CEO at Wilmington’s Performance Culture exits as part of new funding

WILMINGTON – Performance Culture, which sells performance management software, is hiring to beef up its sales and marketing following its $2.9 million funding by Durham-based Jurassic Capital.

Founded in 2015 by Dallas Romanowski and Melissa Phillippi as the software complement to a culture coaching business implementing the practices found in Romanowski’s book, “Performance Culture.” It helps companies build teams that excel in both performance and a cultural, behavioral fit, says new CEO and President Philippi.

Melissa Phillippi, CEO and president of Performance Culture. Performance Culture Photo.

Romanowski left day-to-day operation activities in the firm as part of the funding deal, but remains a major investor and involved, Phillippi said in an interview with WRAL TechWire. “It was an opportunity for him to take a step back and spend more time with his family,” she said.

Dallas Romanowski, cofounder of Performance Culture. Peformance Culture photo.

The company was birthed from the experiences they had in a previous consulting business aimed at helping companies put the “right people in the right seat, that focused both on performance and behavioral and cultural fit,” Phillippi said. “We saw the need for a tool to track that and nothing like it was out there.”

Often, companies still do not pay enough attention to behavioral and cultural fit of employees. Not paying attention to those factors means “You can end up with brilliant jerks in your organization. They sell and hit quotas, but no one wants to work with them.” The Performance Culture product helps companies not only identify their true stars, but also those with a true fit, she said.

The 10-person company plans hiring primarily in sales and marketing and has posted its first job opening for a sales manager (at this writing) on its web site. The funding is primarily intended to fuel the company’s growth, said Phillippi. “We are going to take sales to the next level.”

The firm already has about 200 customers mostly ranging in size from 150 to 500 employees, with its largest client an 8,000 employee U.S. manufacturer. Although its primary footprint is in the U.S., it has clients globally, including in Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Malta, and Singapore.

The partners in Durham-based Jurassic Capital, which invested in Performance Cutlure, founded and sold Bronto Software to NetSuite for $200 million.