It was a busy end of October and start of November, so we're checking in a little later than usual with our monthly Austin tech hiring and departures roundup. Not to worry. We'll cover all of those key October hires -- and share a few big announcements from the start of November, too.
Among highlights: Techstars launched a new accelerator and brought on UnLtd USA Founder Zoe Schlag; Mac McMillan returned to CynergisTek as CEO; and Women@Austin Founder Jan Ryan became director of a new creative entrepreneurship program at The University of Texas.
We track key hiring announcements and departures in the Austin Inno Beat newsletter, along with insights on how personnel moves may impact a startup’s future. Sign up for the Beat to get it each day in your inbox.
Now, here are the most important hires, promotions, departures and layoffs from Austin technology startups in October 2017. If I missed someone, let me know by emailing bwistrom@americaninno.com.
RetailMeNot, Inc., a digital and in-store discount company, appointed John Adcock as senior vice president of people. He was most recently vice president of human resources at HomeAway. Before that, Adcock served in a variety of HR roles at Dell.
TurnKey Vacation Rentals, Inc., appointed Jen Ford as its chief financial officer. Ford was most recently vice president of finance at Snap Kitchen. But it’s her experience as director of investor relations at HomeAway through the period HomeAway IPOed that was perhaps most attractive to TurnKey, which markets and manages high-end vacation rentals in 55 markets across the U.S.
Mitch Jacobson, who used to lead the Austin Technology Incubator's clean energy division, has been named director of ATI. He replaces Isaac Barchas, who left in 2016. Jacobson is on the board of directors of the Texas Foundation for Innovation & Commercialization and CleanTX. His long resume includes being general manager of Europe at Dell, a founder and general partner at Eyes of Texas Partners and vice chairman of the Clean Energy Alliance.
theCHIVE appointed former Moelis & Company investment banker Mike Grisko as its new CFO. Grisko replaces Doug Schaaf, theCHIVE's CFO and co-founder. Schaaf co-founded the company with brothers Leo and John Resig. It now has 160-plus employees and more than $60 million in revenue. Schaaf will be staying in Austin and is now focusing on investing and helping other companies scale.
Concordia University’s new Incubator for Innovation and Impact appointed its first director. Kristin Spindler, an investor and mentor with the Central Texas Angel Network and founder of a real estate investment firm.
eRelevance Corporation, a marketing automation service for small- to medium-size businesses, appointed Chris Greta as its first chief creative officer. Greta was most recently the senior brand architect, creative director and creative facilitator at The 24 Hour Brand. Prior to that, Greta founded The Ad Ranch, which was acquired by Catapult Systems. He also formed Slingrock.com, an interactive marketing agency.
David Kirchhoff, the former Weight Watchers executive who became Snap Kitchen's CEO in 2015, is stepping down. He's leaving to become CEO of iFly Holdings, the Austin indoor skydiving company, the ABJ reports. Snap Kitchen promoted COO Dale Easdon to CEO.
The College of Fine Arts at The University of Texas appointed Jan Ryan to a newly created position -- director of creative entrepreneurship and innovation. Ryan, founder of the Women@Austin group for women executives and tech leaders, will be building a new entrepreneurship program at the university. Ryan has an extensive resume, including working with or leading companies through several acquisitions and an IPO. She's also a partner at Capital Factory and a mentor with Techstars.
Forcepoint, a prominent cybersecurity company, promoted Sean D. Berg as senior vice president and general manager of global governments. Berg, who jointed Forecpoint from Polycom in May this year as head of G2 sales. He will be based in Forcepoint's office in Herndon, Va.
CynergisTek, Inc., a healthcare cybersecurity company, appointed Mac McMillan as CEO. McMillan was previously president and chief strategy officer there -- and he was also a member of the board. McMillan replaces Joe Flynn, who resigned and is stepping down from the board. Flynn is pursuing an opportunity as CEO at a private company, CynergisTek said. Meanwhile, the company appointed Judy Krandel, CFO of SNAP Interactive, Inc., to its board of directors. And it named Angela Rivera as executive vice president of operations.
Techstars launched Techstars Impact Accelerator in Austin this month, and it named Zoe Schlag as its managing director. Schlag is the founder of UnLtdUSA, and has worked with small businesses around the globe.
Social Solutions Global, Inc., a company that makes software for case management with nonprofits, hired Ken Saunders as chief financial officer, the ABJ reported. He was previously CFO at Sizmek Inc., and, before that CFO with Bazaarvoice Inc.
Mission Capital, an organization that assists social impact startups and nonprofits, has hired a new CEO. The organization announced Madge Vasquez will replace Matt Kouri, who left in August. Vasquez was previously director of dental operations at St. David's Foundation, the ABJ reported. She starts in January.
NSS Labs, Inc., a cybersecurity company, hired Emeka Obianwu as vice president of vendor ecosystems. Obianwu was previously vice president of worldwide channel sales at Ping Identity, which had acquired UnboundID.
