Tech Moves

Tech Moves: Amazon reportedly hires Box health tech exec; Bizible adds Inside Social founder as VP; and more

by Clare McGrane on July 20, 2017July 20, 2017 at 12:51 pmComment

Amazon has hired health technology executive Missy Krasner, the VP and managing director of healthcare and life sciences at cloud content management company Box, according to a report Thursday by… Read More

Tech Moves: Microsoft bringing in GE tech executive to be corporate VP of U.S. division

by Nat Levy on July 17, 2017July 17, 2017 at 9:30 pmComment

Microsoft announced Monday that Kate Johnson, currently an executive with GE, will join the Redmond tech giant as president and corporate vice president of the company’s U.S. division. The announcement… Read More

Tech Moves: Boeing makes leadership changes to focus on quality; Smartsheet adds founding Salesforce investor to board; and more

by Clare McGrane on July 13, 2017July 13, 2017 at 11:13 amComment

Boeing announced a structural reorganization this week to combine its safety, quality and manufacturing processes into one division, bringing several leadership changes along for the ride. Walt Odisho, formerly the company’s… Read More

Moz founder Rand Fishkin to step away from day-to-day operations, will remain chairman

by Taylor Soper on July 13, 2017July 13, 2017 at 12:02 pmComment

More than 16 years after launching Moz, Rand Fishkin is ready for his next adventure. Over the next six-to-nine months, Fishkin will step away from day-to-day operations at the Seattle-based… Read More

Tech Moves: Meet Social Venture Partners’ new CEO; Seattle hires new Chief Privacy Officer; and more

by Clare McGrane on July 11, 2017July 18, 2017 at 10:23 amComment

Social Venture Partners isn’t your typical venture fund. It’s a nonprofit, community-focused group that acts as an important hub for social innovation and investment in the Seattle area, and it’s… Read More

Tech Moves: Syntonic appoints AT&T, Sprint exec as chairman; former AWS engineering director leading new Russian cloud service

by Clare McGrane on July 6, 2017July 6, 2017 at 1:23 pmComment

Syntonic, a Seattle-based mobile services startup, announced a new chairman of the board Thursday: former AT&T and Sprint executive Steve Elfman. Elfman has a storied career in the mobile world, including… Read More

Tech Moves: Startup vet Bryan Zug joins Amazon’s UX team; Allen School of Computer Science adds two big players; and more

by Clare McGrane on June 30, 2017June 30, 2017 at 11:40 amComment

Bryan Zug is a familiar face in the Seattle startup world. He’s an entrepreneur and product design expert himself, but he’s also an avid adviser and organizer of the startup… Read More

Pioneer Square Labs hires Madrona Venture Group’s Julie Sandler as new managing director

by Taylor Soper on June 29, 2017June 30, 2017 at 1:00 pmComment

For the past five years, Julie Sandler has immersed herself in the startup world as an investor, advisor, and mentor, traveling around the country and meeting entrepreneurs at accelerators, incubators,… Read More

Tech Moves: LinkedIn China president resigns; Amperity adds to leadership board; and more

by Clare McGrane on June 26, 2017June 26, 2017 at 11:34 amComment

Derek Shen, the president of LinkedIn China, has reportedly resigned from his role at the Microsoft-owned company. The news was originally reported by the South China Morning Post and has… Read More

Tech Moves: Longtime Zillow exec Chloe Harford finds new home at OfferUp; Exec in charge of Amazon Go joins Opendoor; etc.

by Clare McGrane on June 20, 2017June 21, 2017 at 11:24 amComment

Longtime Zillow executive Chloe Harford is leaving the real estate tech company to join OfferUp as the company’s new vice president of product, GeekWire has learned. Harford was among Zillow’s first employees and… Read More

Tech Moves: Amperity preps for launch with new VP of marketing; Bungie CFO joins mixed reality startup; and more

by Clare McGrane on June 15, 2017June 15, 2017 at 11:35 amComment

Amperity — a stealth-mode, AI-fueled marketing startup led by two Seattle startup veterans — has piqued the curiosity of many since GeekWire first reported on its $9 million seed round last year. The company… Read More

Former Microsoft VP named CEO of Unify Square, a startup that helps businesses deploy Skype

by John Cook on June 14, 2017June 14, 2017 at 3:52 pmComment

John Case, the former corporate vice president of global marketing, product management, and business teams for Office and Office 365, has been named CEO of Unify Square, according to his LinkedIn… Read More

Tech Moves: Cambia Grove founder joins AWS as liaison to healthcare industry; VC Sheila Gulati joins Snapsheet board; etc.

by Clare McGrane on June 14, 2017June 15, 2017 at 1:26 pmComment

Cambia Grove, a hub for healthcare startups and entrepreneurs, announced Wednesday that founder and executive director Nicole Bell is leaving the company to join Amazon Web Services (AWS) as a… Read More

Tech Moves: Smartsheet scoops up AWS VP; theMaven adds new co-chairman; and more

by Clare McGrane & Nat Levy on June 8, 2017June 8, 2017 at 10:22 amComment

Smartsheet has some serious momentum. Fresh off a $52 million funding round, the Bellevue-based collaborative work management technology company brought in Gene Farrell to be its senior vice president of… Read More

Tech Moves: Zillow CFO joins Apptio board, Starbucks SVP joins Salesforce as communications chief, and more

by Monica Nickelsburg & Nat Levy on June 1, 2017June 1, 2017 at 4:04 pmComment

— Apptio, the Bellevue, Wash. company that makes software to help CIOs better understand spending in IT departments, has added Zillow Chief Financial Officer Kathleen Philips to its board. According to a… Read More

