Elliot Kim appointed as CEO of Checkbox
Checkbox, the trusted survey platform that powers research operations globally, is proud to announce the appointment of Elliot Kim as Chief Executive Officer.
With a career spanning engineering, product, and leadership roles at some of the most respected names in tech, Elliot joins Checkbox at a pivotal moment in its journey. His appointment signals a renewed ambition to build a human-centric, purpose-driven technology company dedicated to advancing research excellence.
Why Elliot is excited to join Checkbox
"There were many positive reasons why joining Checkbox was an opportunity I couldn't pass up," says Elliot. "The timing was good, as I took time off to focus on my family and personal life in 2024."
Polychrome's new office in Amsterdam was also a factor, as the company is hiring locally to give the company the brightest future.
"Prior to 2024, I'd worked remotely since the pandemic and I knew I wanted to work in an office in my next role. There are many pros to working from home or remotely, but I missed interacting in person and making human connections.
"I've also wanted to team up with Matt Althauser for many years. We've tried working together a couple of times since our days at Optimizely, where we developed a mutual respect and admiration for each other."
Elliot brings over two decades of experience across engineering, product, and executive leadership. He previously held leadership roles at companies such as Optimizely, Sauce Labs, Mixmax, and most recently Polychrome, where he served as COO during a high-growth phase at the intersection of AI and enterprise productivity.
“We asked Elliot to advise our team late last year so this has been a long process to get a leader of his caliber,” reveals Matt Althauser. “After he started helping out, we both realized that Checkbox had historically underinvested on technical leadership and firepower for years.
“We needed a leader that could not only engage with customers and provide a vision to the team, but also someone that could drive the execution of the day-to-day team to up-level across the board.”
Why now was the right time
Elliot has joined as CEO at a pivotal moment for not just Checkbox, but also the company's core clients.
"The world needs research more than ever," explains Elliot. "It's the bedrock of human progress – from space exploration to medical breakthroughs. But in the US, where much of the world's research originates, the future is uncertain. Major funding bodies like the NSF, NIH, and NASA science programs face projected cuts of over 50% in 2026, which means research programs and university courses could be downsized, defunded or disappear entirely.
"The world needs research more than ever. It's the bedrock of human progress – from space exploration to medical breakthroughs. But in the US, where much of the world's research originates, the future is uncertain."
Checkbox has a vital role to play: helping researchers do more with less. With the company's strong foundation of profitability, zero debt, and hundreds of happy clients, Checkbox is in a unique position to scale its impact.
An exciting moment in Checkbox's journey
Checkbox has long been a critical enabler of research programs worldwide. Its technology is known for its robustness, reliability, and customer trust.
"Checkbox is primed to succeed," says Elliot. "We have a two-decade track record of proven impact with hundreds of well-established customers and a strong product-market fit."
"Checkbox is primed to succeed. We have a two-decade track record of proven impact with hundreds of well-established customers and a strong product-market fit."
Checkbox's strong foundation enables it to realign its purpose toward empowering researchers in a time of uncertainty.
“Elliot is not only a strong engineering leader, but also an amazing leader for any team,” adds Matt. “He is laser focused on getting the right people on the bus and coaching them to do the best work of their careers. We're lucky to get to work with him.
“Elliot's career has been focused on leveraging insights and feedback to build better outcomes, the exact mission that he set for the business after joining. He understands the positive impact research and insights can have when people are ready to hear it and implement findings for positive change.”
What we want to achieve at Checkbox
Elliot brings a vision that's grounded in purpose and sustainability.
"In overly simplistic terms, there are companies that give and companies that take," he said. "In order to achieve success, some companies even cause harm to people, to the environment, to the economy."
Elliot has identified attaining B Corp certification – which signifies that a company meets high standards of social and environmental performance, transparency, and accountability – as a way to provide structure and accountability for the direction Checkbox is taking.
"I want Checkbox to be a positive contributor to those we do business with. I believe the B Corp movement is a useful framework that aligns with our values and intentions."
Attaining B Corp certification is one of the intended milestones on this journey, but it's just one goal in an ongoing mission that Elliot feels passionate about: achieving sustainable and responsible growth.
"We strive for excellence, but the means are as important as the results. Like every for-profit business, growth is the primary indicator of whether our efforts at Checkbox are succeeding or not. My aim is to grow sustainably and responsibly.
"We don't have the exaggerated time pressures of a VC-backed startup, which presents us with an opportunity to be thoughtful and intentional rather than making rash decisions, feeling like our backs are against the wall.
Sustainability is a major priority for our finances, the well-being of our team members, and building trust and credibility with the market. We want to build the company in such a way that every team member is proud of who we are, what we stand for and what we do. This should be visible and evident to the rest of the world, particularly those we interact with, like our customers and vendors."
"We want to build the company in such a way that every team member is proud of who we are, what we stand for and what we do."
Elliot's vision for Checkbox
Led by Elliot, the Checkbox team is refounding the company around a new vision: "We exist to power research for insights that drive positive change."
"Leveraging my background in engineering, I'm guiding Checkbox to become a human-centric technology company with innovation at its core," says Elliot.
This new chapter marks more than a leadership change, it's a reaffirmation of Checkbox's belief in the power of research, and in building a company that gives more than it takes.
