Ben Richmond, CA – 2021 20 Under 40 Top Influencer

I grew up in a small business family in New Zealand and always enjoyed being entrepreneurial from a young age. I saw some of the challenges our family small business faced when it came to understanding the numbers and finances, so I was inspired to pursue accounting. I spent five years in public practice and was inspired to find ways through my work to change the profession for the better. I first joined Xero in New Zealand in 2013 as Sales Director. After seeing Xero go from startup to market leader, I’m now based in the US, one of the largest small business markets in the world. As US Country Manager, I oversee a team leading Xero’s growth channels and we’re working to drive the same transformation for accountants and bookkeepers and their small business clients on a much bigger scale.

Favorite books/websites/podcasts/speakers/bloggers:

Emotional Intelligence 2.0 by Travis Bradberry, Patrick Lencioni and Jean Greaves

• The Hard Thing about Things by Ben Horowitz 

• Good Boss, Bad Boss by Robert I. Sutton

• Emotional Intelligence 2.0 by Travis Bradberry, Patrick Lencioni and Jean Greaves

See all of the 2021 “40 Under 40” honorees.