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Docusign

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DocuSign
IndustrySoftware as a Service
Founded2003
HeadquartersSan Francisco, California
Key people
Keith Krach, CEO
Tom Gonser, Founder and Chief Strategy Officer
Gordon Payne, COO
Mike Dinsdale, CFO[1]
ProductsElectronic signatures
Websitedocusign.com

DocuSign is a San Francisco- and Seattle-based company that provides electronic signature technology and Digital Transaction Management services for facilitating electronic exchanges of contracts and signed documents. DocuSign’s features include authentication services, user identity management and workflow automation. Signatures processed by DocuSign are comparable to traditional signatures based on the product's compliance with the ESIGN Act[2] as well as the European Union’s Directive on eSignatures.[3]

The company has raised $210 million in financing since its founding in 2003.

History

Early Years

Tom Gonser founded DocuSign in 2003 after leaving NetUpdate, a company he founded in 1998 and ran as CEO until his departure. NetUpdate acquired several companies, including an early-stage e-signature start-up in Seattle called DocuTouch, founded by Mir Hajmiragha.[4] DocuTouch held patents on Web-based digital signatures and collaboration, but had no material revenue.

Upon leaving NetUpdate, Gonser negotiated the purchase of certain DocuTouch assets and started DocuSign. He tapped Eric Ranft as CTO and VP of engineering and Court Lorenzini as CEO. As it turned out, none of the DocuTouch technology or code base was used to build the first versions of DocuSign.[5]

DocuSign's goal was to create a simple e-signature process without requiring software or digital certificates, because the e-signature tools in the market were too complex and had not grown despite their tremendous potential for streamlining business.[6] DocuSign first two years were devoted to developing electronic signature technology that conformed to the Federal ESIGN Act. The company developed a browser-based electronic signature processing system by early 2004. It was among the first SaaS-based electronic signature services that did not require use of complex digital certificates.

The firm began sales in 2005 when zipForms (now zipLogix) integrated DocuSign into its virtual real estate forms.[7] Mock trials featuring licensed attorneys and real judges highlighted the admissibility of DocuSign contracts in court based on encrypted audit logs of signature events as well as the impossibility of changing contracts.[8]

Corporate Growth and Highlights

In June 2010, DocuSign added support for iPhone, iPad and phone-based user authentication.[9] DocuSign also began referring to its service as “eSignature Transaction Management” to reflect the functional growth beyond signing. By the end of 2010, the company handled 73 percent of the Saas-based electronic signature market with 80 million signatures processed.[3] Scale Venture Partners led an investment round of $27 million in December 2010.[10]

Through July 2011, DocuSign had processed a total of 500 million pages, equivalent to about 60,000 tree,s according to Techcrunch. The company made a donation to the Arbor Day Foundation that month in recognition of the positive environmental impacts of electronic signatures.[11]

Keith Krach became DocuSign's chairman of the board in January 2010 and its CEO in August 2011.[12]

DocuSign opened an office in London, England in September 2011.[13] In the same year, DocuSign opened an office in San Francisco, which now functions as its global headquarters.

DocuSign signed an agreement in April 2012 with PayPal that allowed users to capture signatures and payments in a single transaction with DocuSign Payment.[14] Similar partnerships with Salesforce,[15] the National Association of Realtors[16] and Google Drive[17] preceded the PayPal agreement.

In July 2012, Business Insider reported that about 90% of Fortune 500 companies had signed up to use DocuSign.,[18] and that the firm reached 25 million users who had completed 150 million signatures in 188 countries

On January 10, 2013, DocuSign and Equifax announced a partnership to simplify electronic delivery of the Requests for Transcript of Tax Return Form 4506-T to the United States Internal Revenue Service. Under the partnership, Equifax allows lenders to use DocuSign to securely send requests to loan applicants. DocuSign and[19] Equifax were among 14 firms that participated in a nine-month feasibility study of electronic signatures for 4506-T forms in 2011.[20]

Funding

In 2004, DocuSign raised $4.6 million from Frazier Technology Ventures.[21]

Additional rounds of investments between 2006 and 2009 raised $30 million that allowed the firm to add corporate clients and process 48 million signatures.[22]

In July 2012, DocuSign raised $47.5 million in venture funding from investors including Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers; the round later grew closer to $56 million.[23] At this time, noted venture capitalist Mary Meeker joined the Board of Directors.[24]

In March 2014, the company announced it had raised $85 million in a new funding round.[25] Though unconfirmed, the Wall Street Journal reported the round was based on a company valuation of $1.6 billion.[26]

Products and Structure

DocuSign services are offered either by subscription or for free as an app. Signatures and documents are encrypted, then treated with a hash to reveal whether the document has been tampered with or compromised.[27] The software works with major Internet browsers like Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, Internet Explorer and Apple Safari.

