The 25 small and midsize companies with the best CEOs in 2020, according to employees

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The 25 small and midsize companies with the best CEOs in 2020, according to employees
  • Career site Comparably just released its annual list of the best CEOs at small and midsize companies.
  • The list is based on anonymous employee ratings over a 12-month period.
  • Jason Purcell, the CEO of e-commerce software company Salsify, ranked at the top of the small and midsize companies list.
  • View the full lists from Comparably here.

Working at a company with a strong and thoughtful leader can be a very important thing to consider when looking for an employer, and one career site just published its annual list of the most highly ranked CEOs according to employees.

Career website Comparably just released its fourth annual ranking of companies with the best CEOs. To do this, Comparably anonymously asked employees across 60,000 US companies to rate their CEO from December 1, 2019 to December 1, 2020.

CEOs across different industries, from HR software to pharmaceutical healthcare, made the top 25 among small and midsize companies, defined by Comparably as having 500 or fewer employees.

Jason Purcell, the CEO of e-commerce software company Salsify ranked at the top of the list of small and midsize companies. These companies have 500 or fewer employees. Ellen Kullman, the CEO of Carbon, ranked No. 24 on this year's list. She was also the former Chairman and CEO of DuPont and named one of the 50 most powerful women according to Fortune.

The following are the 25 best CEOs of 2020 at small and midsize companies, according to employees. Employee quotes are from Comparably. You can read the full lists at Comparably here.

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25. Chris DeWolfe, CEO of Jam City

25.  Chris DeWolfe, CEO of Jam City
Courtesy of Comparably

Location: Culver City, California

Industry: Mobile gaming

Employee's quote about the CEO: "Proactive in not just growing our products, but in growing our people. There's a clear investment in the professional and personal well-being of everyone who works here."

24. Ellen Kullman, CEO of Carbon

24. Ellen Kullman, CEO of Carbon
Courtesy of Comparably

Location: Redwood City, California

Industry: Manufacturing

Employee's quote about the CEO: "I admire Ellen's air of transparency and her fearless approach to hard questions with honesty."

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23. Alex Austin, CEO of Branch Metrics

23. Alex Austin, CEO of Branch Metrics
Courtesy of Comparably

Location: Redwood City, California

Industry: App marketing

Employee's quote about the CEO: "Leads by example, always. The first to roll up his sleeves and work alongside us when the going gets tough."

22. Karl Mehta, CEO of EdCast

22. Karl Mehta, CEO of EdCast
Courtesy of Comparably

Location: Mountain View, California

Industry: Cloud data services

Employee's quote about the CEO: "Karl is so driven that his enthusiastic vibes reach down to every employee, which in turn creates a great cultural environment."

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21. Ashvin Kumar, CEO of Tophatter

21. Ashvin Kumar, CEO of Tophatter
Courtesy of Comparably

Location: San Francisco, California

Industry: E-commerce

Employee's quote about the CEO: "Interested in finding the right answers, and always focused on the right idea, regardless of who it comes from."

20. Alexis Borisy, CEO of EQRx

20. Alexis Borisy, CEO of EQRx
Courtesy of Comparably

Location: Cambridge, Massachusetts

Industry: Pharmaceutical healthcare

Employee's quote about the CEO: "Cares about the people and the mission. Holds to an open and transparent culture. Wants all of us to be better, every day, so we are constantly learning and improving."

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19. Paddy Spence, CEO of Zevia

19. Paddy Spence, CEO of Zevia
Courtesy of Comparably

Location: Los Angeles, California

Industry: Food and beverage

Employee's quote about the CEO: "Paddy Spence tilled the corporate soil that supports and cares for every single employee within the company. I am proud and very happy to work at Zevia."

18. David Cancel, CEO of Drift

18. David Cancel, CEO of Drift
Courtesy of Comparably

Location: Boston, Massachussetts

Industry: Enterprise software

Employee's quote about the CEO: "Always willing to jump in and help where needed. If you need him to jump on a call, he's there. Wants us all to succeed and willing to help us get there."

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17. Alex Goode, CEO of GoSite

17. Alex Goode, CEO of GoSite
Courtesy of Comparably

Location: San Diego, California

Industry: SaaS/enterprise software

Employee's quote about the CEO: "Alex has been very transparent, and does a good job of rallying the company around a common vision and allowing everyone to feel like an important part of that vision."

16. Ryan Westwood, CEO of Simplus

16. Ryan Westwood, CEO of Simplus
Courtesy of Comparably

Location: Salt Lake City, Utah

Industry: IT software

Employee's quote about the CEO: "Transparency and sacrifice. Ryan looks out for the greater good of the company and the people in it instead of how the company impacts HIS bottom line."

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15. Joanna McFarland, CEO of HopSkipDrive

15. Joanna McFarland, CEO of HopSkipDrive
Courtesy of Comparably

Location: Los Angeles, California

Industry: Ridesharing mobile app

Employee's quote about the CEO: "Transparency on the state of the business, clear goals and vision, empathy for employees and the customers, willingness and openness to learn and grow."

