While overall layoffs and job cuts are currently up across the state, hiring activity in the North Texas tech and startup scene remained strong.
Locally, more than 16 companies made new hiring moves, most of which were at the executive level. And unlike in previous month’s roundups, we didn’t report any departures or layoffs in the scene.
As a tech and startup hub, DFW also landed some recent accolades. One report by fintech company Self gave the region the No. 9 spot on its “Cities with the Most Minority-Owned Startups” list. At the same time, another report by Merchant Maverick ranked Texas as the sixth-best state for women-led startups. Those announcements come as investment numbers are as high as they have been in nearly two decades.
To help keep up with who is coming and going from North Texas, we’ve rounded up the top hires and departures in North Texas from January.
Pro tip: You can read daily updates on hirings, departures, funding, M&A and VC activity in our newsletter The Beat.
Hires
According to his LinkedIn profile, Jonathon Oudthone, the Esports Stadium Arlington former president, has found a new gig with Philadelphia-based esports network Nerd Street Gamers. Oudthone announced leaving Esports Stadium Arlington in December in a Twitter post, stating, "I know people have lots of questions. I appreciate the outreach and support, but I can't really dive into details at this time. Just know that the Stadium's voice moving forward is not the voice of the people who sacrificed blood, sweat and tears building it.” The announcement came as the Esports Observer reported all but two of the stadium’s employees.
While launching a new platform feature to help law enforcement officers find off-duty work within their community, Irving based RollKall announced hiring Tara Bryant as its new chief commercial officer. She joins the company from her previous role as CRO for K1 Investment. RollKall was acquired by Athos Group, a fellow service provider to the off-duty law enforcement industry, in May of last year for an undisclosed amount.
Irving-based Infolob Solutions, an IT consulting firm focused on Oracle technology, hired Satyebdra Kumar as a managing director of its offices in Hyderabad, India, to expand the company into the Asian-Pacific, Middle Eastern, European and Latin American markets. Before joining Infolob, Kumar served as a director of platform architecture services for Oracle.
Continuing to expand its team as it plans to move into a new HQ at the Pegasus Park development in Dallas, biotech company Taysha Gene Therapies added Timothy Douros as its new chief legal officer and corporate secretary and Tracy Porter as its new chief people officer. Douros most recently served as VP, deputy general counsel and chief IP counsel at Bluebird Bio, while Porter most recently VP and head of human resources at Audentes Therapeutics.
Fort Worth-based TimelyMD, a higher education-focused telehealth company, made several new hires to its leadership team. New hires include Dr. Nirmal Patel, senior VP of care transformation; Kelsey Cunningham, senior VP of finance; Becky Laman, senior VP of business development; Nathan Stewart, VP of student marketing; and Dr. Robert Hithcock, executive director of medical services. The moves come as the company said it has been experiencing rapid growth due to the pandemic.
Plano-based cybersecurity company INTRUSION named its co-founder Joe Head as its new senior VP of sales engineering. And in a move to boost its sales team, the company named former Southwest regional director Tina Carnow as its new VP of sales.
Filing out its 2021 season team, the Dallas Empire, the Call of Duty League esports team of Envy Gaming, added Tyler “FeLo” Johnson to its roster, pending league approval. Before joining Empire, Johnson played Tampa Bay’s Triumph Gaming.
Irving-based Summit Off Duty Services, an off-duty law enforcement staffing service company that uses local startup RollKall’s technology after Summit's parent company acquired RollKall, the Athos Group, named Tracy Fuller as its new president. Before joining Summit, Fuller served as the chief commercial officer at ACTS-Aviation Services.
After announcing the creation of an innovation and entrepreneurship task force to help support and grow the city’s startup ecosystem - co-chaired by Mandy Price, co-founder and CEO at local startup Kanarys, and Trey Bowles, co-founder and executive chairman of The DEC Network - Dallas Mayor Eric Johnson named the 13 other members of the task force.
After serving on the Denton Chamber of Commerce for more than 10 years, Hank Dickenson was appointed as director of membership for the chamber. In addition to being the chamber's former chair, Dickenson has previously served as the athletic director for UNT.
Dallas-based video SaaS startup focused on the senior living industry OneDay added to its executive leadership with two promotions and two new hires. New to the company is Eric Varin, former VP of sales and marketing at Allegro Senior Living, who joins OneDay as its VP of client success; and Victoria Repice, former VP of product management SiriusXM, who joins OneDay as its new VP of product. Moving up the ranks at OneDay is Deena Naccarella and Carter Severns. Naccarella, who most recently serves as VP of finance, will now serve as the CFO. Severns, whose previous role as director of marketing, will now serve as the VP of marketing. With the hires of Varin and Repice, OneDay has added 14 new people to its team over the last year, the company said.
Coppell-based workspace innovation company Vari boosted its executive lineup with Kevin Wierenga's addition as its new senior VP of sales, as the company looks to expand to new markets in the U.S. Wierenga joins the company from his previous role as VP of sales and strategy for furniture maker Poppin.
Dallas-based biotech company Taysha Gene Therapies named Greg Gara as its new senior VP of manufacturing and Kimberly Lee as its new senior VP of corporate communications and investor relations. Before his role at Taysha, Gara served as VP of pharmaceutical engineering at Serapta Therapeutics. Before joining Taysha, Lee served as the head of corporate strategy and investor relations for Houston's Lexicon Pharmaceuticals.
Mary Elizabeth McNeely, the president of regional technology forum Tech Titans, was appointed to 2021-22 board organizations. In addition to her role as president, McNeely also heads Tech Titans' Nominating Committee. She also serves as the president of Dallas-based McNeely Technology Solutions.
As investors push Grapevine-based video game retailer GameStop to push more into the e-commerce space, the company is expanding its board from 10 to 13 to add new industry experts. The new members are Alan Attal, the former CMO of Chewy; Ryan Cohen, the founder of Chewy and manager of RC Ventures, which has about a 13 percent stake in GameStop; and Jim Grube, the former CFO of vacation rental management company Vacasa.
Frisco-based media technology and services firm MediaKind hired Amy Marmolejo as its new CFO. Before joining MediaKind, Marmolejo served as senior VP and corporate controller of EchoStar Corporation and as the Colorado software startup Tendril's CFO.
Local nonprofit startup accelerator and business incubator TechFW named Brandy O’Quinn as its new assistant director. In addition to her role at TechFW, O’Quinn also serves as principal at Urban Strategies of Texas, a consulting firm she launched in 2007. Previously, she has served as director of local business development at the Fort Worth Chamber of Commerce and as senior manager of public affairs for the Blue Zones Project.
Adam Fliss, the former general counsel for Fort Worth- and San Francisco-based investment firm TPG, joined California healthcare investment firm Patient Square Capital as a founding partner and general counsel. Fellow founding partners include Kim Momtazee and Maria Walker, who launched the firm in August.
Advancing Identification Matters, an industry association for AIDC technology, named Tony Fonk, president and CEO of Dallas-based IoT end-to-end solutions provider SpotSee, to its board of directors. Scott Austin, senior executive VP at Everledger, and John DiPalo, CSO at ACSIS, were also added to AIM's board. Fonk will serve on the board for a two-year term.
Plano-based broadband and networking solutions provider DZS added a couple of appointments to its board of directors. Joining the board are Matt Bross and Barbara Carbone. Bross also serves as the CEO of IPX Advisors. In addition to several other boards that Carbone serves on, she is also an independent director for TrueCar, a California-based vehicle marketplace.
