Dynamo Spins Down at SolidWorks

McEleney steps down at CEO, Jeff Ray to lead SolidWorks

John McEleney was a dynamo. You could tell at the SolidWorks annual user meetings. Morning, a keynote address. Shaking hands with users and resellers all day. A press social in the evening. Even at the end of the day, his energy was still abundant, his vision clear, his words directed and purposeful. He lived, worked and wore SolidWorks, the company that has been his reason for existence for eleven and a half years. Now he is stepping down.

Jeff Ray (left) and John McEleney on stage at SolidWorks World 2007 in New Orleans

"It was my decision," he makes clear in a phone call a day before the official announcement is made. I've known John almost from the beginning of SolidWorks. Though not one of the original founders, John was key to the company's initial and continued success, having organized and executed an extremely effective marketing campaign that not only established SolidWorks as a lead MCAD product but created an entire market segment -- the midrange.

But in those years, I had also gotten to know John as a person -- this call was mostly personal. John will be getting married and his bride to be has a 8 year old son. "An instant family," says John, indicating that he will now have the luxury of time with them.

Another reason for his decision was John's father, who is sidelined by Parkinson's disease and was recently confined to hospice care. "He had a good day the other day," John tells me. "I can't count on too many more of those and I'd like to spend those days with him."

John's replacement at SolidWorks will be Jeff Ray, currently COO. It's common for COOs to be groomed to be CEOs so this transition seems natural. "I told Dassault [SolidWorks' parent company] that Jeff's the guy, and Bernard Charles [CEO of Dassault] wholeheartedly agreed," says John.

But will the dynamo be able to spin down? John's only 45 years old and I don't see retirement in his near future. I expect he'll be in demand in the CAD industry but, non-competitive clauses aside, I'd be surprised if would do anything to hurt SolidWorks. He leaves the door open for continued employment at SolidWorks, a company in which founding members can still be found. John will remain on the SolidWorks board of directors.

Comments

[Kevin]

I hope he returns one day to drive an amazing new innovation into the market.

[John Nolin]

We saw John at the round table event last night with SolidWorks and CMNC-SWUG. He came, showed off a classic car, shook hands and twice apologized for not being able to rearrange his schedule enough to stay for the whole evening. He was visibly pained, for this was the sort of user group and developer interaction he had been pushing for the past few years. I am not sure he knows when he will be back at it full time and at full speed, which may be why it seems like a dramatic move for him and the firm. If you happen to see him at SWWorld or some other SWUG event, shake his hand and wish him well. After a couple of decades of that kind of energy level in this industry, the guy deserves a break and some thanks for the effort.