Co-Founder And CEO Marcus Nelson Departs Addvocate

Marcus Nelson, who co-founded and served as CEO of social media startup Addvocate, said that he’s no longer at the company.

Nelson doesn’t offer any details about the reasons for his departure, but it sounds like this wasn’t entirely by choice. In a post on Medium, he wrote, “These are never easy situations, but there really was no choice. I join the legions of other founders who’ve reached the same decision.”

Addvocate started almost exactly two years ago, when Nelson left his position as head of social at Salesforce.com. (Before his time at Salesforce, Nelson co-founded customer service company UserVoice.)

The company built tools to help businesses encourage their employees to share on social media, raising a $2.39 million round led by Rogers Ventures last year. Earlier this year, it launched a “paid beta” where customers set their own prices.

I’ve emailed Addvocate for comment, and to confirm that Chief Operating Officer Piers Cooper will be succeeding Nelson as CEO. I’ll update this post if I hear back.

According to his post, Nelson doesn’t have any concrete plans about what he’s doing next. He also wrote that despite his departure, “I will cheer [Addvocate] on from afar.”

Update: Cooper just sent me the following statement:

I can confirm that although Marcus is no longer with Addvocate he remains a great supporter of the company and our mission to continue executing on his vision. Marcus is a gifted serial entrepreneur that can recognize opportunities way before the market and has the courage to pursue them.