Evernote hires former Google Glass executive Chris O'Neill as new CEO, Phil Libin to remain as executive chairman
I saw the news that Phil Libin … Drew Olanoff / TechCrunch : Chris O'Neill Named CEO, Phil Libin Executive Chairman In Evernote Executive Shuffle Canada NewsWire Group : Chris O'Neill named new Country Director for Google Canada Steven Loeb / VatorNews : Chris O'Neill replaces Phil Libin as CEO of Evernote Daniel Bader / MobileSyrup.com : Former Google Canada head is now CEO of Evernote John Cook / GeekWire : Tech Moves: Marcelo Calbucci departs EveryMove; Microsoft Azure vet joins satellite imaging startup Casey Newton / The Verge : Evernote just replaced its CEO with a Google Glass executive for some reason Gina Hall / bizjournals : Evernote names Chris O'Neill CEO, Phil Libin becomes executive chairman Jonathan Vanian / Fortune : Evernote taps ex-Googler to be CEO Rex Santus / Forbes : The Next Evernote CEO Is Former Google X Executive Chris O'Neill Douglas MacMillan / Wall Street Journal : Evernote Crowns Former Google X Executive as CEO Nate Swanner / The Next Web : Evernote boss Phil Libin sheds the CEO role (as well as his beard) Rachel King / ZDNet : Evernote picks up new CEO from Google X lab
Context & Ripple Effects
This closes the search flagged in June, when Phil Libin said he was planning to step down while working to find his own replacement. The board went outside the company for an operator profile — Chris O'Neill ran Google Canada and was an early commercial lead on Google Glass — with Libin staying on as executive chairman.
The hire reads as a handoff from founder-growth mode to consolidation mode, and the subsequent record bears that out: O'Neill's tenure brought layoffs and office closures, executive churn including a fast COO exit, and eventually his own replacement by Ian Small in 2018.
First-order effects
- Evernote's day-to-day control shifts from founder Phil Libin to an outside operator in Chris O'Neill, whose Google Canada and Google Glass background signals a focus on disciplined commercial execution over product evangelism.
- Libin retains influence as executive chairman rather than exiting outright, keeping strategic continuity while delegating operational cuts and tradeoffs to the new CEO.
Second-order effects
- The new CEO's mandate shows up quickly in headcount and footprint: within months O'Neill lets 47 people go and closes three offices in pursuit of a "smaller, more focused team," the classic cost reset a board hires an outsider to perform.
- Executive instability compounds — newly hired COO Linda Kozlowski departs within weeks of starting, and founding CTO Dave Engberg follows the next spring — forcing O'Neill to rebuild the leadership bench even as he shrinks it.
Third-order effects
- If this arc is representative, hiring an external operator is not a fix but a phase: Evernote burned through another CEO by 2018, when O'Neill was himself replaced by Ian Small, suggesting mature consumer-note-taking businesses struggle to stabilize leadership regardless of who holds the title.
- Founders stepping back into chairman or VC roles — Libin moved to General Catalyst two months after the handoff — points to a recurring lifecycle where original leaders monetize their track record while professional managers absorb the downsizing.
The trend: Maturing first-wave consumer productivity apps are cycling from founders to outside operators and back again, with each CEO transition marking another round of cost discipline rather than renewed growth.