Austin is a magnet for tech talent, and its universities continue to churn out ambitious new prospects. It also remains among the top ranked metros in terms of how far tech salaries go based on cost of living factors.
That means a lot of new executive hires -- not to mention departures and layoffs. We track these movements of human capital in our daily newsletter, the Beat.
Below, we’ve listed the top Austin tech and startup hires we spotted in June.
The City of Austin named Veronica Briseño as its new director of economic development. She has been with the city since 1999, and she is currently the interim homeless strategy officer, the ABJ reported. The position can be key in the tech world since many larger companies, such as Apple and Amazon, often look to the city’s economic development office when relocating a headquarters or opening a large satellite office.
Alamo Angels, a group of investors and mentors in San Antonio that has made investments in Austin startups, named Kim Biffle as its new CEO. She brings more than a decade of experience from the Witte Museum, where she was a director in charge of an annual fund and VP of external affairs and chief of engagement, the San Antonio Business Journal reported.
Rock Candy Media, an Austin marketing firm, announced it hired Nicholas Garza as its director of social media. Garza was previously digital marketing manager for Estancia Brazilian Steakhouse and digital brand manager at Gnarza Design.
Telestax, an Austin communications-platform-as-a-service startup, hired Patrick Bonnaure as its new CFO. He was previously COO of Austin-based Swivel and, before that, VP of finance and operations at TrustRadius. The company also added former Network Instruments VP of Marketing Veena Badgama as Telestax’s new VP of marketing.
Modernize, an Austin-based lead generation company for the home improvement industry, appointed Bob Bearden as its CFO. He was previously CFO of Outdoorsy and uShip in Austin, according to his LinkedIn profile.
Austin-based cybersecurity company Forcepoint added Shayne Higdon as COO. He’ll be based in Austin. He was most recently senior VP of ESO strategy and operations for BMC, which was acquired by KKR.
OJO Labs, an AI-focused real estate tech startup in Austin, hired Drew Miller, a former frog design executive creative director as its senior director of customer experience. The move follows OJO Labs’ $45 million Series C round and as it continues to expand.
Austin-based public relations agency Kickstand Communications added Tracey Workman as an account director. She’ll be based in Austin. Prior to this, she was account director at InkHouse Media + Marketing with cybersecurity clients including Raytheon, Okta and Carbon Black.
Bill Nye joined the advisory board of Hypergiant, the rapidly-expanding AI-focused company led by CEO Ben Lamm. Nye said he is especially interested in working with Hypergiant on AI for applications in climate change and space exploration. Hypergiant also added several other high profile leaders to its executive advisory board. Those include General Lance Lord, a retired four-star Air Force general and chairman of L2 Aerospace; Sangeeta Mudnal, a senior leader for AI ethics in Microsoft Research Labs; John McKinley, a former CTO of News Corp, GE Capital and AOL; former Tribeca Enterprises CEO Andrew Essex; Magical CEO and co-founder of The Arch Mission Foundation Nova Spivack; Align Capital founder Lisa Harris; astronaut Andrew Allen; Precurve President Lloyd Walker; L2 Aerospace CEO James Royston; former Dell executive and Brightstar Capital Partners senior partner Tom Meredith; and serial entrepreneur and AI leader Andy Hickl.
Austin workplace software company Planview added Marc Cannon as its chief customer officer. His background includes stints at Convio, Bazaarvoice, Blackbaud, Adobe and Accenture.
AI search company Adthena, which has its U.S. HQ in Austin, announced several new executives. Those include TrendKite and Spiceworks alum Jennifer Cantu as VP of people; former Procoresales leader Sundeep Goel as VP of sales in North America; and Vasanth John, formerly of Madano, Chelsea Apps Factory and DHL, as VP of engineering.
CynergisTek named Carrie Whysall as its director of managed security systems. She’ll lead the company’s vendor security management, managed security services and medical device security divisions. Prior to this, Whysall was senior director of security for Ascension Information Services.
Locally based payment tech company AffiniPay named Tom West as its new CEO. He takes over for Amy Porter, who founded the company in 2005 and is now becoming executive chairman of the board of directors. West has been leading AffiniPay’s expansion efforts for about a year, and he was previously CEO and president at JC Whitney and Springbox. He also had leadership positions at Dell and Bain & Company.