DocuSign Professional emails recipients an electronically signed document requesting review of a document after it is uploaded. Each party must agree to complete business electronically, review the document and apply a signature. Signatures may be added from a stored copy of a signature or generated automatically by the software. The service provides more than signature services; it allows complete “straight-through processing,” including data and forms management, work flow, signer identity proofing, remote signing and embedded, or in-person signing, plus robust data delivery and document management capabilities. Phone confirmation and background checks are offered as premium services.[28]

DocuSign and the National Association of Realtors developed DocuSign for Real Estate in 2009 to expedite real estate transactions and reduce closing costs.[29] DocuSign developed a Workgroup to provide document management services for any department within a business. These services include transaction control, data collection, workflow management and templates for business documents along with contracts.[30] DocuSign also designed Enterprise as a scalable solution for document management, capable of automating manual documentation, managing data and allowing electronic signatures.[31]

Mobile App

DocuSign released its mobile app DocuSign Ink in November 2011.[32] It is available for free and runs on Apple iOS, Google Android and Windows Phone operating systems. DocuSign Ink allows users to sign and annotate documents by attaching a stored signature, which may be created in graphic design software, captured from an image of a paper document or selected from a variety of prefabricated signatures based on the user’s legal name.[33] The saved signature can be applied to PDFs, word processing documents and images. To complete a document, participants apply their signatures and send completed documents to cloud storage for review.[34]

DocuSign Ink achieved 100,000 downloads in the first month of its release. The Apple App Store ranked DocuSign Ink as the second most downloaded productivity app in 2011.[35] In 2012, the Washington Technology Industry Association (WTIA) named DocuSign Ink the “Consumer Product or Service of the Year” after it had tied for first place the previous year.[36] ZDNet listed the app among “Must Have” iPad apps in 2012.[37]

The company shed the DocuSign Ink name for its app in March 2014. The mobile app is now known simply as DocuSign.[38]

Awards and Recognition

Professional Reviews

In October 2011, Mashable listed DocuSign as one of the “5 Ways Apps Make Salesforce Even More Valuable." [39] The company’s DocuSign Pro received four out of five dots from PC Magazine in September 2011 and praised its tagging system, auditing trail and simple interface.[28] In March 2012, Macworld noted that DocuSign is a service that has “removed a big hurdle to doing away with the printed page."[40]

Product Awards

The WTIA awarded DocuSign with the Top Commercial Tech Product or Service in 2011.[41]

Corporate Recognition

DocuSign’s workplace received recognition as one of the “Hottest Seattle Companies” by Lead411 in 2010.[42] Seattle Business Magazine also placed DocuSign on the list of the 100 Best Companies to work for in the same year.[43] In 2012, DocuSign was listed as one of Washington’s “100 Best Companies to Work For” and a “Best Place to Work in the Bay Area” by Seattle Business Magazine.[44]

Deloitte placed DocuSign on the Technology Fast 500 in 2011.[45]

National ESIGN Day

DocuSign Chief Legal Officer Kenneth Moyle lobbied in the U.S. House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate for the recognition of ESIGN's passage with National ESIGN Day. The bill was passed by the United States Congress in June 2010, and the first National ESIGN Day held on June 30, 2010.[46] Moyle would become the first lawyer admitted to the bar of the U.S. Supreme Court by submitting a membership application electronically.[47]

