Webb Stevens
Webb Stevens.

Qualtrics, makers of software that helps measure employee engagement, gather website feedback and perform market research, has named Webb Stevens as the new head of product.

With previous roles at Avalara, Summit Partners and Deloitte Consulting, Stevens told GeekWire that Qualtrics will allow him to leverage that experience in interesting new ways.

As a customer experience analytics expert at Deloitte, he focused on strategy and operations consulting. As a VC with Summit, Stevens said he learned to evaluate companies, markets and technologies, with a focus on finding opportunities that addressed unmet customer needs. And most recently, in five years at Avalara in Bainbridge Island, Wa., Stevens gained “frontline” experience in translating customer needs into prioritized product requirements while practicing what he called “the craft of strategy” while remaining grounded in product and customers.

“Webb will own the product roadmap, help with strategy, and own many other parts of the product life cycle,” Qualtrics CEO Ryan Smith said in an email to the company.

Stevens said Qualtrics is a “once-in-a-career kind of opportunity” and said the company is at a “really exciting phase” of its growth trajectory.

“We have the customers, the revenue ramp, and the team in place for ‘hyper growth,'” he said. “I really like building teams and I love product’s role as a conduit between customers and engineers. … I believe Qualtrics has all of the ingredients to be a truly great company — the people, the technology, the culture and the momentum for massive success. And Qualtrics is a phenomenal insights platform for any business — consumer products, services, manufacturing, software, distribution, medicine — you name it.”

Stevens said his biggest challenge out the gate will be centered on hiring.

“We have a company with more than 1,200 employees and 8,500 customers that span every industry,” Stevens said. “But today we have only five product managers! There is huge opportunity for talented product managers in Seattle or Provo, Utah, to join a company growing crazy fast. Our hiring bar is high, but we need people who can think creatively about how to use Qualtrics in myriad ways, and who are eager to make a huge impact on our company and on an entire industry.”

Mike Zell
Mike Zell.

Amplero, the Seattle-based machine learning startup which picked up $8 million in funding last month, has named Mike Zell as senior vice president of customer success.

Zell will lead a team tasked with nurturing and growing Amplero’s enterprise customer base, according to a company news release. With over two decades of marketing and analytics leadership experience in Seattle, Zell was most recently vice president of services and strategy at Pointmarc, an analytics consultancy. He was also director of advanced optimization at Razorfish.

“What attracted me most about Amplero is that under the hood, there is an extremely solid technology that has been delivering significant ROI with major brands,” Zell said in a news release. “I’m eager to dive in and build on that trend to help large consumer businesses realize the value their organization could achieve with machine learning in building extended, personalized relationships with their customers.”

Jonathan LeCompte
Jonathan LeCompte.

Verizon Wireless has named Jonathan LeCompte president of its Pacific Market. The Seattle University alumni will oversee all business functions across the seven-state market encompassing Washington, including sales, marketing, network and finance.

LeCompte, who holds a Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration from Seattle University’s Albers School of Business and Economics, has previously been president for Verizon’s Georgia/Alabama region and he served as acting president for the company’s Northern California/Nevada/Hawaii and Southern California regions.

The Pacific market includes California, Oregon, Washington, Alaska, Hawaii, northern Nevada and northern Idaho and LeCompte will be based in Irvine, Calif.

Danius Silkaitis
Danius Silkaitis.

Novinium, the Kent, Wash.-based company that repairs aging underground power cables, has hired Danius Silkaitis as an engineering project manager.

Silkaitis, who has previous experience in the medical and electrical device industries, is a graduate of the University of Michigan and at Novinium he will run engineering projects that include development, implementation and launch of key products such as PreVent.

“We are excited to welcome Danius to our engineering team,” Mark Newton, VP of engineering, said in a news release. “His project management skills are a great resource to Novinium as we continue to expand our technology portfolio and develop innovative new products.”

Erik Giesa
Erik Giesa. (Via LinkedIn)

Tempered Networks, Seattle-based developers of networking and security technology that helps prevent cyber attacks, has named Erik Giesa as vice president of product management and product marketing.

Giesa joins Tempered most recently from ExtraHop, where he served as worldwide SVP of marketing and business development. Prior to that, he spent 12 years at F5 Networks as SVP of product management and marketing.

“Erik’s depth of experience and successful track record in understanding customer challenges and market requirements will be instrumental in driving our product roadmap,” Jeff Hussey, CEO of Tempered Networks, said in a news release. “This is particularly important in an emerging market like Identity-Defined Networking that applies a new approach to tackling age-old networking and security problem. I’m looking forward to teaming with Erik again to create a game-changing business that will redefine IP communications.”

The company just announced a $10 million round of funding this week.

Peter Prinos
Peter Prinos.

Silicon Mechanics, the Bothell, Wash.-based provider of servers, storage and high-performance computing solutions, has added Peter Prinos as vice president of sales and customer experience.

Prinos previously spent three years as the senior director of channel and business development at Panzura, a hybrid cloud storage provider, and 12 years in similar roles at Quantum. Prior to Quantum, Prinos spent nine years serving as a lawyer, according to a Silicon Mechanics news release.

“Peter brings a deep leadership background in taking complex solutions to market through all channels — direct and indirect,” said Eva Cherry, Silicon Mechanics president and CEO. “His values embody our focus on delivering quality to our customers, and working to ensure their success.”

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