# Toby Gabriner

> Toby Gabriner is the CEO of Help Scout, a Boston-based customer support platform serving over 12,000 businesses. A four-time CEO and five-time president with more than two decades of scaling B2B software companies, Gabriner grew Adap.tv from $200K to $200M+ in revenue before its $465M acquisition by AOL in 2013, transformed Bitly from a link shortener into a multi-product analytics platform, and led AdRoll's evolution into NextRoll. A Mission District native who started community college after being kicked out of home at 18, he now brings a customer-first philosophy to Help Scout at the precise moment AI is reshaping customer support.

- **Role:** Chief Executive Officer at Help Scout
- **Organizations:** Help Scout, Bitly, NextRoll, AdRoll, Adap.tv, Freestyle Interactive, Carat Interactive, [x+1], Tribal Fusion, Adzilla, MAGNIFI.FM
- **From:** San Francisco, United States
- **Nationality:** American
- **Education:** MBA / MS MIS, Boston University School of Management, BA, Political Science and Government, Occidental College, Associate-level coursework, Community College
- **Known for:** Grew Adap.tv revenue from $200K to over $200M in four years, Led Adap.tv's $465M acquisition by AOL in 2013, Four-time CEO and five-time president of technology companies

## Career timeline

- **1990s** — Started career at Parenting Magazine after being kicked out of home at 18; attended community college before transferring to a four-year college
- **2000** — Founded Freestyle Interactive, a digital agency
- **2003** — Freestyle Interactive acquired by Carat; became President of Carat Interactive
- **2005** — CEO of [x+1], an early demand-side platform
- **2009** — Joined Adap.tv as President and CEO
- **2013** — Adap.tv acquired by AOL for $465M after growing revenue from $200K to $200M+ in four years
- **2016** — Joined AdRoll as Strategic Adviser; appointed President of AdRoll
- **2017** — Named CEO of AdRoll (succeeding co-founder Aaron Bell)
- **2019** — Led AdRoll Group rebrand to NextRoll; launched NextRoll Platform Services
- **2020** — Joined Bitly as Chief Executive Officer
- **2022** — Expanded Bitly's product suite into QR codes and campaign analytics beyond link shortening
- **2025** — Joined Help Scout as Chief Executive Officer

## Achievements

- Grew Adap.tv revenue from $200K to over $200M in four years
- Led Adap.tv's $465M acquisition by AOL in 2013
- Four-time CEO and five-time president of technology companies
- Transformed Bitly from a single-purpose link shortener into a multi-product digital engagement platform
- Led AdRoll's rebrand to NextRoll and expansion into marketing technology platform services
- At Tribal Fusion, grew international sales from 10% to over 20% of total revenue
- Achieved $300M+ annual revenue run rate at AdRoll during his tenure

## Latest updates

- **2025-01** — Named Chief Executive Officer of Help Scout, succeeding founder Nick Francis
- **2020-01** — Joined Bitly as CEO and led transformation into multi-product link management and analytics platform
- **2019-09** — Led AdRoll Group rebrand to NextRoll and launched NextRoll Platform Services

## Links

- Website: https://www.helpscout.com
- LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/tobygabriner
- Twitter/X: https://twitter.com/tgabriner

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/toby-gabriner
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-05-14