Boss Of Denver-Based App Named On Glassdoor's Highest Ranking CEO's
By Jeff Todd
DENVER (CBS4) - Bryan Leach knew he had a high review rating on Glassdoor.com, but he didn't know his ratings was so high he was eligible for an award for being the 10th highest ranked CEO in the country.
"The Glassdoor award is very important for me because it's based on anonymous feedback from employees and former employees. There's no reason people would give you a good score unless you earned it and it's just about the way you treat people," Leach said.
He's a former attorney with a lengthy educational pedigree including Harvard, Oxford and Yale Law School, but six years ago he started the mobile shopping app in a LoDo basement.
Ibotta is now one of the most used shopping apps in the marketplace.
"We want to be a starting point for every single shopping trip you take instead of Google," Leach said. "You've got one app that pays you cash everywhere you shop and then you can take that money and put it straight into your bank account or onto your PayPal or Venmo account."
Ibotta started with two employees and now calls Denver it's headquarters with more than 500 employees.
We're capitalizing on all those people who want to move to Colorado, and we're the only major mobile app company in Colorado," said Leach. "A lot of those people are making their way into Colorado because we're creating those jobs and we're bringing them here. We're building that tax base. I'm not a person who thinks growth is bad."
Leach has a coach who assesses his job as CEO and leadership training philosophies trickles down through the company. Leach preaches about values and culture when he talks about his company.
"My first priority is to the people who work here and to make sure they have a great coach and a great leader. I have to work on myself as a leader for them and give the resources to other people to improve as coaches, but I also think I have a role in the community in leading the kind of community we want to be," he said. "Being a CEO is about creating a culture and conditions where people can step up and solve problems for themselves."
Leach says he's proud to have started the company here and wants to see it continue to grow and thrive along with the rest of Colorado.
"Every time someone opens our app it says on the front screen of the phone, 'Designed and built in Denver, Colorado.' And that changes the perception people have about this community."
Jeff Todd joined the CBS4 team in 2011 covering the Western Slope in the Mountain Newsroom. Since 2015 he's been working across the Front Range in the Denver Headquarters. Follow him on Twitter @CBS4Jeff.
