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Now, here are the top hires, promotions, departures and layoffs from Austin technology startups from October 2018.
Hires, Promotions & Board Appointments
Austin mortgage tech startup FirstClose announced it has added Pat Downing as its CTO. Downing came from Mozido, a global fintech company that’s based in Austin. Prior to that, he worked at AllClearID as VP of information technology, and at Hoover’s as an IT leader, according to his LinkedIn page.
Snow Software, a software asset management company with offices in Austin, appointed Ken Schock as its chief revenue officer. He was most recently VP of sales for North America at Cloudera. Before that, he was a senior sales leader at Splunk. Snow is headquartered in Sweden, but it has operated an office in downtown Austin for a couple years.
OJO Labs, an AI-based real estate tech startup, hired Qingqing Ouyang as its VP of engineering. She was previously the head of engineering for Austin-based Main Street Hub, which was acquired by GoDaddy earlier this year. The Austin Business Journal reported that the new hire is part of a period of new growth — ramping up from roughly 100 employees at the end of May to double that by the end of the year.
Medici, an Austin telehealth and video chat startup, announced it has added Anne Jude Hunt as its VP and head of product. She was previously director of product management and data intelligence platform at Castlight Health in San Francisco. Before that, she was VP of products at Finch Computing. She is also a co-founder of Otto, Inc. and First Retail.
Fifth Wall principal Vik Chawla will join Shipwell’s board of directors as part of a $10 million Series A funding found led by Fifth Wall.
The Guild, an Austin startup that turns upscale apartments into tech-enabled hotel suites, hired Justin Krost, a former corporate finance and accounting manager at HomeAway and former director of accounting at Phunware, as its head of finance. The Guild has properties in Austin, Dallas, Miami, Cincinnati and Denver.
Vapor IO, an Austin wireless infrastructure company, announced it has added Alan Bock as VP of business development. Bock is a former VP of telco infrastructure at Crown Castle and led M&A efforts. Before that, he worked at Cypress Semiconductor and XO Communications.
Turnkey Vacation Rentals, an Austin-based full-service vacation rental property management company, announced it has added Michael Joseph and Tom Feldhusen to lead its homeowner service organization and develop owner experience in the vacation rental industry. The two were co-founders of InvitedHome, an ultra-luxury vacation rental management company. Joseph’s title is VP of owner success, and Feldhusen will be director of owner on-boarding and product.
Crunchbase News, the editorial arm of the TechCrunch-owned business information service, has hired Mary Ann Azevedo as part of its full-time crew. She’s based in Austin and has been writing articles about local startups, as well as others across the country, since last year. She has previously written for the Houston Business Journal, Crains and the Silicon Valley Business Journal.
Tethr, an Austin startup using an AI platform to provide insights from voice data, announced it is expanding its board of directors and its board of advisors. It added Admiral William Owens as a director and Roy Chestnutt and Martha Bejar as strategic advisors. Ownes, a former vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, is co-founder and chairman of Red Bison Advisory Group, and he is former chairman of CenturyLink. Chestnutt is former VP an chief strategy officer at Verizon Communications — and former CEO of Grande Communications. Bejar is co-founder and CEO of Red Bison Advisory Group, and she’s also on the board of Mitel Networks, CenturyLink and other companies — and she’s former CEO of Unium Inc. and Flow Mobile.
Karen B. DeSalvo, a public health and IT expert at the University of Texas, was inducted into the National Academy of Medicine during a ceremony in Washington, D.C. She was among 80 new members brought into the prestigious organization. DeSalvo, an Austin native, previously worked in the Obama administration as a national coordinator of health IT.
Vertify, an Austin marketing and data software company, appointed Matthew Klepac as its new CEO. Klepac was previously VP of marketing and operations at Vertify. He’s also held senior roles at RSG Media Systems and CBRE, according to his LinkedIn page. Klepac replaces Verify founder and CEO Dean Dzurilla, who had led the company for nine years and will stay around to help with the transition and continue as an advisor.
Handsome, an Austin digital design agency, appointed Jeremy Kiddas EVP of business development and client services. He was previously co-founder and CEO of Banjo Digital, which focused on augmented and virtual reality. He also previously worked at Phunware, Mutual Mobile and Nokia.
The University of Texas says it now has the CIA’s first resident intelligence officer. They even named him — Alan Kessler. All spook jokes aside, Kessler is part of the CIA’s new visiting intelligence officer program, and he’ll work with students in the LBJ School of Public Affairs until 2020. Kessler is a former UT professor, and he went on to be an officer in the CIA’s Directorate of Analysis.
Bazaarvoice, an Austin-based marketing and reviews software company, announced it hired Fritz Hesse as its new CTO. Hesse was previously VP of engineering at Mitek Systems. Before that, he held executive roles at Intuit and MaintenanceNet.
CrowdOut Capital, an online marketplace for corporate loans, added Christina Gustavson as its first controller. She previously worked as a senior accountant at C3 Entertainment and RGM Advisors in Austin. CrowdOut also added Darlene Esquivel as its Austin office manager. She was previously with Northern Trust.
Firefly Aerospace, a Cedar Park-based aerospace company that plans to carry small satellites to orbit, announced it appointed Leo Sipich as its VP of avionics. He has previously worked on commercial, military and classified spacecraft programs, including improvements to the F22, F16 and other jets.
Rock Candy Media, a digital marketing and advertising agency, recently added Graphic Designer Vandal Novacek to its team. He recently recently graduated with a BFA from Savannah College of Art and Design. Rock Candy Media also added Content Strategist Maximilian Vanegas to its creative department. He’s a graduate from the University of Delaware.
CynergisTek (NYSE: CTEK), a cybersecurity and IT company, appointed Jon Hilfiger as its new senior VP of sales and marketing. He was previously VP of sales at PhishLabs. Prior to that, he worked at SecureWorks, which was acquired by Dell in 2011.
National Instruments (Nasdaq: NATI), an Austin-based automated testing company, appointed Eric Starkloff as its president and chief operating officer. Starkloff has been with NI since 1997, and has been executive VP of global sales and marketing since 2014. The shift allows Alex Davern, who has been CEO since January 2017, to shift to long-term projects.
FirstClose, an Austin mortgage tech startup, appointed Patrick McClain as its chief financial officer and chief operating officer. McClain was most recently CFO at Xplore Technologies (NASDAQ: XPLR). He has also held as executive roles at Falconstar Software, a New York-based public company and Aurea Software.
Departures & Layoffs
Cratejoy, a curated box subscription startup in Austin, laid off 18 of its 43 employees, TechCrunch reported. Co-founder Amir Elaguizy told TC the layoffs are part of a restructuring move. The startup has raised $10.8 million in funding from investors including Charles River Ventures, Andreesen Horowitz, SV Angel, Y Combinator and Capital Factory, among others.
Moniker Guitars, an Austin startup that allowed online custom design of guitars and basses, has closed up shop. The company was founded by Boston-natives Kevin Tully and Dave Barry in 2012, who brought the company to Austin in 2015. Moniker was initially mostly bootstrapped, although it received $25,000 in seed funding from an accelerator program at Northeastern University, where Barry went to school. The company also raised about $61,000 in a Kickstarter campaign. It was also part of the SKU program in Austin in 2015.
