In July, individual North Texas tech companies and startups have announced plans to collectively hire nearly 300 workers. And that’s attracting more tech talent to the region.
According to a CompTIA analysis of Burning Glass Technologies Labor Insights data, the DFW-area saw a 24 percent increase in the number of tech job openings between the first and second quarters, a number beaten only by Miami, Phoenix and Austin. Last month saw some of those positions filled, with at nearly 20 companies adding to their leadership and a handful of other naming new board members, with one of the most active being Dallas real estate tech startup Dottid, which filled two C-suite positions and a VP of engineering role.
While July didn’t see scores of workers leave the scene due to layoff, a number of local leaders departed the North Texas ecosystem last month. The most notable of those was Jack Blount, the former CEO, president and board member of Plano cybersecurity firm Intrusion, who abruptly announced his departure and any affiliation with the company – a move that cause Intrusion’s shares fall by nearly 50 percent.
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 July.
Pro tip: You can read daily updates on hirings, departures, funding, M&A and VC activity in our newsletter, The Beat.
Hirings
Amr Desouky is joining the team of Dallas “relationship-based” lending platform Zirtue as its new VP of engineering. In addition to working as a contractor software development company Skykode, Desouky previously served as a principal software engineer for the Social Security Administration.
Joining the team at InsuredMine, a Richardson-based CRM platform, is Jonathan Webster. He takes over the role of senior director and head of marketing. According to his LinkedIn, Webster is also the co-founder and chief marketing officer at Melissa-based digital marketing and sales company MediaQuad Marketing.
With clients already in the region, London digital marketing and strategy agency Three Whiskey has chosen to make its Dallas offices, opened in 2018, as the site of its U.S. headquarters, and it’s looking to hire as it expands its operations locally. The company is located at 8750 N. Central Expressway, across the highway from NorthPark Center. It named Rebecca Wong as its managing director to lead the local offices. Before joining Three Whiskey last year, Wong served as the director of client services for D Custom, the marketing agency arm of D Magazine.
Richardson's Mavenir, which provides software for wireless tech, tapped Bejoy Pankajakshan to the newly created role of chief technology and strategy officer. Pankajakshan has been with the company for about eight years, most recently serving as its executive VP and chief strategy officer. Before that, he has worked with telecom giants Sprint and T-Mobile. The announcement follows a $500 million funding deal Mavenir landed from Koch Strategic Platforms in April after it backed away from IPO plans in 2020. Siris Capital Group is Mavenir's majority equity holder.
Canoo, a public electric vehicle maker with its executive offices in Dallas, named Josette Sheeran its new president and board member. Sheeran has many career highlights, including serving as an ambassador under the George W. Bush Administration and serving as the vice-chair of the World Economic Forum. The move follows Canoo's announcement to open a manufacturing facility in Oklahoma.
Dallas investment manager Ranger Investment Management tapped Marta Cotton as its new head of marketing and client relations. Before joining the firm, which focuses on small-and micro-cap growth strategies, Cotton served as a principal and director of client relations for New York firm Matarin Capital Management.
Garland’s True Velocity, a maker of high-tech ammunition, added Bruce Jette as its new advisory board chairman. Jette is the former assistant secretary of the Army for acquisition, logistics and technology under the Trump Administration.
Continuing to bolster its C-suite, Dallas-based real estate tech startup Dottid named a new chief product officer. The company announced promoting Alex Hibbard to the role. According to LinkedIn, Hibbard has worked with Dottid since 2019, first as its product lead and most recently as its head of product. Before Dottid, Hibbard served as a senior consultant for Addison consulting firm Credera.
Matt Hastings, a former investment banking analyst for Investment Business Brokers, announced joining startup support organization Capital Factory’s Dallas venture team as a venture associate. While the Austin-based organization still retains a presence in North Texas, it closed its physical space in Dallas last year due to the pandemic.
Dallas-based Medecision, a provider of health analytics and software and subsidiary of Health Care Service Corporation, added Quyen Nguyen-Haelle as its new CFO and Pavel Gerbenshikov as its new CTO. Prior to joining the company, Nguyen-Haelle served as the VP of analytics and FP&A for Tandigm Health, while Gerbenshikov previously served as the VP of technology solutions and cloud CTO at EPAM Systems. The moves follows Medecision naming Ken Young as its new CEO in April.
Plano’s Learfield IMG College, a collegiate-athletics focused media and tech company, announced tapping John Brody as its new CRO. Before joining Learfield, Brody served as an executive VP at World Wrestling Entertainment. He also serves as a board member at Cloud9 Esports and the Special Olympics Connecticut.
Richardson-based career development software solutions provider Insala has a new head. The company’s board tapped Vicki Foley as its new CEO. She takes over from former CEO and Co-founder Phillip Roark. Before joining Insala, Foley served as the senior VP of global clients at HR solutions firm Lee Hecht Harrison.
