Full Name
Therese Tucker
Job Title
CEO
Company
BlackLine
Speaker Bio
On a typical day at BlackLine’s Los Angeles headquarters, BlackLine CEO and Founder Therese Tucker is fast on her feet, a blur of color as she sprints from one meeting to the next across three floors of the office tower that bears BlackLine’s name. A certified yoga instructor, she is equally nimble with words, a necessity given the arcane language of Finance & Accounting (F&A) that she has mastered. Her financial acumen and technological ingenuity have combined to make the work of thousands of accountants more efficient and humane, lowered the stress levels of internal auditors and given CFOs extraordinary visibility into their organizations’ business performance, informing smarter decisions.
Therese started BlackLine in 2001 when she merged her two talents and passions, technology and finance, into a successful business endeavor. She was the sole initial investor in the company – a true entrepreneur!
Therese was originally focusing on providing a wealth management solution to First National Bank of Nebraska when they expressed frustration over the manual process of reconciling the books. Therese went to work developing an automated solution for account reconciliations and re-shifted the company's focus to address the need in this un-served market. In 2007, Therese led the company’s shift to a SaaS-only business model.
After self-funding, bootstrapping and turning down several offers from venture capital firms, in 2013 Therese partnered with Silver Lake Sumeru, the mid-market arm of leading technology-focused global private equity firm Silver Lake, to undertake a recapitalization of the company and drive its next phase of growth. In 2016, Therese went on to lead BlackLine through an IPO, debuting on the Nasdaq and becoming one of the first/only female tech company founders to take her company public.
When she founded BlackLine, Therese brought more than 25 years in financial accounting and technology development experience to the company, having previously served as Chief Technology Officer (CTO) at SunGard Treasury Systems. As CTO at SunGard, Therese headed up product development for SunGard’s five corporate treasury systems, managing over 200 people in six locations, in four countries.
Therese’s leadership, passion and persistence have not gone unrecognized. BlackLine also has made the Software 500 list of the “world’s largest and best-performing software companies” for the past seven years, the Deloitte Tech Fast 500 for the past eight, and the prestigious Inc. 500/5000 for nine years in a row, joining the ranks of such high-growth brand name companies as Jamba Juice, Microsoft and Patagonia.
Therese holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Computer Science and Mathematics from the University of Illinois.
Therese started BlackLine in 2001 when she merged her two talents and passions, technology and finance, into a successful business endeavor. She was the sole initial investor in the company – a true entrepreneur!
Therese was originally focusing on providing a wealth management solution to First National Bank of Nebraska when they expressed frustration over the manual process of reconciling the books. Therese went to work developing an automated solution for account reconciliations and re-shifted the company's focus to address the need in this un-served market. In 2007, Therese led the company’s shift to a SaaS-only business model.
After self-funding, bootstrapping and turning down several offers from venture capital firms, in 2013 Therese partnered with Silver Lake Sumeru, the mid-market arm of leading technology-focused global private equity firm Silver Lake, to undertake a recapitalization of the company and drive its next phase of growth. In 2016, Therese went on to lead BlackLine through an IPO, debuting on the Nasdaq and becoming one of the first/only female tech company founders to take her company public.
When she founded BlackLine, Therese brought more than 25 years in financial accounting and technology development experience to the company, having previously served as Chief Technology Officer (CTO) at SunGard Treasury Systems. As CTO at SunGard, Therese headed up product development for SunGard’s five corporate treasury systems, managing over 200 people in six locations, in four countries.
Therese’s leadership, passion and persistence have not gone unrecognized. BlackLine also has made the Software 500 list of the “world’s largest and best-performing software companies” for the past seven years, the Deloitte Tech Fast 500 for the past eight, and the prestigious Inc. 500/5000 for nine years in a row, joining the ranks of such high-growth brand name companies as Jamba Juice, Microsoft and Patagonia.
Therese holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Computer Science and Mathematics from the University of Illinois.
