McChord, who started the online security company Datto in 2007 in his father's basement, will step down as CEO.
McChord, who started the online security company in 2007 in his father's basement, will step down as CEO.
Austin McChord will step down as CEO of Datto, the computer data protection company he founded 11 years ago that has grown into a $1 billion industry giant.
McChord, 32, a graduate of the Rochester Institute of Technology, founded Total Data Protection Solutions, which later became Datto, as a college student in his father’s basement in 2007. The company provides data backup and disaster recovery services and products.
Since then, the company, which is headquartered in Connecticut, has grown to employ hundreds of employees and was one of Inc. 500 fastest growing companies for several years running.
It opened an office in Rochester in 2014, and currently employs 225 people in the area, and a total of more than 1,400 employees in 22 offices globally.
While McChord is stepping down as CEO in November and will have "much less of a role in the day-to-day business," he is going to remain on Datto’s board, he said Tuesday.
"The decision I made was a very personal one," he said. "I've basically done Datto my entire life. It's been a 24/7, 365 job. And a life that is just Datto is not a life well lived."
Datto was acquired almost exactly a year ago by Vista Equity Partners and merged with Autotask Corp. McChord became CEO of the new company.
Datto is in a strong place right now, said McChord, making it possible for him to step aside.
In the coming months and years, he plans to help lift up other early stage companies, potentially others coming out of RIT, he said.
"I basically want to help the next two or three Austin McChords build big, awesome, exciting things," he said.
Datto President and Chief Operations Officer Tim Weller will fill in as CEO in the interim, and is a candidate in a larger CEO search, said McChord.
McChord wrote a note to employees about the news, praising them for their work and dedication to Datto, and saying that the identity of the company lies with the employees.
McChord’s instincts in fostering his fledgling company in the early years helped grow Datto into what it is today. He earned a series of patents for innovations that enabled the company to ensure its customers would not lose their critical information. It promised to restore the data almost immediately if disaster struck.
That principle was put to the test in 2012 when Hurricane Sandy knocked one client offline, a high-frequency trading firm. McChord says Datto had them restored and back in business in a matter of minutes.
More: Who is Austin McChord?
He has won multiple awards and accolades during his time with Datto, including a spot on the Forbes “30 under 30” list in 2015.
He has been heavily involved at RIT as a speaker and benefactor — he donated $50 million to the university last year to help fund the school’s entrepreneurship, cybersecurity and artificial intelligence programs and facilities. That was the largest single donation in the school’s history.
“I would not be here if it were not for my time at RIT," said McChord at the time. "This is where I first had the idea of starting my company."
McCord hopes he will have more time now to build relationships with RIT staff and students, and help facilitate future business success stories out of the university, he said Tuesday.
Datto, was the region’s first START-UP NY company when it opened in downtown Rochester four years ago. The company recently unveiled a new space in The Metropolitan, complete with a slide and sleeping pods.
"I continue to be an enormous advocate in Rochester....and of course Datto continues to hire and grow in Rochester as well," he said. The space has the capacity for 350 to 400 employees, and there are about 120 positions open in Rochester right now, said McChord.
Weller echoed that sentiment, saying that Rochester has been a "phenomenal location for us."
"It's part of the fabric," Weller said.
Includes reporting from Sean Lahman and Meaghan McDermott.