Lightspeed COO Brandon Nussey to depart in latest C-suite shakeup

As part of Lightspeed Commerce’s recent C-suite reorganization, Managing Director Brandon Nussey is stepping down from his position as COO.

The e-commerce company announced Nussey’s departure on March 3, but said the COO will remain at Lightspeed through May to ensure a smooth transition. Following Nussey’s departure, the COO position appears to be axed as Lightspeed stated that its responsibilities will be shared among the other executives.

The company described Nussey’s departure as “planned.” The company did not explain what it means by a planned departure. BetaKit has asked for a comment.

The departure of the COO is the latest in a series of changes to Lightspeed’s leadership team in recent years. After the company’s share price plummeted amid the broader tech sell-off, founding CEO Dax Dasilva was replaced by JP Chauvet as the company also revamped its C-suite.

Lightspeed also announced it was laying off 300 employees in late January as it aimed for “profitable growth.” The news came just weeks after the Chauvet company ranked fourth on a list of Canada’s highest-paid executives. Chauvet makes CA$27.7 million annually, according to a CBC story about the nation’s top C-suite earners.

Chauvet previously said that most of the staff cuts impacted management and that the “restructuring” was mainly about restructuring towards a product rather than the need to cut costs within the company.

As BetaKit reported in December, Lightspeed has experienced some staff turnover over the past few months, which a company spokesman described as “business as usual and nothing out of the ordinary,” stressing that Lightspeed continues to aggressively hire new employees. “As with any company of our size and scale, there has been attrition and staff movement for a variety of reasons,” a Lightspeed spokesperson told BetaKit at the time.

Lightspeed’s recently released fiscal third quarter earnings report began by announcing a net loss of $814.8 million (the company reports all numbers in USD). Lightspeed attributed the majority of the loss to a $748.7 million non-cash goodwill impairment. Lightspeed said it conducts an annual goodwill impairment test every December 31.

“Given the general decline in technology company valuations and Lightspeed’s stock price, the company’s net assets exceeded its market capitalization as of December 31, 2022, which was a trigger for an impairment for the company,” Lightspeed announced.

Lightspeed also reported revenue of $188.7 million, up 24 percent from the same period last year, and an Adjusted EBITDA loss of $5.4 million, down from its previous guidance of about $9 million U.S. dollar.

While the third fiscal quarter did not show a significant increase in revenue compared to the second fiscal quarter of 2023, it showed a slight upward trend between quarters. The company’s revenue for the second quarter was $183.7 million.

But again, sales between the first and second quarters and the second and third quarters for 2023 showed a percentage decline year-on-year from 38 percent to 24 percent.

Regarding Nussey’s departure, Chauvet commended him for the strategic insight and expertise he brought to the company, including leading Lightspeed through its listings on the Toronto Stock Exchange and New York Stock Exchange and scaling its financial services offering.

“On behalf of Lightspeed, I would like to thank Brandon for his outstanding leadership, selfless partnership, and financial and operational responsibility,” said Chauvet. “Brandon has helped lay the solid foundation that supports the company’s continued innovation, global footprint and profitable growth.”

“It has been an honor to work alongside JP, Asha, Dax and the Lightspeed leadership team and so many exceptionally talented individuals as we have built Lightspeed into the market leader it is today,” said Nussey. “I leave knowing that Lightspeed is in good hands and well positioned for the future.”

Founded in 2005, Lightspeed provides cloud-based commerce and point-of-sale (POS) software to restaurants, retailers, and hospitality providers. The acquirer retail technology company, trading as “LSPD” on the TSX and NYSE, has teams in North America, Europe and Asia Pacific serving businesses in over 100 countries.

Feature image courtesy of Lightspeed Commerce.