Instacart President Carolyn Everson Steps Down Only After 3 Months

Carolyn Everson announced that she will step down as Instacart president at the end of the year. The surprise decision comes barely three months after Everson took the helm at the grocery delivery service company.

Instacart’s C-suite recently changed following the departure of its head of advertising, Seth Dallaire. Several big tech executives have been hired, including those from Facebook (now Meta), Amazon, and Google. Instacart’s valuation rose to nearly $40 billion this year, but some of its newcomers, including Everson, have experience managing larger teams.

Over the last decade, Everson has served as Facebook’s ads chief and was Fidji Simo’s most high-profile hire at Instacart. Simo had been at Facebook for ten years, including two years heading the Facebook app, before becoming CEO of the delivery tech company.

Carolyn Everson shared on social media that as she approaches 50 she plans to take a ‘real break’ to consider her next move. 

 “Fidji and I have been friends for over 10 years and we both agreed that this was the best decision for the company and for me personally. I believe in the company’s mission and the team, and am grateful for the opportunity to have contributed to Instacart’s growth. I intend to take time to dream up what’s next.”

Simo said in a statement that it was a mutual decision and was grateful for her contributions.

“We believe it’s the right decision for both the company and Carolyn based on our priorities and the role she was looking for at this point in her career. She’ll be staying on with us through the end of the year, and leaves as a friend to the company.”

As president of Instacart, Everson manages many divisions, including advertising, partnership services, and legal. As a result of the pandemic, grocery delivery services had flourished and recorded their first profit of $10 million in April 2020, adding 350,000 more customers to their roster.

According to CNBC, Instacart has identified its advertising business as one of its fastest-growing segments, but it is looking to expand into the cash-intensive business of quick commerce, or 15-minute delivery, to compete with the likes of DoorDash and GoPuff. It was widely expected that Instacart would go public this year, but reportedly pushed back plans in order to focus on growth. 

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