Startup vet Matt Bell

Here’s a look at some notable hires and people on the move at companies in the Pacific Northwest technology industry.

Matt Bell has been named chief operating officer of Pitchbook, a Seattle provider of information and analysis for the private equity industry. Bell is startup veteran, having previously worked at Plumtree, RealNetworks, Azaleos and Skytap. A University of Washington finance grad, Bell will oversee sales strategy, operations and revenue at PitchBook.

“This is my 6th startup and I know from experience the technology this company has built is truly amazing,” said Bell. John Gabbert, CEO of PitchBook, added that “Matt’s experience driving sales strategy for technology companies similar to PitchBook makes him the right person for the job.”

Amazon.com has hired former publisher Laurence Kirshbaum, the former CEO of Time Warner Book Group, to serve as vice president and publisher of Amazon Publishing’s New York office. The Seattle online retailer has expanded recently into book publishing with the introduction of new publishing outfits: Thomas & Mercer and Montlake Romance.

Wetpaint, the Seattle startup which operates news and community sites around popular television shows, has formed a new advisory board with veterans from AOL, Yahoo, CBS Interactive and other companies. The board includes: Bill Wilson, former president of AOL Media; Anthony Soohoo, former GM of Entertainment at CBS Interactive; Elise McVeigh, former vice president of ad sales at MTV; Ty Ahmad Taylor, former senior vice president of product at MTV; Jeff Berman, general manager for NFL digital media: and John McCarus, a senior vice president at Digitas. Wetpaint’s entertainment sites attract more than three million visitors per month, and the company has more than one million followers on Facebook.

Jackson

Scott Jackson, vice president for External Relations at PATH, is leaving the non-profit global health organization to become chief executive officer for the international nongovernmental organization Global Impact.

“Scott Jackson will truly be missed as a friend and as a colleague, and we appreciate his many contributions to PATH’s work and to the global health field overall,” said Dr. Christopher J. Elias, CEO of PATH.

Joe White has been named vice president of sales and service at Market Leader, the Kirkland online real estate company.  White is the third executive to join Market Leader in the past nine months, following Chief Technology Officer Alex Lange and Chief Marketing Officer Sarah Daniels. White previously worked at Attenex, Aventail and Mosaix.

UPDATE: A number of top executives at real estate social networking site Active Rain have stepped down in recent weeks, including CEO Jonathan Washburn, CTO Jorgen Hahn, vice president of sales Douglas Ching and head of online training Steven Graham. Inman News has more details on the departures, noting that in some cases they are tied to Market Leader boosting its ownership stake in the company. Washburn, who founded Active Rain in 2006, plans to spend time on his new startup company, Daily Ticket, according to Inman.

Know of a notable tech industry move or hire in the Pacific Northwest? Email tips@geekwire.com.

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