About Kipsu

Our mission is to help service professionals create wow experiences.

We create genuine human moments in an increasingly self-service world through digital messaging.

Kipsu's team is based in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
What we do

Service at scale.

We strive to make individualized white-glove service accessible to all. Our solution is designed to augment service teams, allowing them to build personalized relationships with their guests at scale.

Our Values.

Our core values are more than just words; they're table stakes. From strategic and future planning, to everyday business, these pillars are at the center of everything we do.

We Go Beyond Together.

We hire bright, talented  team members from a variety of backgrounds. Our inclusive team harnesses its intelligence and curiosity to accomplish more than we ever could as individuals.  We are in this together and make decisions that benefit the greater good.

We Do the Work.

We pursue our work with relentless grit and determination, undeterred by the obstacles we inevitably encounter. We also believe that we can’t bring the company forward strategically without a realistic attitude about what work needs to get done to reach our goals. You need to chop wood before you can start a fire.

We Think Customer First.

Service is at the heart of all we do. We listen intently and seek to understand.  The success of our clients is our top priority, and we are creating relationships that last and that are built on trust  and respect.

We Play the Long Game.

Building a company to last requires hard work and endurance. We evaluate our impact and relationships over a long window of time, bring the pain forward, and make sustainable decisions.

We Are Builders.

Everyday we strive to build upon our strong foundation to create engaging innovation that will adapt in existing and new markets. We know that we have things to learn and improve upon and proactively seek out new information and prepare ourselves to crush challenges.  We treat each other like adults and think and act like owners in our shared responsibility for the company’s continued growth.

Our Leaders.

Kipsu's leadership team comes from a variety of backgrounds. Together, their experience and vast industry knowledge lead our company to success.

Chris Smith

CEO and Co-Founder

Chris is responsible for leading all of the company’s strategic priorities and the day-to-day operations of the company. Prior to Kipsu, Chris worked in venture capital as a partner at Coral Group and led investments in the telecom and enterprise software sectors.

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Tom McGurran

SVP and General Manager of Hospitality

Tom leads the sales and customer success efforts of Kipsu’s largest vertical, Hospitality. Prior to Kipsu, Tom held various senior sales and customer success leadership roles at rapid growth technology companies such as Digital River, Jasper Wireless, and most recently, Castlight Health.

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Eva Dixon

VP, Living Environments

Eva oversees our Multifamily Living Environments business managing everything from sales operations to customer success. Prior to Kipsu, she worked with over a dozen startup companies officially and unofficially in marketing, customer acquisition, and branding as well as customer implementation, engagement, and retention.

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Othman Smihi

VP, Engineering

Othman oversees all engineering and product development at Kipsu while also being responsible for the development, delivery, and maintenance of its software products and infrastructure. Prior to Kipsu, he worked in a variety of software engineer roles with Infinite Campus and Hinata LLC.

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Drew Anunti

VP, Hospitality Customer Partnerships

Drew manages and is responsible for all of the company’s hospitality sales efforts. Prior to Kipsu, he spent over 10 years in leadership positions with 2U and The Charlton Group, Inc.

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Justin Porter

VP, Enterprise Engagement

Justin leads a team that is responsible for building deep and long-lasting relationships with brands, management companies, and enterprise-level partners around the world. Prior to Kipsu, he spent over 10 years working in leadership roles at the University of Minnesota - Venture Center and Deloitte Consulting.

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Charlie Lehmann

VP, Customer Success

Charlie is responsible for the company’s technical support, account management, and customer success functions across the world. Prior to Kipsu, he was the CEO at Autodata Systems and Director of Customer Success at Elevate Research.

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Valerie Just

VP, Human Resources

Val heads up our human resources department and makes sure we have the best people and a great work culture at Kipsu. She oversees recruitment, benefits, and employee relations with finesse! Prior to Kipsu, she worked as the VP of HR at NBC Sports Next supporting all HR functions for SaaS products supporting youth sports organizations.

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Jennifer Schrader

VP of Marketing

Prior to joining Kipsu, I worked in a variety of marketing roles and companies, from SaaS to commercial real estate, material handling and financial advising. As a copywriter in a past life, I've gravitated toward content marketing, but have also led a variety of teams and worked in demand generation, public relations and more.

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Meet the entire team →

Want to join us?

We're looking for motivated people to join our growing team in Minneapolis. See our careers page to view all open positions and submit an application.