Ed McDonnell

About Ed McDonnell

Ed McDonnell is Braze’s Chief Revenue Officer (CRO), appointed effective early July 2025, leading Global Sales, Customer Experience, and Partnerships . He brings 25+ years of go-to-market leadership, including CRO at Asana and EVP roles in Salesforce Marketing Cloud, and holds a degree from the University of Rhode Island . Prior to Braze, he led a 1,800+ person Salesforce operating unit across Marketing and Commerce clouds and Retail/Consumer Goods verticals, generating $3.5B+ ARR . Since his appointment, Braze reported Q2 FY2026 revenue of $180.1M (+23.8% YoY) and raised full-year guidance, amid ongoing execution improvements and AI product integration .

Past Roles

Organization	Role	Years	Strategic Impact
Salesforce	EVP, Marketing Cloud; led Operating Unit across Marketing & Commerce clouds and Retail/Consumer Goods verticals	2013–2023	Scaled unit to 1,800+ professionals and generated $3.5B+ ARR
Asana	Chief Revenue Officer	Not disclosed	Led full revenue lifecycle across growth, direct sales, post-sales support, and channels
Eloqua	Early career in marketing automation	Not disclosed	Foundation in marketing tech and customer engagement

External Roles

Organization	Role	Years	Notes
Public company boards	None disclosed	—	No Braze IR disclosure of public board roles for McDonnell

Performance Compensation

Metric	Weighting	Target	Actual	Payout	Vesting
Annual Contract Value (ACV) – FY2025 cash bonus program	Equally weighted among three metrics	Not disclosed	Company-wide achievement determined at ~90% of target	~90% of target for named executive officers	Cash; paid post-year end
Renewal Rate (RR) – FY2025 cash bonus program	Equally weighted among three metrics	Not disclosed	Company-wide achievement determined at ~90% of target	~90% of target for named executive officers	Cash; paid post-year end
Non-GAAP Operating Income – FY2025 cash bonus program	Equally weighted among three metrics	Not disclosed	Company-wide achievement determined at ~90% of target	~90% of target for named executive officers	Cash; paid post-year end
FY2026 PSUs – performance equity for named execs	PSUs = 30% of target equity value	Revenue and Non-GAAP Operating Income goals	Not disclosed	Not disclosed	Earned PSUs vest 33% after 1-year performance period; remainder vests quarterly over following 2 years

Notes:

Braze’s FY2025 executive annual bonus plan metrics were ACV, RR, and non-GAAP operating income, equally weighted; results paid ~90% of target based on company performance .

In FY2026, Braze introduced PSUs for named executives with metrics on Revenue and Non-GAAP Operating Income; equity mix includes time-vested RSUs and PSUs, with defined post-performance vesting .

Equity Ownership & Alignment

Item	Detail
Section 16 Officer Status	Initial Form 3 filed July 7, 2025 (reporting beneficial ownership at appointment as CRO)
Initial Award Activity	Form 4 filed Aug 19, 2025 reflects “Stock Award (Grant)” event (RSU-type grant, price $0.00 per share; share count not shown in the summary source)
Hedging/Pledging	Hedging prohibited; pledging generally prohibited except in limited circumstances pre-approved by Board or Nominating & Corporate Governance Committee
Stock Ownership Guidelines	Officers expected to hold Braze common stock equal to 2x base salary within 5 years of adoption or of becoming subject to guidelines; CEO 6x; directors 5x retainer
Clawback/Recoupment	Executive compensation subject to mandatory clawback on financial restatement under Nasdaq Rule 5608(d) policy adopted Sept 2023
Ownership %	Not disclosed in filings accessible; McDonnell’s initial Section 16 filings confirm officer status and award activity

Employment Terms

Topic	Terms
Executive Severance (outside CIC)	Lump sum cash = 0.5x annual base salary; earned but unpaid bonus; 6 months employer-paid health premiums (CEO has 1.0x and 12 months premiums)
Executive Severance (double-trigger CIC)	Lump sum cash = 1.0x annual base salary; earned but unpaid bonus + prorated target bonus; 12 months employer-paid health premiums; full acceleration of unvested equity awards; CEO also receives target annual bonus in addition
Equity Acceleration if Awards Not Assumed in CIC	If awards are not assumed/continued/substituted by acquirer, full acceleration prior to effective time for participants in continuous service
Non-compete / Non-solicit	Company uses standard restrictive covenants (non-compete, non-solicit, confidentiality, insider trading) for executives; enforced through covenants agreements (example language referenced in February 2025 separation/consulting exhibits)
Tax Gross-ups	No excise tax gross-ups provided; 280G cut-back to maximize after-tax benefit applies where applicable

Investment Implications

CRO hire aligns with a performance-driven comp framework (cash tied to ACV/RR/non-GAAP operating income and FY2026 PSUs tied to revenue and non-GAAP operating income), incentivizing profitable growth and retention outcomes .
Stock ownership guidelines, hedging/pledging prohibitions, and mandatory clawback support alignment and governance quality; any initial RSU grants add supply overhang but vest over multi-year schedules, tempering near-term selling pressure .
Near-term execution tailwinds include OfferFit integration and CRO-led efficiencies; Braze delivered 24% YoY revenue growth in Q2 FY2026 and raised FY2026 guidance, suggesting an improved revenue engine during McDonnell’s tenure initiation .
Severance/change-of-control terms are standard for mid-cap SaaS peers (double-trigger acceleration, 1.0x salary in CIC), mitigating retention risk while balancing shareholder protections (no tax gross-ups, clawback policy) .