Dallas commercial real estate startup Dottid added to its executive lineup, naming Will Richardson as its new chief financial officer. According to his LinkedIn, Richardson joined Dottid in June last year as its director of finance. Before that, he served as a private equity analyst for Calidant Capital. The move comes after the company announced raising a $4.5 million internally-led funding round in May.
Golf-focused entertainment concept BigShots Golf, owned by Dallas-based golf course and country club operator ClubCorp, tapped TJ Schier as its new chief operating officer. He joins the company from his previous role as president and founder of hospitality-focused consulting firm Incentivize Solutions. In his new position, he will oversee the opening of BigShot’s facilities. The company has locations in Fort Worth, Utah and Missouri. It also has locations in Florida and Bryan, Tx. in the works.
After being acquired late last year by Leonard Green & Partners in a deal valued at $2.5 billion, Fort Worth cloud technology provider ECI Software Solutions named Todd Sanders its new CFO. He takes over from former CFO Sarah Hagan, who is taking over the position of president and COO. Before joining ECI, Sanders held a similar position at Austin workplace software company Planview. The move follows ECI naming longtime leader Trevor Gruenewald as its CEO. At the time, former CEO Ron Brooks transitioned into a chairman role.
After moving its HQ within the region to Preston Center to be closer to its clients and accommodate its growing team, Dallas commercial real estate startup Dottid continued to grow its headcount. The company announced adding Vidroha Debroy as its new VP of Engineering. Debroy serves as an adjunct professor of computer science at SMU and UT Dallas and previously served as a principal software engineer for AT&T.
Plutus21 Capital, a Dallas-based alternative investment firm focused on the blockchain industry, named Malghalara Farooq the new head of its legal and compliance department. The move brings the firm's total headcount to around 15. According to her LinkedIn, Farooq is a graduate of the University of London and worked as a legal intern in Pakistan before joining Plutus21.
DealerBuilt, an auto dealer management system provider, tapped Dave Crawford as its new VP of sales. He joins the company, co-headquartered in Grapevine and Mason City, Iowa, from his previous role as the director of sales at Xtime, a brand of automotive sales platform Cox Automotive.
Gig Wage brought on Clarisa Lindenmeyer as its new chief brand officer and chief of staff, meaning she will also oversee Gig Wage’s internal DEI initiatives. Lindenmeyer is the former CRO of Tech Wildcatters. She most recently served as the founder and president of local consulting firm Proximity to Power, which she is shutting down as she takes on the new role at Gig Wage.
After emerging from stealth with a $16.5 million investment in April, Dallas crypto mining startup Applied Blockchain is adding to its board. The company appointed Richard Nottenburg to its seven-member board, which includes leaders from its backers: blockchain companies SparkPool and General Mining Research. According to Nottenburg’s LinkedIn, he is an angel investor in Richardson-based mobile voice platform Theatro. He also serves on a number of other boards, including security analytics company Cognyte.
Dallas-based Plutus21 Capital, a blockchain tech-focused alternative investment firm, added Danyaal Ahmed Pai as its new investor relations analyst. Based out of Karachi, Pakistan, Pai most recently served as a management trainee at food maker Bisconni.
SpotSee, a Dallas-based end-to-end IoT logistics solutions provider, launched a new Temperature Solutions Group, and it tapped Reuben Isbitsky to lead it as business director. He’ll oversee things like product development and application engineering. Prior to joining SpotSee, Isbitsky had co-founded Timestrip, a U.K.-based temperature indicator maker, where he also served as CEO.
Dallas esports organization Envy Gaming is adding two new members to its board while filling another vacant seat. New to the board is Angela Betasso, Cary Glotzer and Hilton Howell III. Envy’s Chief Gaming Officer and former CEO Mike Rufail recruited Betasso, who also serves as the CEO of JDA.media. Glotzer is the founder and CEO of Tupelo Honey, a subsidiary of Gray Television, which led Envy’s $40 million funding round in March. Hilton is the founder and CEO of esports organization 3sUP.
Departures
Devoyd "Dee" Jennings, the president and CEO of the Fort Worth Metropolitan Black Chamber of Commerce, passed away. Jennings has long been a part of the region's ecosystem, previously serving on the boards of the Texas Association of Business, the Texas Association of African American Chambers, and the NTTA's Busines Diversity Advisory Committee.
In a Twitter post, Will “RUSH” Wierzba, a CS:GO player for Frisco esports organization Complexity Gaming, announced that he and the team were going "separate ways." Wierzba joined Complexity, acquired by Canada’s GameSquare for $27 million in June, about two years ago. Complexity has tapped Patrick “es2tag” Hansen, formerly with the Danish team Astralis, to fill Wierzba’s spot on the roster.
Shares of Plano cybersecurity firm Intrusion fell nearly 50 percent in mid-July, after the company announced its CEO, President and Board Member Jack Blount left the company “effective immediately and no longer has any affiliation” with it. No further reason was provided. Intrusion also announced that new capital “may be required to achieve profitability.” In the meantime, Intrusion has asked CFO Franklin Byrd and CTO Joe Head to take over Blount’s roles until a successor is named.