Zulily CEO Darrell Cavens joins OfferUp board, sees big things ahead for the Craigslist rival

by Nat Levy on May 31, 2017May 31, 2017 at 9:17 amComment

As it continues to grow, OfferUp will have another guiding voice in its corner with experience building a fast-growing retail operation in the Pacific Northwest: Darrell Cavens, co-founder and CEO of… Read More

Tech Moves: Amperity adds former Facebook engineering leader; Ex-Amazon talent director joins Outreach; and more

by Clare McGrane on May 25, 2017May 25, 2017 at 12:11 pm 2 Comments

Dave Fetterman has had what you might call an illustrious career. He earned two degrees from Harvard, spent his first two years out of college as a software design engineer… Read More

Tech Moves: Planetary Resources adds space law expert as general counsel; Comcast appoints Washington state VP; and more

by Clare McGrane on May 22, 2017May 22, 2017 at 3:41 pm1 Comment

Planetary Resources, the asteroid-mining company headquartered in Redmond, Wash., is getting a little extra help as it ventures toward the stars. The company announced the appointment of space law expert Brian Israel… Read More

Tech Moves: REI CIO named CTO at Lululemon; PicMonkey CEO hands reins to new leader; and more

by Clare McGrane on May 15, 2017May 16, 2017 at 10:42 am 3 Comments

REI Chief Information Officer Julie Averill is leaving the company to join activewear retailer Lululemon as executive vice president and chief technology officer, GeekWire has learned. “Thrilled to welcome Julie Averill to… Read More

Tune adds former Oracle and Simply Measured execs to leadership board

by Clare McGrane on May 15, 2017May 15, 2017 at 11:30 am 4 Comments

Tune, the fast-growing Seattle-based mobile marketing analytics company, announced two big additions to its leadership board Monday: former Oracle exec Ryan Buma joins the company as its Chief Commercial Officer and… Read More

Seattle entrepreneur Matt Hulett joins Pioneer Square Labs to pursue new ideas in eSports

by John Cook on May 13, 2017May 14, 2017 at 11:06 amComment

Pioneer Square Labs is adding some bench strength. The Seattle-based startup studio, which has already spun out companies such as AdLightning, LumaTax, Boundless and JetClosing, has tapped longtime Seattle entrepreneur… Read More

Tech Moves: Meet Microsoft Research Labs’ new director; Accolade adds key execs; and more

by Clare McGrane on May 9, 2017May 9, 2017 at 6:00 pmComment

In a surprise move last week, Jeannette Wing — a noted computer scientist and corporate vice president of Microsoft Research — announced she would be stepping down from her role at the Redmond,… Read More

Tech Moves: Naveen Singh, son of tech vet Steve Singh, named Center CEO; PicMonkey co-founder joins Knack; and more

by Clare McGrane on May 1, 2017May 1, 2017 at 10:55 am1 Comment

Being the son of a tech pioneer is a big pair of shoes to fill, but Naveen Singh doesn’t seem to be missing a beat. He’s the son of longtime… Read More

Tech Moves: 9Mile Labs co-founder Sanjay Puri joins Avalara; open-standards advocate leaves Microsoft; Amplero board adds big names

by Clare McGrane on April 25, 2017April 25, 2017 at 10:01 amComment

Tax automation startup Avalara has been quietly stocking up on high-profile tech leadership for the past few months, and they just landed another well-known leader from the startup world. The company confirmed to… Read More

Tech Moves: ReplyYes adds to executive team; Juno announces new leaders; and more

by Clare McGrane on April 20, 2017April 19, 2017 at 3:57 pmComment

ReplyYes, a fast-growing, chat-based commerce startup, announced three additions to the company’s executive board this week: former Zulily engineer Trevor Inman, former Qumulo exec Brett Goodwin, and Blackberry and Warner Music… Read More

Tech Moves: Concur co-founder Raj Singh joins Avalara’s board; Winshuttle adds execs; and more

by Clare McGrane on April 12, 2017April 12, 2017 at 4:32 pm1 Comment

If you’re running a software startup in Seattle, Raj Singh is the kind of person you’d want as an advisor. Singh, who helped launch expense management company Concur — which… Read More

Tech Moves: Ex-Pandora CEO Brian McAndrews joins Placed board; Moovel names CTO; and more

by Clare McGrane on April 6, 2017April 6, 2017 at 8:23 amComment

Location-based data startup Placed is having a good year. The company announced Thursday that it is now working with over 250 partners to track the effectiveness of mobile ads, and… Read More

Tech Moves: Institute for Systems Biology names president to replace Lee Hood; Seattle VC moves to Silicon Valley; new F5 CEO gets started

by Clare McGrane on April 3, 2017April 3, 2017 at 3:48 pmComment

Seventeen years after founding the Institute for Systems Biology (ISB), spurring the creation of systems biology as a field, genomics and biotechnology pioneer Lee Hood is stepping down as its… Read More

Tech Moves: Amazon hires community engagement director; Marchex’s CRO resigns; and more

by Clare McGrane on March 28, 2017March 28, 2017 at 1:37 pm1 Comment

Amazon doesn’t have a great reputation when it comes to community engagement. It’s been at the center of public rancor over rapid development of its Seattle campus and the skyrocketing… Read More

Tech Moves: Crowd Cow adds Julep and Blue Nile vet as COO; VRstudios gets a new CEO; and more

by Clare McGrane on March 22, 2017March 22, 2017 at 11:30 amComment

Crowd Cow, a Seattle-based startup focused on the delivery of sustainable meat products, announced a big new addition this week: retail tech vet Dwight Gaston has joined the company as its… Read More