Tim Westergren was spotlighted in a hosted Q&A session at the Goldman Sachs “Communacopia” conference yesterday. (Transcript here; elaborate registration required.) In a wide-ranging discussion, Westergren elaborated on Pandora’s business priorities, the state of… Continue Reading