Joni Cobb stepping down as Pipeline President and CEO

Pipeline President & CEO, Joni Cobb, together with her Board of Directors, today announced she will be stepping down from her current role at the end of 2019. Cobb said she made the decision to encourage a leadership evolution “propelling our high-performing organization into an intense planning period for the next chapter in our story,…

Pipeline President & CEO, Joni Cobb, together with her Board of Directors, today announced she will be stepping down from her current role at the end of 2019.

Cobb said she made the decision to encourage a leadership evolution “propelling our high-performing organization into an intense planning period for the next chapter in our story, with a focus on continued longevity.”

Cobb will remain on the Board of Directors after passing the torch. She says the timing couldn’t be better for this transition and planning phase.

“Pipeline is on a strong financial footing, we have committed sponsors who believe in our work, and our entrepreneurs are eager to increase their role in ensuring that Pipeline thrives for future generations,” said Cobb.

When Cobb began her role in 2006, she envisioned working several months to simply help the organization launch. But the opportunity to build a nationally unique organization from the ground up became so rewarding that she stayed.

Over the past 12 years, Cobb has led Pipeline to a multi-state organizational model, fundraised millions to propel growth, and built a membership structure that encouraged lifelong involvement from its entrepreneurs.

Companies led by Pipeline entrepreneurs have generated nearly $1.4B in revenue and more than $622B in wages. Pipeline entrepreneurs have raised over $522M in outside capital, challenging the coastal stronghold on venture funding. They are also competing globally, doing business in more than 85 countries around the world.

“We were proud to help Pipeline expand to a regional model years ago, and we have been thrilled to watch it thrive since,” said Wendy Guillies, President and CEO of the Kauffman Foundation. “The success of Pipeline’s entrepreneurs is a testament to the effectiveness of the program and its leader. In true Joni fashion, she is selflessly transitioning from something she cares deeply about because she believes doing so will ultimately be best for the next generation of Pipeline. I’m happy she’ll remain involved on the board and can’t wait to see what the future brings.”

Cobb is also credited for intentionally instilling a strong family-oriented culture in Pipeline.

“Pipeline entrepreneurs are intense, smart, driven, creative––and sometimes very challenging to lead,” said Cobb. “But they have become my passion and my family. I am so proud that they are becoming leaders in their communities, global leaders in their work, and great human beings that serve as role models for others. I am confident they are changing the face of the region together – and for the better.”

Mike Beckloff, Board Chair and Chief Development Officer at Silvergate Pharmaceuticals, said the organization is excited to take the next phase of the journey with Cobb and build a way forward for Pipeline

“While we of course always hoped that Joni would devote the rest of her career to Pipeline, the reality is that someone with her energy, drive and passion needs to regenerate and keep creating,” said Mike Beckloff, Board Chair and Chief Development Officer at Silvergate Pharmaceuticals. “We’re just grateful she has given us such a long runway to hire and prepare her successor.”

Beckloff said that the Board would spend the next several months in partnership with Cobb to assess what the Pipeline nextgen leader looks like.

“She is intensely invested in the future of this incredible enterprise she’s created, which is gratifying both to me and to the Board,” said Beckloff. “We’ll take this journey together, building the way forward for Pipeline.”

This story is part of the AIM Archive

This story is part of the AIM Institute Archive on Silicon Prairie News. AIM gifted SPN to the Nebraska Journalism Trust in January 2023. Learn more about SPN’s origin »

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