💡 Zoom’s secret Irish weapon

Céad míle fáilte!

Every company says it: “Our people are our greatest asset.”

But beyond the mission statements? A clunky intranet. Silent Slack channels. A weekly newsletter no one reads (except this one, obviously 😉).

What if someone actually fixed that?

Enter Workvivo, the Cork startup quietly transforming how companies connect with their people. Backed by Zoom and trusted by global brands, they blend comms, culture, and collaboration into a platform people genuinely want to use.

And unlike most SaaS providers, they actually speak human. Their social media strategy? Meme-forward, personality-packed, and refreshingly buzzword-free.

So how did a bootstrapped Irish startup become one of the world’s most relevant workplace platforms? And what can the rest of us learn from a team that takes culture and craic seriously?

Let’s dig in. ⛏️

P.S. This week’s post is a deep dive, make sure to check out the online version for a smoother reading experience:

The Founders Saw It First

Workvivo’s co-founders, John Goulding and Joe Lennon, weren’t fresh-faced startup grads. They’d already scaled CoreHR to a $40M exit and spent years in the trenches of enterprise software.

That’s what gave them an edge.

Goulding, with a background in nuclear physics and a people-first mindset, saw a structural flaw in the way most companies used tech to engage staff.

Most engagement platforms focused on dashboards and metrics, missing the human layer entirely. Goulding and Lennon flipped the model. They built a platform around employee expression, not just management visibility.

That shift? Putting culture before compliance became Workvivo’s blueprint.

Here’s what Workvivo understood before others did:

💬 Digital Comms ≠ Digital Culture

Most “intranet replacements” failed because they mimicked bulletin boards: top-down, static, transactional.

Workvivo borrowed from consumer platforms instead, creating a space where updates, values, peer shoutouts, and conversations all live in one feed.

This wasn’t accidental. It was deliberate product strategy:

The result? Adoption isn’t mandated. It’s natural.

👨‍👩‍👧‍👧 Belonging > Broadcast

Workvivo is built around cultural visibility, not just messaging.

Employees don’t just see updates, they see value-driven behaviours, peer recognition, and real success stories that reinforce identity.

That’s the “culture glue” remote orgs are scrambling to recreate.

🐊 It’s Not a Tool, It’s an Ecosystem

Workvivo integrates with HRIS systems, Slack, Teams, and learning platforms, becoming the emotional operating system of a company.

It’s not the loudest tool. It’s the one that keeps people connected.

Workvivo recently launched Have You Heard? A bite-sized series delivering quick, engaging deep-dives into standout features and tips for improving workplace engagement.

Check out Episode 1 to see the platform in action:

Timing was everything but so was focus

Workvivo was bootstrapped early on, giving it focus over flash. Then 2020 hit and remote work became the new norm.

The companies that talked about culture suddenly had to build it fast, and online.

While others scrambled to adapt, Workvivo was already there.

That year, growth surged 200%. Eric Yuan, founder of Zoom, took notice and became an investor.

By 2023, Zoom had acquired the company outright.

Zoom didn’t buy Workvivo for intranet features. They bought it to fill a critical gap.

As Zoom expanded its collaboration suite with Phone, Rooms, Events, it lacked a space for asynchronous culture.

Workvivo offered:
☑️ A strong product with high NPS
☑️ Clear positioning post-Meta’s Workplace shutdown
☑️ Deep traction in hard-to-engage industries (healthcare, airlines, logistics)

It turned Zoom into more than a meetings app. It made them a one-stop shop for enterprise collaboration and employee engagement.

📖 Read more about Workvivo’s impact:

Kicking on’

🥇 Winning the Meta Moment (May 2024)

Meta tapped Workvivo to support Workplace migrations beating out bigger players. It wasn’t just a contract, it was a signal. Workvivo is leading the category now.

👥 A Bigger Team, Same Heart (Sept 2024)

Workvivo now employs 345 people, up 39% YoY. The team is global, but Cork remains HQ keeping the company grounded in its Irish DNA.

📈 Growth That’s Hard to Ignore (Feb 2025)

It’s not just sticky. It scales.

🤖 AI That Speaks Human (April 2025)

Workvivo AI launched in 2025, powered by Zoom’s AI Companion. But this isn’t just another assistant.

It’s AI built to connect, not just automate:

It’s not just AI that works. It’s AI that feels human.

🔮 What’s Next?

From a culture-first Cork startup to a global platform redefining workplace connection, Workvivo’s rise proves what happens when product, purpose, and personality align.

In the hybrid era, it’s no longer a question of whether companies will invest in culture it’s about who they’ll trust to build it.

And from Cork to California, Workvivo is already answering that call.

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