# Vetri Vellore

> Vetri Vellore is co-founder and CEO of Rhythms, co-founder and former CEO of mentoring software company Chronus, and founder of Ally.io, which Microsoft acquired in 2021. A former Microsoft corporate vice president and author of OKRs for All, he builds software concerned with mentoring, organizational goals and the routines that connect strategy with daily work.

- **Role:** Co-founder and CEO at Rhythms
- **Organizations:** Rhythms, Ally.io, Chronus, Microsoft
- **Education:** Bachelor of Engineering, Computer Science and Engineering, College of Engineering, Guindy, Master of Science, Computer Science, University of Iowa, MBA, University of Washington, Michael G. Foster School of Business
- **Known for:** Co-founded Chronus and bootstrapped the mentoring software business before its private equity acquisition in 2015., Founded Ally.io, adopted by more than 1,000 businesses in over 80 countries at the time Microsoft announced its acquisition in October 2021., Led Microsoft Viva Goals as corporate vice president.

## Career timeline

- **1993–2007** — Worked at Microsoft for 14 years, including leadership of Systems Management Server and Visual Studio teams.
- **2007** — Co-founded Chronus, a mentoring software company.
- **2015** — Chronus was acquired by private equity; his CEO tenure ended in 2015 according to his professional biographies.
- **2017** — Began pursuing Ally, the OKR business that publicly launched the following year.
- **2018** — Ally.io publicly launched in the spring.
- **2021** — Microsoft announced the acquisition of Ally.io on October 7; Vellore returned as a corporate vice president.
- **2022** — Viva Goals reached general availability in August; Wiley published OKRs for All.
- **2023** — Left Microsoft and publicly announced Rhythms in December with $26 million in seed funding.
- **2024** — Rhythms’ current company biography dates his co-founding milestone to January 2024.
- **2025** — Microsoft retired Viva Goals on December 31.

## Achievements

- Co-founded Chronus and bootstrapped the mentoring software business before its private equity acquisition in 2015.
- Founded Ally.io, adopted by more than 1,000 businesses in over 80 countries at the time Microsoft announced its acquisition in October 2021.
- Led Microsoft Viva Goals as corporate vice president.
- Authored OKRs for All, published by Wiley in 2022.
- Rhythms announced $26 million in seed funding in December 2023, co-led by Greenoaks and Madrona.

## Latest updates

- **2025-12** — Microsoft retired Viva Goals on December 31, 2025, after reporting insufficient adoption and usage growth.
- **2024-03** — Sierra Ventures published an ASCEND conversation with Vellore about OKRs, routines, stretch goals and company building.
- **2023-12** — Announced Rhythms with $26 million in seed financing co-led by Greenoaks and Madrona.

## Links

- Website: https://www.rhythms.ai/company/vetri-vellore
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/vetri-vellore
- Twitter/X: https://twitter.com/vetri_vellore

---

Profile page: https://yespress.io/vetri-vellore
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-10-21