See also

References

  1. ^ Leadership Team. DocuSign.
  2. ^ ELECTRONIC SIGNATURES IN GLOBAL AND NATIONAL COMMERCE ACT Federal Trade Commission June 2001
  3. ^ a b DocuSign Releases Updated Version of E-Signature Software Hachman, Mark PC Magazine June 30, 2010
  4. ^ NetUpdate Buys DocuTouch National Mortgage News August 22, 2001
  5. ^ Online Signatures: DocuTouch Introduces DocuSign Internet News July 11, 2000
  6. ^ DocuSign CEO on front lines of paperless real estate process Inman News December 21, 2005
  7. ^ DocuSign Helps Customers Lower Costs Business Wire June 14, 2005
  8. ^ Work Smarter with a Tool Your Mom Can Use Bui, An DocuSign July 10, 2009
  9. ^ Docusign launches new tools to entice greater e-signature adoption Diaz, Sam ZDNetJune 30, 2010
  10. ^ Washington Startups See Spike in Investing Dollars in December Kutz, Erin Xconomy January 28, 2011
  11. ^ With a Half Billion Pages Signed, DocuSign Launches Free Edition Empson, Rip TechCrunch July 19th, 2011
  12. ^ Keith Krach: A dot-com CEO returns Helfft, Miguel "Fortune / CNN Money" October 9, 2012
  13. ^ [1] Gage, Deborah Dow Jones Private Equity & Venture Capital September 2, 2011
  14. ^ PayPal partners with DocuSign to help businesses collect signatures for online payments Brian, Matt The Next Web April 11, 2012
  15. ^ DocuSigns Delivers Close it in the Cloud! Integrated ESIGN Solutions to Salesforce Reuters November 5, 2009
  16. ^ DocuSign Unveils Exclusive REALTOR Edition Business Wire March 9, 2010
  17. ^ Google Drive Kicks Off with DocuSign Integration King, Rachel ZDNet April 24, 2012
  18. ^ At DocuSign, Keith Krach Continues His Epic 16-Year Quest To Reinvent The Business World Huspeni, Andrea Business Insider July 13, 2012
  19. ^ Helft, Miguel . "DocuSign raises $47.5 million, adds Mary Meeker to board," Fortune. Retrieved 24 March 2014.
  20. ^ [2] PR Newswire Daily Markets January 10, 2013
  21. ^ Digital signature firm raises $4.6 million Cook, John Seattle Post-Intelligencer June 14, 2004
  22. ^ DocuSign Scores $5M More Huang, Gregory Seattle Post-Intelligencer May 7, 2009
  23. ^ Marino, Jonathan. "DocuSign Beefs up its Series D & Adds Google Ventures," PE Hub. Retrieved 24 March 2014.
  24. ^ E-Signature Company DocuSign Raises $47.5M Led by Kleiner Perkins Ha, Anthony TechCrunch July 12, 2012
  25. ^ Hoge, Patrick. "DocuSign raises $85 million for electronic signatures and more," San Francisco Business Times. Retrieved 24 March 2014.
  26. ^ Rusli, Evelyn M. and Douglas MacMillan. "DocuSign Raises $85 Million at $1.6 Billion Valuation," The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 24 March.
  27. ^ E-Signatures Safer than the Real Thing, Experts Say Liebowitz, Matt NBC January 25, 2011
  28. ^ a b DocuSign Pro PC Magazine September 28, 2011
  29. ^ DocuSign for Real Estate DocuSign
  30. ^ DocuSign Workgroup DocuSign
  31. ^ DocuSign Enterprise DocuSign
  32. ^ Digital Signatures Let You Ditch That Old Fax Machine West, Angela PC Magazine January 23, 2012
  33. ^ DocuSign Ink App Enables Electronic Signatures on Android Devices Android Mag January 26, 2012
  34. ^ CES: Another Death Knell for the Fax Machine Grant, Kelli SmartMoney January 12, 2012
  35. ^ Electronic Signatures Come to the Masses Forbes November 18, 2011
  36. ^ Washington Tech Companies Recognized in Industry Awards Parkhurst, Emily Puget Sound Business Journal March 15, 2012
  37. ^ DocuSign Ink Enables Personal e-Signatures on Mobile Devices King, Rachel ZDNet November 17, 2011
  38. ^ DocuSign Spring '14 Release Update, https://www.docusign.com/support/releases
  39. ^ 5 Ways Apps Make Salesforce Even More Valuable Dhillon, Gaurav Mashable October 19, 2011
  40. ^ With Printer Sales Slowing, HP Favors PC Niccolai, James Macworld March 21, 2012
  41. ^ WTIA Winners Announced Dudley, Brier Seattle Times March 15, 2012
  42. ^ Lead411 Launches "Hottest Seattle Companies" Awards Lead 411 June 8, 2010
  43. ^ The 100 Best Companies to Work For "Seattle Business Magazine, July 2010"
  44. ^ The 100 Best CompaniesSeattle Business Magazine 2012
  45. ^ Deloitte Fast 500 Picks 24 in Northwest Scott, Alwyn Puget Sound Business Journal October 11, 2011
  46. ^ Clinton Helps DocuSign Celebrate ESIGN Anniversary Carter, Matt Inman News July 1, 2010
  47. ^ U.S. Supreme Court Accepts Electronically Signed Bar ApplicationSys-Con Media October 4, 2010
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