As a sales executive in the early 2000s, Michael Cotoia tried — and failed at first — to land TechTarget as an account. But just 14 years later, he became the TechTarget CEO.
In 2002, Cotoia worked for a tech firm and struck out during his initial pitch to TechTarget. But a week later, he followed up — and sealed the deal.
The customer: A technology media company called TechTarget. Soon after, the TechTarget CEO at the time, Greg Strakosch, tried to recruit Cotoia to come aboard. But Cotoia, now 50, wasn't ready to leave his current job.
"So on my own, I flew to Chicago to check out TechTarget at a conference it was hosting," Cotoia recalled. "But I didn't get in."
Surprised at being turned away, Cotoia was about to leave when Strakosch spotted him near the registration table. "What are you doing here?" he asked.
When a frustrated Cotoia explained that he wanted to attend the conference to learn more about TechTarget but couldn't get in, Strakosch said, "That's because it's only for qualified enterprise storage buyers with a tech budget."
Strakosch escorted him into the convention hall. It proved a fateful visit for Cotoia. "I saw two of my biggest customers who had flown in from New York and Boston to be at this conference," Cotoia recalled. "That's when the bells went off."
Taking Over As TechTarget CEO
Impressed, Cotoia agreed to join TechTarget in late 2002. After a series of promotions, he became its chief executive in 2016.
Based in Newton, Mass., TechTarget provides marketing and sales services for enterprise technology companies. Strakosch, who co-founded the firm in 1999, first met Cotoia in the early 1990s when the then-Babson College undergrad interned for Strakosch at his previous company.
"I cleaned the office, did chores, whatever they wanted me to do," Cotoia said. So when he made his sales pitch to Strakosch in early 2002, Cotoia was sitting across from a familiar face.
And it's been a great run under Cotoia. Shares of TechTarget jumped more than 850% with him as CEO giving it a market value of more than $2.2 billion. That easily tops the S&P 500's 109% gain in that time. Meanwhile, the company's profit since 2016 is up more than 570% to $2.22 a share in 2021, or $82.9 million. That works out to 46% average annual compounded growth in the past five years. And revenue in that period is up more than 140% to $263.4 million.
TechTarget CEO: Avoid The Ivory Tower
Cotoia, 50, launched his career as an accountant. After graduating college with an accounting degree, he joined Deloitte as a senior auditor.
The day he earned his CPA license, he quit. He figured it would take too long to become a partner, so he accepted a sales role at a durable medical equipment firm. From there, he landed in sales at EMC Corp., which introduced him to the tech world.
"I observed different leadership styles," he said. "The best leaders led in the trenches with their sales reps, as opposed to those who managed from their office. They didn't go on sales calls. They stayed in their ivory tower focusing on whether their sales reps would hit their numbers."
These leadership lessons stayed with Cotoia. Because he admired bosses who leveled with their team, made decisive decisions and trusted their gut, he has sought to do the same as CEO.
One of his early mentors told him, "Don't let perfection impede progress." Decades later, he continues to heed that advice.
"As a leader, you've got to trust your instincts and make the call," he said. "You may disappoint some. But if you're very transparent and genuinely committed to knowing the people you work with and the customers you serve," you build the kind of relationship that can withstand tough moments.
Reassure Your Workforce Like The TechTarget CEO
Upbeat and gregarious, Cotoia likes to mingle with employees. He prefers face-to-face conversations to email.
"If I have a question, I'll walk to someone's office and ask," he said. "On my way there, I'm hoping to run into others. I say hello to everyone. If I don't know someone, I'll introduce myself."
When chatting with staffers, he may ask what they're working on. But he also gets personal, asking about their family and how they're holding up in the pandemic.
"You see what makes people tick," he said. "I want to get to know them."
Having such easy rapport with employees proved especially helpful two years ago. Returning from London in March 2020, Cotoia raced to keep pace with rapidly unfolding events with Covid-19.
"Within a week, everybody was home and wanted to hear, 'What's our plan?'" he said. "They wanted to know if we'd lay people off. We have a lot of young people who live in apartments in (places like) Singapore or Boston. They're thinking, 'My two roommates just got laid off. Am I next?'"
Conferring with TechTarget's customers and board of directors, Cotoia and his leadership team built a range of financial models from worst- to best-case. He quickly decided there would be no layoffs.
"Uncertainty is the worst emotion people can have," he said. "It can eat away at you all day long."
He composed a companywide email and recorded a video assuring employees that there would be no workforce reduction. Within 45 days, he was relieved that the worst-case scenario was no longer a threat.
"It was a scary time for us, our customers and many companies in our industry," he said. "We didn't let one person go," but the first few weeks were fraught with unknowns.
Know Humility Goes A Long Way
Most executives know they should model the kind of behavior they want underlings to emulate. But few actually follow through.
John Steinert, TechTarget's chief marketing officer, has worked with Cotoia for nearly six years. He has watched his boss set the right example.
"If he sees spilled coffee on the floor, he'll clean it up," Steinert said. "I've also seen him put chairs away at the end of a meeting."
Others follow suit when they see the CEO chipping in. They also notice his humility: He leads without pulling rank.
"He doesn't have the biggest office and he doesn't have the fanciest systems that no one else gets," Steinert said. "IT (information technology) is not at his beck and call. He doesn't exaggerate the importance of the need just because it's his need."
Help Clean Up Hot Messes
While Cotoia attributes his success in sales to rapt listening and solving customers' problems, his colleagues admire his diligent work habits.
Rebecca Kitchens has known Cotoia for 19 years. They joined TechTarget around the same time, and she sat next to him when he came aboard.
"It would be 7 (p.m.) at night and he'd be writing in each customer's folder," recalled Kitchens, now a TechTarget executive vice president. It turns out he was strategizing about each account, jotting down ideas to add value.
"He was putting things in context, writing discussions points or angles that helped him prepare," Kitchens said. "It was his unique way of keeping track of different information."
TechTarget CEO Michael Cotoia's Keys:
- CEO of TechTarget, a Newton, Mass.-based provider of marketing and sales services for enterprise technology companies since May 2016.
- Lesson: Lead in the trenches with your workers. Don't hide in your office.
- "As a leader, you've got to trust your instincts and make the call."
