Sukhinder Singh Cassidy facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Sukhinder Singh Cassidy
Cassidy in 2023
Born	Sukhinder Singh 1970 (age 54–55) Dar es Salaam, Tanzania
Alma mater	University of Western Ontario, Richard Ivey School of Business
Occupation	Businessperson
Board member of	Upstart
Spouse(s)	Simon Cassidy
Children	3

Sukhinder Singh Cassidy (born Sukhinder Singh in 1970) is a leader in the world of technology and business. She has worked for many big companies like Google and Amazon. She also started her own companies, including Joyus and theBoardlist. Today, she is the CEO of Xero, a company that makes accounting software.

Early Life and Education

Sukhinder Singh Cassidy was born in 1970 in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. Her parents were from India and followed the Sikh religion. When she was two years old, her family moved to Ontario, Canada. She grew up in a town called St. Catharines.

Her family was very entrepreneurial. Both her parents were doctors and ran their own medical practice for 30 years. This likely inspired her own business journey.

In 1992, Sukhinder graduated from the University of Western Ontario. She earned a special degree in business administration from the Ivey School of Business at that university.

Her Career Journey

Sukhinder Singh Cassidy has had an exciting career, working in many different parts of the tech and business world.

Starting Out in Business

Sukhinder began her career in investment banking at a company called Merrill Lynch in New York. This was a job where she helped companies with their money and investments. In 1994, she moved to the company's office in London. After that, she worked as an analyst for Sky Broadcasting, a large media company.

In 1998, Sukhinder moved to Silicon Valley in California. This area is famous for its many technology companies. She joined a new online shopping company called Junglee. Junglee was bought by Amazon that same year. After the purchase, Sukhinder joined Amazon. There, she helped build the first version of Amazon's marketplace, where other businesses could sell their products.

Building New Companies

In 1999, Sukhinder helped start a financial services company called Yodlee. She was in charge of sales and business development until 2003. Yodlee later became a public company in 2014, meaning its shares could be bought and sold on the stock market.

In 2003, Sukhinder joined Google. She was the first general manager for Google Local and Maps. She also helped get content for Books, Scholar, Shopping, and Video. She helped launch Google Local and Maps with a team of engineers.

By 2004, she was leading Google's international business in Asia Pacific and Latin America. She became a Vice President in 2005 and then President of these markets in 2008. Sukhinder is known for helping Google grow its presence in 103 countries around the world.

In 2009, she left Google to work with Accel Partners, a company that invests in new businesses. In 2010, she became the CEO of Polyvore, a fashion and shopping website.

Creating Joyus

In October 2010, Sukhinder had an idea for a new way to shop online using videos. She started her company, Joyus, in January 2011 in San Francisco, California. Joyus officially launched to the public in August 2011. The company raised money from investors to help it grow. Sukhinder was the CEO and then chairman of Joyus until 2017. Joyus was later bought by another company in September 2017.

The #ChoosePossibility Project and theBoardlist

In May 2015, Sukhinder wrote an open letter called "Tech Women Choose Possibility." In this letter, she asked the technology community to do more to help women succeed in the industry. She wanted them to use the many talented women already working in tech. She wrote the letter based on her own experiences and research.

On July 15, 2015, Sukhinder launched theBoardlist. This was the first project of her #ChoosePossibility initiative. TheBoardlist is an online platform that helps connect company leaders looking for board members with talented women who are recommended by their peers. These women can then join the boards of tech companies.

When it started, theBoardlist had over 600 women recommended by 50 investors and CEOs from top tech companies. By November 2017, theBoardlist had helped over 100 women get positions on company boards.

From April 2018 to May 2020, Sukhinder was the president of StubHub, a popular online ticket marketplace.

Leading Xero

On November 10, 2022, Sukhinder Singh Cassidy was named the new CEO of Xero Ltd. Xero is a technology company from New Zealand that provides online accounting tools for small and medium-sized businesses. She officially started as CEO on February 1, 2023. In March 2023, she made some tough decisions to help Xero become even stronger and more efficient.

Personal Life

Sukhinder Singh Cassidy is married to Simon Cassidy. He is also from Canada and used to manage money for a living. They have three children and live in the San Francisco Bay Area in California.

Helping Other Companies

Sukhinder also serves on the boards of other companies. Being a board director means she helps guide the company's decisions. As of August 2024, she is a public board director at Upstart. She has also served on the boards of companies like J. Crew Group, StitchFix, TripAdvisor, Ericsson, and Urban Outfitters. She was also an advisor to Twitter.

Investing in New Ideas

Sukhinder Singh Cassidy is an angel investor. This means she invests her own money in new, promising companies to help them get started. Some of her investments include:

• the Real Real
• Soma Water
• J. Hilburn
• Heartwork