14. Hernan Lopez, CEO of Wondery

14. Hernan Lopez, CEO of Wondery
Courtesy of Comparably

Location: West Hollywood, California

Industry: Digital media and entertainment

Employee's quote about the CEO: "Incredibly forward thinking and is always looking to expand into new areas and build upon what Wondery already does so well to achieve new heights."

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13. Ellis McCue, CEO of Territory Foods

13. Ellis McCue, CEO of Territory Foods
Courtesy of Comparably

Location: Arlington, Virginia

Industry: E-commerce food and beverage

Employee's quote about the CEO: "Really forthright and down to earth. There are no communication barriers and people at the company are given a voice."

12. Brady Brim-DeForest, CEO of Theorem

12. Brady Brim-DeForest, CEO of Theorem
Courtesy of Comparably

Location: Encino, California

Industry: Information technology and services

Employee's quote about the CEO: "Dogged focus on organizational improvement, employee satisfaction, quality of our work & maintaining our values."

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11. Christian Gormsen, CEO of Eargo

11. Christian Gormsen, CEO of Eargo
Courtesy of Comparably

Location: San Jose, California

Industry: Medical devices

Employee's quote about the CEO: "There has never been any ambiguity about the mission and vision of the company. Due to the tenacity of the CEO, the company is thriving in the most uncertain times."

10. Ryan Malone, CEO of SmartBug Media

10. Ryan Malone, CEO of SmartBug Media
Courtesy of Comparably

Location: Remote

Industry: Marketing and advertising

Employee's quote about the CEO: "I appreciate that the CEO truly cares about your career path and strives to provide you with anything necessary to meet your goals. This is exactly what a company should do!"

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9. Mark Faggiano, CEO of TaxJar

9. Mark Faggiano, CEO of TaxJar
Courtesy of Comparably

Location: Remote

Industry: E-Commerce

Employee's quote about the CEO: "After having my 1:1 with Mark during onboarding, I felt his sincerity in saying that his door/basecamp is always open. That's something I've never experienced at work before and I'm so impressed."

8. Tope Awotona, CEO of Calendly

8. Tope Awotona, CEO of Calendly
Courtesy of Comparably

Location: Atlanta, Georgia

Industry: Technology

Employee's quote about the CEO: "Tope has great foresight in the strategies and product changes and enhancements needed to keep up our phenomenal growth."

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7. Larry Dunivan, CEO of Namely

7. Larry Dunivan, CEO of Namely
Courtesy of Comparably

Location: New York, New York

Industry: HR software

Employee's quote about the CEO: "I like how transparent Larry is with us regarding our company's current and future metrics and direction."

6. Doug Hirsch and Trevor Bezdek, co-CEOs of GoodRx

6. Doug Hirsch and Trevor Bezdek, co-CEOs of GoodRx
Courtesy of Comparably

Location: Santa Monica, California

Industry: Pharmaceutical healthcare

Employee's quote about the CEO: "Transparent communication. Doug and Trevor have different communication styles, but they overlap on the philosophy that the shortest path toward a solution is frankly discussing a problem."

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5. Peter McKay, CEO of Snyk

5. Peter McKay, CEO of Snyk
Courtesy of Comparably

Location: Boston, Massachusetts

Industry: Cybersecurity

Employee's quote about the CEO: "Our CEO is very seasoned. He has grown and launched several companies before; and he's also very grounded/humble/compassionate - truly cares about the employee experience!"

4. Michael Werner, CEO of HomeX

4. Michael Werner, CEO of HomeX
Courtesy of Comparably

Location: Chicago, Illinois

Industry: Home services

Employee's quote about the CEO: "Highly accessible and open to feedback and input from every employee - no matter what level you are currently working at in your career with the company."

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3. Gus Malezis, CEO of Imprivata

3. Gus Malezis, CEO of Imprivata
Courtesy of Comparably

Location: Lexington, Massachusetts

Industry: Healthcare technology

Employee's quote about the CEO: "Gus spends more time trying to get to know everyone on the team than any CEO I've ever worked for."

2. Sarah Friar, CEO of Nextdoor

2. Sarah Friar, CEO of Nextdoor
Courtesy of Comparably

Location: San Francisco, California

Industry: Private social networking platform

Employee's quote about the CEO: "Sarah reflects our mission and cultivating a kinder world. I definitely see it in action and in theory. Very welcoming and helpful."

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1. Jason Purcell, CEO of Salsify

1. Jason Purcell, CEO of Salsify
Courtesy of Comparably

Location: Boston, Massachusetts

Industry: Analytics software

Employee's quote about the CEO: "Our CEO is an incredible leader for the organization and leads by example in everything he does. Instead of talking about transparency, he is transparent. Instead of talking about our values, he embodies them."

Here is the full list of CEOs at small and midsize companies.

Here is the full list of CEOs at small and midsize companies.
Courtesy of Comparably
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