Who is Eran Zinman | Co-CEO of SaaS Leader Monday.com
Eran Zinman co-founded monday.com (formerly dapulse) in 2012 with Roy Mann. As Co-CEO, he has helped transform monday.com from a team management tool into a leading work operating system platform used by hundreds of thousands of organizations worldwide.
The monday.com story isn’t your typical SaaS narrative. When Eran Zinman co-founded the company (then dapulse) in 2012, the team management space was already crowded. Asana was growing. Atlassian was dominant. But Zinman saw something different – a chance to make work management visual, intuitive, and actually enjoyable to use.
The Numbers That Matter:
- $10B+ Market Cap
- 180,000+ Customers
- 152% Net Dollar Retention (2023)
- 7x Growth in First 24 Months After IPO
- 1,000+ Employees Across 8 Global Offices
What Did Zinman Do Differently?
1. Product-Led Growth Before It Was Cool
While others were building massive sales teams, Zinman pushed for a product that would sell itself. The result? A work OS that spreads virally through organizations, with users becoming natural champions.
2. The Rebrand That Changed Everything
2017’s pivot from dapulse to monday.com wasn’t just a name change. Zinman repositioned the entire company from team management to a full work operating system. ARR growth? Immediate and explosive.
3. Bottom-Up AND Enterprise? Yes.
Most SaaS companies pick a lane. Zinman didn’t. monday.com’s genius was building a platform simple enough for SMBs but powerful enough for Fortune 500s. Today, they have 1,000+ enterprise customers paying $50k+ annually.
4. The Culture Play
Zinman’s secret weapon? Building in Tel Aviv but thinking global from day one. He created a culture of “structured chaos” – enough process to scale, enough freedom to innovate. Result: 93% employee satisfaction even post-IPO.
5. The Platform Bet
While competitors stayed in their lanes, Zinman pushed monday.com to become a true platform. Today, users can build custom workflows without code. This wasn’t just feature creep – it was strategic expansion that drove both stickiness and upsells.
Key Metrics Worth Noting:
- 85% of enterprise expansion comes from existing customers
- Users spend average 2.5 hours/day in platform
- 70% of features driven by customer feedback
- $1.5M+ average enterprise deal size
- Marketing efficiency: CAC payback < 10 months
The Future Playbook
Zinman’s not done. monday.com’s pushing hard into AI, enterprise, and vertical-specific solutions. The goal? Becoming the default operating system for work, period.
Quick Takes for SaaS Founders:
- Build for viral adoption, but don’t ignore enterprise needs
- Culture scales, but only if you’re intentional about it
- Platform > Product in the long run
- Customer feedback > Market trends
- Think bigger than your initial category
The Bottom Line
Eran Zinman didn’t just build another project management tool. He created a new category in work management by focusing on user experience, platform extensibility, and sustainable growth. For SaaS founders, monday.com’s playbook is required reading – especially if you’re going after established markets.
Deeper Bio:
Early Life and Education
- Graduated with a Computer Science degree from The Academic College of Tel Aviv-Yaffo
- Demonstrated early interest in technology and software development
- Served in the Israeli Defense Forces’ Intelligence Corps, where he developed technical and leadership skills
Early Career
- Began career as a software developer in Israel’s technology sector
- Founded Shaker, an innovative social gaming company that gained attention in the social gaming space
- Served as R&D Group Manager at Conduit Mobile (2010-2012)
- Led mobile development initiatives
- Managed complex technical projects and teams
- Gained valuable experience in mobile application development and team leadership
Company Founding and Early Growth (2012-2017)
- Co-founded dapulse (later monday.com) with Roy Mann in 2012
- Developed initial product vision as a team management solution
- Led product development and engineering teams
- Established company culture focused on innovation and transparency
Expansion and Innovation (2017-2021)
- Oversaw company rebranding from dapulse to monday.com in 2017
- Expanded product from team management tool to comprehensive work operating system
- Drove development of key features and integrations
- Built strategic partnerships with major technology companies
- Scaled engineering and R&D teams globally
IPO and Beyond (2021-Present)
- Led company through successful NASDAQ IPO in June 2021
- Grew customer base to over 180,000+ organizations worldwide
- Expanded global presence with offices in:
- Tel Aviv (headquarters)
- New York
- London
- Sydney
- Tokyo
- Achieved significant revenue growth and market expansion
Leadership Style and Philosophy
- Advocates for transparency in organizational leadership
- Promotes flat organizational structure
- Champions workplace flexibility and digital transformation
- Emphasizes importance of company culture in scaling organizations
- Focuses on product-led growth strategies
Professional Impact
- Transformed workplace productivity through monday.com’s innovative platform
- Pioneered new approaches to work management and team collaboration
- Regular speaker at technology conferences and industry events
- Contributes thought leadership on:
- Digital transformation
- Startup scaling
- Product development
- Workplace productivity
- Company culture building
Achievements and Recognition
- Led monday.com to unicorn status before IPO
- Grew company from startup to public company valued at billions
- Established monday.com as a leader in work management software
- Built a global team of thousands of employees
- Developed partnerships with major enterprise organizations
Innovation Focus
- Advocates for AI integration in workplace tools
- Promotes no-code/low-code solutions for business efficiency
- Emphasizes importance of user experience in enterprise software
- Drives development of advanced automation capabilities
- Champions integration-first approach to software development
(bio in part from Claude)
