Stephen Krauss – President, N. America @ Ooni
Our Herd Freed Hartz executive search team was honored to partner with Ooni, on a nationwide retained search to find their new President, N. America in Austin, TX.
Ooni launched the home pizza cooking revolution more than ten years ago and, today, Ooni is recognized as the global brand leader.
This startup success story began with a spark of an idea ‑ borne of our founders’ frustration in not being able to cook high-quality pizza at home. Launched from a Kickstarter campaign in 2012, Ooni has gone on to achieve global success, with $200M+ global revenues, a category‑leading range of pizza oven products, and a team of skilled, passionate people in different markets around the world.
Ooni customers love being cooking heroes for creating authentic Neapolitan-style pizzas in 60 seconds! You will find their products in top retailers including: Lowe’s, Ace, Dick’s Sporting Goods, Best Buy, Williams Sonoma, Nordstrom, Sur La Table, REI, World Market, Scheels, and Bass Pro Shops.
Ooni is headquartered in Edinburgh, Scotland. Under the direction of co-founders, the husband-and-wife team of Kristian Tapaninaho and Darina Garland, they remain privately-held without any external investment. And, as a B‑Certified Corporation Ooni donates 1% back to the planet, exemplifying our triple bottom line approach. In 2020, they were recognized as the UK’s Entrepreneur of the Year; and received “Best Places to Work” awards in 2022 and 2024.
At Ooni, they have always been driven by huge ambition. Not content with our historic success, Ooni now has their sights on the horizon – trailblazing cooking products that feed both people and planet.
They recognize that in order to achieve this goal, they need to continue to build a stronger base of operations to grow and lead the pizza oven category in Ooni’s #1 market – the US and Canada.
“We are absolutely thrilled to welcome Stephen Krauss to the Ooni family as President of North America,” said Kristian Tapaninaho, Founder and Co-CEO of Ooni. “Stephen’s history of driving growth and his forward-thinking vision fit perfectly with Ooni’s mission to create moments of joy and connection through trailblazing products that elevate the cooking experience. He’s the ideal person to help us strengthen our roots, elevate our innovation, and keep pushing the boundaries of what’s possible at Ooni.” Read full Ooni Press Release
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