Chris O’Neill is the Chief Growth Officer at Xero and former Evernote’s Chairman and CEO, where he successfully orchestrated its turnaround. He is a purpose-driven technology leader with over 20 years of experience, including general management of some of the world’s most beloved brands, strategy, product development, go-to-market, marketing, and business operations.
Prior to Evernote, he served in several key leadership roles at Google, including business operations at Google [X] and leading Google Canada. He briefly worked in product marketing for HSBC and began his career as a strategy management consultant at Oliver Wyman (formerly Mercer Management Consulting). O’Neill advises and invests in high-growth technology companies. As an angel investor, he focuses on exceptional Canadian entrepreneurs building enduring companies like Ritual.co, Relay (Kik), Milq/Layer6 (T.D. Bank), Whirlscape, and Helpful (Shopify).
He serves on the board of Gap Inc. (NYSE: GPS) and is a former board member of Tim Hortons (NYSE: THI), Shop.org, and the Canadian Marketing Association (CMA). He is currently a member of the Young Presidents’ Organization (YPO), a Charter Member of the C100, and a former member of the Canadian Council for Chief Executives (CCCE).
O’Neill graduated from the University of Western Ontario with a B.A. in Economics (with distinction) and holds an MBA from the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth College. He was born in Toronto, grew up in Acton and Goderich, Ontario, and currently lives in Northern California with his wife, Christina, and two children, Jack and Molly.