Innovation at Scale: My Journey with Keith Krach from Purdue to DocuSign and Beyond

With the DocuSign IPO coming up, I think it’s time to say a few words about someone I believe we all owe a lot to— Keith Krach. Many of you know Keith as the Chairman of DocuSign and its long-standing CEO.

I first met Keith on the lawn of the Sigma Chi House at Purdue University in the Fall of 1979. Keith was in his first year on a GM Fellowship at Harvard Business School, and I was a sophomore at Purdue. I never suspected that 39 years later I would be reflecting on an enduring friendship and business partnership that would include helping Keith build six unique, built-to-last organizations that all defined new categories.

Right from the start, I knew Keith was one-of-a-kind. Whip-smart. Funny. A real “I’d-follow-you-anywhere” leader. After college I joined him at GMFanuc Robotics, a joint venture between GM and Fanuc, the Japanese robotics company. Keith quickly rose to the top and, at 26, became GM’s youngest-ever VP. He led an amazing team of young engineers to sell 942 robots in a single year—a moonshot at the time. Fanuc is now the largest provider of industrial robots in the world.

GMF Robots - 942 robots sold was “legendary” in the early 80’s.

In the late ‘80s, Keith moved west to test his mettle in Silicon Valley. He joined the four other founders of Rasna, focusing on providing sophisticated analytical software for the everyday design engineer. The company combined computer aided design (CAD) with Analysis software, to invent GEA technology and created a new category: Design Optimization. Rasna then expanded the category to Mechanical Design Synthesis. Under Keith’s leadership as the COO, Rasna grew quickly and was about to file for an IPO with Morgan Stanley, when Parametric Technology swooped in and acquired us.

I know the $500M acquisition was counter to Keith’s instincts and desires and it is well documented that he was against it. But it was a nice liquidity event for the investors and us and PTC excelled with Rasna’s products for many years. They’re a very successful technology company today (market cap: $9.79B). On the other hand, Rasna’s only close competitor, Ansys, which was also private at the time, moved full-force into design simulation and optimization. Today the company has a market cap of $13.75B. The IPO route would have been interesting.

Rasna Executive Team

After Rasna sold, and while “hanging out” as Benchmark Capital’s first Entrepreneur-in-Residence, Keith grabbed his old team and some top-notch engineering talent from Next to create Ariba in 1996. The seven founders started without a business plan or working prototype. But, they raised $6M in two days (big money back then) with only Keith’s “product/market architecture” sketched on a paper tablecloth and seven principles he affectionately nicknamed “The Magnificent Seven.” These were his simple philosophy of the critical success factors necessary to take a company to what he coined “escape velocity.”

Here is the original conceptual sketch of Ariba - where B2B commerce all started.

In 1995, Netscape had just gone public, and the Internet was just becoming a thing. Back then, no one imagined that it was possible to build an enterprise application on top of the Internet, let alone create the platform and network that would form the basis for today’s B2B eCommerce industry. Incorporated as Procuresoft with Keith as CEO, we landed our first three customers in stealth mode.

Then in April ‘97, we revealed our product, unveiled the new Ariba name, and announced the category of Operating Resource Management (ORM) to 100 IT executives at the San Jose Fairmont. It was a “who are these guys?!” moment that kicked off a wave of innovation and productivity that spread around the world. After the launch, we proceeded to double revenue quarter over quarter for 16 months in a row. We were cash flow positive from our 2nd quarter of existence. Our early investors called it the “Ariba Rocketship.” After 13 years as a public company, Ariba is now under the wings of SAP (acquired for $4.3B). Ariba remains the global standard in B2B eCommerce, and last year the Ariba Network transacted $1.3Trillion in commerce.

All these companies were focused on driving massive productivity improvement on a global scale. After Ariba, Keith took the time to give back to the two organizations that gave him so much in terms of leadership and education. First, he became global President of the Sigma Chi Fraternity and its 350,000 lifetime members from 250 universities. Keith transformed the organization and focused its mission exclusively on values-based leadership development, supported by a culture of mentor-based service and stewardship that is thriving today.

Next, Purdue University reached out to Keith to join the Board of Trustees, and two years later the Board elected him to be their Chairman. Our alma mater is well-recognized for its preeminence in engineering as well as being the cradle of astronauts and quarterbacks. Purdue is a very special institution that provides an opportunity for Midwesterners like ourselves to study with some of the brightest minds in the world. Keith is credited with leading Purdue’s transition to become the role model university for student affordability and online learning.

However, he gives all the credit to Mitch Daniels, whom he recruited in 2012 to be Purdue’s 12th President while Mitch was the sitting Governor of Indiana. Purdue is into its sixth year of not raising tuition a dime and recently launched Purdue University Global, leveraging the acquisition of Kaplan for $1. Sometimes your legacy can be measured by the path you put an organization on, and by this measure it’s quite a legacy.

Krach with President of Purdue and former Governor of Indiana, Mitch Daniels

That brings me to the sixth category-defining organization, DocuSign. Keith joined DocuSign in 2009, and shortly thereafter asked me to attend the company’s user conference. Back then it was a small group of 100+ customers who were passionate supporters. But they were using the solution in small ways (real estate sales contracts, NDA forms…). Something much greater could be done if DocuSign were used to drive operational efficiency across larger organizations. Keith jumped in as CEO in 2011, when there were about 150 employees. Remarkable innovation followed:

• Launched the DTM (Digital Transaction Management) category, going beyond eSignature to integration, payment, workflow, administration and scalability—paving the way toward the System of Agreement Platform
• Created the Strategic Investment plan, expanding DocuSign’s ownership to Google, Dell, Microsoft, SAP, FedEx, Visa, NTT, Deutsche Telecom, Intel, Comcast, Salesforce…
• Created DocuSign’s charitable IMPACT foundation
• Created the Global Trust Network, setting security, availability and trust as key differentiators
• Created the xDTM Standard and Board, providing a benchmark for how parties come to agreement in safe, reliable, secure environments
• Opened dozens of offices around the globe and introduced country-specific solutions to drive global production and scale.

Today DocuSign has 2,500+ employees, finished last year with $519M in revenue, owns the DTM category, and has become a verb.

Another amazing thing about Keith: Everywhere he goes, he creates community and family. Employees, partners, and customers all get this, “I’m a part of something special” feeling. And it’s global. When Keith’s doing a keynote at an Ariba/SAP event in Japan, or briefing Deutsche Telekom executives in Germany, or at the DocuSign Momentum conference, he gets back slaps, high fives and bear hugs from new friends and people he’s known for decades. People love him--not for his success, but for how he gives to others.

In September of 2017, I was asked to write a recommendation for Keith to receive an honorary Doctorate from Purdue. Easiest letter I ever wrote. On May 13th Keith will be awarded an Honorary Doctorate in Engineering. 

Keith has built a lasting legacy of innovation at global scale. The organizations I’ve mentioned are all still changing the world. He has done this with a sharp mind, the DNA of an industrial engineer (“I just want to optimize everything”), the heart of a caring brother, husband, father and friend, and the enthusiasm and passion of a man on a mission. Thirty-nine years in, and we are just getting started.