Can GeekWire really handle two soccer-loving and startup-crazed Buckeyes?
Oh, yes, we can.
We’re excited to announce today that Daniel Rossi has joined GeekWire as Chief Business Officer.
We’re absolutely thrilled to have Daniel on the team, adding extra horsepower to our sales, marketing and business development efforts at a time when opportunities abound. In this new role, Daniel also will help us uncover new ways to connect with the community and navigate the ever-changing world of digital media. He’s also got great experience running events, and we’re hopeful he’ll be able to add extra spice to some of our marquee events like next month’s GeekWire Summit.
Many in the Seattle startup community already know Daniel, who most recently served as executive director of the Northwest Entrepreneur Network. In that position, Daniel helped dozens of startup entrepreneurs take flight. But Daniel also is an online advertising veteran and self-described “media guy.”
“GeekWire marries the love of startups that I have, with the love of media that I have,” he says. Meanwhile, NWEN remains an important cornerstone of the Seattle startup community, and its mission is one that team GeekWire continues to support. Rebecca Lovell, who previously worked as chief business officer at GeekWire, is returning to the non-profit as interim executive director.
Like me, Daniel hails from Ohio. And, given some of his Argentinian roots, he too shares a passion for soccer.
But don’t worry that we’ll turn the GeekWire offices into a shrine for Devo or Woody Hayes, though we both love the team concepts that the late Ohio State football coach instilled in his players. (Side note: Awesome startup advice here from Woody).
Daniel also shows a little Husky pride, receiving his MBA from the University of Washington. In 2009, he won the University of Washington Business Plan Competition after co-founding a startup which developed technologies for cooling game consoles and other electronics. I covered that startup, Nanocel, at the time, and remember being struck by Daniel’s boundless energy, enthusiasm and smarts.
We’re looking forward to tapping those attributes at GeekWire, so stay tuned for some exciting new developments in the coming months.
In fact, Daniel is no stranger to GeekWire. A regular attendee at our events, we’ve been trying to hire him since we started on our own entrepreneurial path more than two years ago. Now, we’re excited to finally land him.
One of the coolest aspects of Daniel’s new role is that he’ll be working alongside Chief Sales Geek Sarah Camp. Sarah has elevated GeekWire’s business to new levels since joining at the beginning of the year, putting us in a position to hire someone of Daniel’s caliber.
Even better, Daniel and Sarah worked closely together while in advertising at The Seattle Times. We’re especially charged up about having the two of them side-by-side, serving the needs of our advertisers, sponsors and the overall geek community.
“Sarah is smart and tenacious, and she’s a really good partner to have,” he said.
Daniel will also provide some much-needed back-up support while Sarah heads out on maternity leave this fall. When she returns, we’re looking forward to supercharging our efforts as we continue to build on our mission of creating a first-class technology news hub and community that’s based and rooted in the Pacific Northwest.
That doesn’t come easy, but we are committed more than ever to it. And it takes you — our readers, commenters, members, guest columnists, event attendees, etc. — to make it a reality. For that, we are truly thankful.
Our startup voyage has been a fun one so far, with too many details to pack into this post. We’ve certainly encountered lots of interesting twists and turns. And I am sure there will be even more ahead. But, whatever happens, I like the crew we’ve got in our boat as we sail ahead through the second half of 2013 and into next year.
Daniel will officially start with us on Sept. 9. He can be reached at daniel@geekwire.com or on Twitter @danieljrossi. Drop him a note, and welcome him to team GeekWire!
