Yuchun Lee and Mark Magnacca—long-time entrepreneurs with successful careers in different industries—launched Allego in 2013 to transform how people learn and succeed at work. In the process, they redefined sales enablement and disrupted an entire market.

The founding team realized that traditional sales training was broken. It relied on one-size-fits-all material in marathon sessions that were soon obsolete and forgotten. The time was right for agile, on-demand, personalized training that leveraged the strengths of mobile technology and interactive video.

Together, we invented a new approach to deliver training, coaching, and content at the moment of need. Ten years later, our platform has grown from video coaching to a full suite that encompasses AI-powered modern learning, content management, and conversation intelligence.

Today, Allego’s mission remains ensuring that salespeople have the skills and knowledge they need to succeed.

The “Aha” Moment

Yuchun and Mark had known each other for 15 years when an “aha moment” at a training session led to their collaboration. Prior to Allego, Yuchun co-founded and served as CEO of marketing automation provider Unica, guiding it through a successful IPO and sale to IBM.

Mark, author, speaker, trainer and advisor, helped financial service companies build their businesses and improve their selling practices as founder of Insight Development Group, Inc., a leading sales and presentation training firm.

The aha moment happened during a client engagement in 2012, when Mark noticed that the company had purchased iPads for its entire sales force. Part of the training required salespeople to practice their delivery and Mark thought there was a way to leverage this new mobile device. That was the start of Allego.

Here are the top 10 milestones of the Allego journey.

1. Launching an iPad App for Video Coaching

Mark envisioned an app that would solve storage and speed constraints of the early iPad. Yuchun was intrigued by the idea of using mobile technology and video to transform sales. He thought that instead of creating an app, Mark should think about being in the software business.

They launched a startup and in 2013 released the app that would become the Allego platform. During the pandemic, this technology was used to support the Ventilator Training Alliance (VTA) app, designed to assist medical professionals with a centralized repository of ventilator training resources.

2. Creating a Company and a Culture

Allego quickly outgrew its startup space, moving into a new headquarters and attracting customers and employees to this new marketspace. The founders were committed to building a strong culture along with revenue growth.

They established seven Operating Principles—problem solving, embracing mistakes, customer focus, growth mindset, and more—and began to recognize employees who demonstrate those principles in action.

Fun from the early days such as the AllegoRhythms singing group, sales gong, corn hole competitions, and champagne or apple juice toasts grew into traditions as the company welcomed new team members.

3. Building an Ecosystem

Allego engaged key industry partners to provide technical integrations and expertise to our customers. Starting with Allego’s plug-in for Salesforce.com and our strategic partnership with Matrix Achievement, our ecosystem helps our customers accelerate the capabilities of their sales organization. Our partner marketplace now includes leading organizations serving sales, training, and learning professionals across industries.

4. Analysts Take Notice

The market was quick to note the impact of Allego’s app and the success of the business. We were tapped as a Gartner® Cool Vendor for CRM Sales and were fifth on Inc. 500’s list of Fastest-Growing Software Companies. We have since been named Representative Vendor in Gartner® Market Guide for Sales Enablement Platforms and Revenue Enablement Platforms, Forrester’s Now Tech: Sales Enablement Automation Report, and Leader in Forrester Wave™: Sales Content Solutions.

Our work continues to win industry awards, including the Deloitte Technology Fast 500 Award, MassTLC Innovative Sales & Marketing Technology of the Year, Brandon Hall Group Excellence in Technology Award, and MarTech Breakthrough Best Overall Sales Enablement Software Solution Award.

5. Happy Employees

Allego’s team is small but mighty, with high scores on employee satisfaction and engagement surveys. In 2022, we were named a Boston Business Journal Best Places to Work honoree for the fifth consecutive year.

This recognition is one of many accolades confirming our ongoing commitment to our employees, including Inc. Magazine’s Annual List of Best Workplaces, The Boston Globe’s Top Places to Work in Massachusetts, and Selling Power’s 50 Best Companies to Sell For.

6. International Expansion

In 2020, we expanded overseas, opening our UK headquarters with the acquisition of Refract, a UK-based leader in sales engagement and multilingual conversation analytics, to help organizations succeed in the virtual world.

The combination of Allego and Refract strengthens our market-leading position as an all-in-one solution provider for sales enablement, including sales learning and content management, and forms the foundation for critical new sales engagement capabilities that will empower sales professionals who must excel at virtual selling.

7. Leader in Sales Content Solutions

Allego was already a known leader in sales learning when Forrester recognized us as a leader in sales content management. This was a huge validation of our place as a pioneer in the overall sales enablement space.

The Forrester Wave takes a deep dive into the top vendors in the sales content space. It highlights important innovations made by providers and, most importantly, defines the critical capabilities for the market. We were thrilled for our team, partners, and customers, especially our product developers who have continuously innovated since we first launched the solution.

8. Satisfied Customers

Today, nearly 1 million professionals in financial services, life sciences, manufacturing, tech, and other industries use Allego’s sales enablement platform to learn, collaborate, and communicate.

Allego is a market leader with deployments in one quarter of Dow Jones Industrial Average companies, 5 of the 10 largest U.S. banks, 3 of the 5 largest U.S. insurance companies, 4 of the 5 largest global medical device companies, 6 of the 10 largest U.S. wealth management companies, 14 of the 20 largest U.S. asset management companies, and many other global enterprises.

9. Industry Thought Leadership

Allego subject matter experts are sought for industry speaking engagements, podcasts, and media coverage. With the publication of Mastering Virtual Selling: Orchestrating Sales Success, the co-founders released an all-in-one guide that provides sales professionals with proven methodologies, actionable best practices and relatable anecdotes to compete successfully in a virtual world. Inspiring interviews with sales and learning leaders on The Adapter’s Advantage podcast, launched in 2020, help listeners adapt to a rapidly changing world.

10. Groundbreaking Innovation

From video coaching to modern learning to sales content management to conversation intelligence, AI virtual coaches, digital sales rooms, and more, we have introduced multiple groundbreaking innovations across the entire spectrum of sales enablement to help companies win over their sellers and buyers.

Some of the core themes that influence us today have been with us from the start of the company. We observed the evolving role of sales learning from formal, instructor-led training to becoming part of the essential enablement experiences that reps count on day-to-day to help themselves. We noted the convergence of capabilities into more useful solutions and sales enablement, and the transformative impact of AI for sales teams and marketing teams.

At Allego, our product strategy is informed by market insights, customer feedback, technology innovations, and continuous research. Looking ahead, we’ll continue to mine trends and anticipate buyer and seller behavior to see patterns that will drive our roadmap. Here’s to the next 10 years!

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