Shake up at PeopleLinx: new CEO, new product to “scale up”

It was in March that PeopleLinx found out it couldn’t use a real-time feed of LinkedIn’s data to power its product anymore. The Center City startup that helped enterprises use the social network was one of many tech companies affected by LinkedIn’s announcement.

Four months later, PeopleLinx is announcing a new product, a new CEO and a new round of funding. Cofounder Patrick Baynes, who was PeopleLinx’s VP of Strategic Partnerships, has also left the company but remains an advisor.

“It’s time to scale to the next level,” said Kevin O’Nell, the company’s new CEO and former COO. He replaced CEO Nathan Egan.

A screenshot of PeopleLinx 3. (Photo courtesy of PeopleLinx)

PeopleLinx 3, as the company is calling it, focuses less on training staffers on how to best use LinkedIn and Twitter and more on how those staffers can use social media to lead to sales.

“Social selling made easy.” That’s the startup’s new tagline.

PeopleLinx’s new software aims to turn all of a company’s employees into one big sales army that discovers new leads, drives content marketing campaigns and makes introductions.

Though the product will launch in mid-August, PeopleLinx has already landed some new customers based on the new iteration. Its customers now include Comcast, LexisNexis and Bentley Systems. Pricing starts at $5,000 a month.

As for the management changes, Egan, who is now PeopleLinx’s president, said it was his choice to step down from the CEO role.

Egan spent the last five years leading the company as it raised two rounds of funding and grew from five employees to 30.

He explains the management changes this way: “What got you here won’t get you there.”

Baynes, on the other hand, is looking for his next startup and he plans to remain in Philly. He said he left the company on good terms.

In other staffing changes, former Booz & Company product manager Amaya Capellan has been promoted to lead PeopleLinx’s Client Success Team, said spokesman Michael Idinopulos. She’s replacing Liz Coleman, who left Philadelphia to join the West Coast team of ShopRunner.

PeopleLinx’s board makeup has also changed, with Egan stepping down as chairman of the board. Osage Partners managing partner Nate Lentz is now the chairman of the board, alongside Greycroft Partners’ David Hanna and MissionOG’s Andy Newcomb. MissionOG’s George Krautzel no longer has a voting spot on the board, Egan confirmed.