Rover CEO Aaron Easterly stepping down after leading pet-sitting giant since 2011

After 14 years building Rover from a Seattle hackathon idea into a pet care empire, Aaron Easterly is stepping down as CEO and passing the baton to longtime exec Brent Turner, effective July 1.

The leadership transition plan has been in the works for a while, and predates Rover’s $2.3 billion private equity deal with Blackstone last year, Easterly said in an interview with GeekWire.

Easterly will take a new role as executive chair of the board as he steps away from day-to-day work.

Turner, who was COO and became president last year, said he looks forward to leading Rover into its next era of growth.

“We’re so excited about the opportunities in front of us, and I am very energized by it,” said Turner, a veteran Seattle tech leader who previously held exec roles at Razorfish, aQuantive, Marchex, Microsoft, and Code Fellows.

Easterly recruited Turner to Rover back in 2014, a few years after the company got started.

He said one of the keys to his leadership approach is putting the right people in the right roles at each phase of the company.

“I take a lot of pride in turning the reins over to Brent,” Easterly said.

Seattle venture capitalist Greg Gottesman, who pitched the idea for Rover at a Startup Weekend event in 2011, called Turner “a uniquely talented operator and leader.”

“He is that rare manager who knows how to get the very best out of everyone who works for him,” Gottesman said. “There is not a better person on the planet than Brent to take over from Aaron and to take Rover to even greater heights.”

Rover bills itself as the world’s largest network of pet sitters and dog walkers. The Seattle-based company is active in 17 countries and has acquired two European pet-sitting services over the past year. It reported $1.1 billion in gross booking value last year and is nearing 40 million bookings on its platform to date.

Rover, which employs about 555 people worldwide, is exploring new ways to modernize other sectors of the pet industry such as training and daycare.

Easterly called out the company’s growing cat care business and said he remains bullish about the broader pet industry.

“It is difficult to replicate the emotional benefit you get from a dog or a cat,” he said.

Gottesman credited Easterly for helping nail down Rover’s marketplace dynamics in its early days. He also touted Easterly’s mission-driven mindset as a leader.

“One of the traits that made Aaron so great was his passion for the mission of Rover, which is to make it easier for everyone to experience the unconditional love of a pet,” Gottesman said. “Aaron would often ask people to try to refute the claim that the domestication of the dog has led to more human happiness than any other invention.”

Easterly, who won CEO of the Year honors at the GeekWire Awards in 2016, helped lead Rover through a pandemic, a public offering, and a private equity deal. He plans to take some time off before considering his next gig beyond Rover.

“It’s a wonderful journey like nothing else,” Easterly said of his tenure. “It’s a unique, inspiring, and frustrating journey all at the same time.”