Shares of Motricity plummet after AT&T ends key contract

motricity

Motricity lost more than one third of its value today, following news that AT&T was terminating an agreement with the Bellevue-based mobile software company. AT&T’s portal agreement, which is being terminated, accounted for 42 percent of Motricity’s revenue during the first nine months of 2012. Motricity powered AT&T’s MediaNet and ATT.net offerings as part of the… Read More…

Facing Nasdaq delisting, struggling Motricity proposes reorganization plan

motricity

Facing a delisting notice from the Nasdaq Stock Market, struggling mobile software company Motricity is currently weighing a reorganization plan in which it would become a wholly owned subsidiary of a newly-formed Delaware corporation by the name of Mobile Systems Corp. In a SEC filing today, Motricity said that it received a delisting notice from the… Read More…

Tech Moves: Motricity CEO leaves; Intel’s Otellini to retire; and more

smith-jim1

Struggling mobile software company Motricity has replaced interim CEO Jim Smith, handing the reins over to Richard Stalzer. Stalzer previously served as president of the company’s Mobile Media division. Meanwhile, chief financial officer Nathan Fong has added the responsibilities of chief operating officer and general counsel Richard Sadowsky has been named chief administrative officer. “After restructuring… Read More…

Motricity to terminate lease at downtown Bellevue HQ

keybuildingl

Motricity, the mobile software company, has entered into a lease termination agreement for the 8th, 9th and 10th floors at its Bellevue headquarters, a SEC filing revealed today. The struggling company plans to give up the 8th floor space at 601 108th Avenue Northeast at the end of this year, with the 9th and 10th… Read More…

Tech Moves: Rob Eleveld named Optify CEO; F5′s sales boss sets sail; and more

Rob Eleveld

Rob Eleveld, a 20-year tech veteran who previously served as CEO of Shiftboard and Vykor, has been named CEO of Seattle software company Optify. Eleveld replaces Brian Goffman, a former venture capitalist at Madrona Venture Group who is assuming the role of chairman. Eleveld had worked at Optify for the past five months, overseeing sales… Read More…

Ex-Congressman Rick White and ex-Motricity CEO Ryan Wuerch raise $4M for stealthy Solavei

Rick White

Former Congressman Rick White and former Motricity CEO Ryan Wuerch have emerged at the helm of a  stealthy new Bellevue company by the name of Solavei. Very little is known about the company, which just raised a little more than $4 million in startup financing. A short message on the Web site notes: “It’s going… Read More…

Tech Moves: Dendreon taps new CEO; Anthony Bay lands at Amazon; Globys; Limeade; Allyis; and much more

Mitchell Gold

Dendreon CEO Mitchell Gold is handing over the reins of the Seattle biotechnology company to board member and former Savient Pharmaceuticals CEO John Johnson. Shares of Dendreon, which have falling 58 percent in the past year, gained more than six percent on the news. Gold, who has served as CEO since 2003, plans to serve… Read More…

Tech Moves: Zumobi taps marketing VP; Motricity adds mobile marketing vet; and more

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Zumobi, a maker of mobile applications for companies such as MSNBC, Motor Trend and others, has named Marla Schimke as vice president of marketing. Schimke previously worked at AudienceScience, Microsoft and Ernst & Young, and in her new role will help the Seattle company launch new advertising products and premium media properties. “We’re absolutely delighted to… Read More…

Struggling Motricity restructures operations, pulls the plug in Asia

motricity

Motricity, the struggling Bellevue maker of mobile software, has restructured its business and decided to close down its operations in Asia. Interim CEO Jim Smith said the moves will “lay the foundation for long-term success and reignite growth.” Motricity has taken it on the chin in recent months, losing key contracts, axing top executives and… Read More…

Struggling Motricity gets more bad news, loses key Indonesian deal

motricity

Motricity already had the dubious honor of being the worst performing technology stock in Washington state in 2011. And it looks like things aren’t starting out much better in 2012 for the mobile software company. In a SEC filing today, Motricity indicated that it had terminated a business relationship with PT XL Axiata, a large… Read More…

Nasdaq closes with a loss for 2011: A look back at the top and bottom performers

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It was a tough year for most of the publicly-traded tech companies in Washington state, with just a handful posting positive overall stock performance. Even tech titans like Amazon.com, Microsoft and F5 Networks shed value in 2011, marking an overall negative year on the Nasdaq. In fact, the tech-heavy Nasdaq  dropped 1.8 percent during 2011,… Read More…

Tech Moves: Reed Hastings hands over chairman reins at DreamBox Learning; and more

Reed Hastings

Reed Hastings is one busy guy. In addition to running Netflix, the Internet entrepreneur also serves on the boards of Microsoft and Facebook. But most folks probably don’t know about Hastings’ involvement in a tiny Bellevue educational software company called DreamBox Learning, which he helped acquire last year. Now, Hastings has handed over the chairman… Read More…

Exec turmoil continues at Motricity as CEO Ryan Wuerch steps down

Ryan Wuerch

Ryan Wuerch has stepped down as CEO of Motricity, the publicly-traded Bellevue mobile software company that he’s run for a decade. The 43-year-old executive, who founded the company in 2001, also resigned from the board. The resignation comes amid an ongoing executive shakeup at the struggling company, one which has led to the resignations of… Read More…

Morning Radar: HasOffers to double staff; Mega Startup Weekend; Swype; and more

HasOffers founders Lucas and Lee Brown

HasOffers, the affiliate marketing company started by twin brothers Lucas and Lee Brown, is looking to hire 30 more staffers this year. That would double the staff at the profitable Seattle company, which is growing by 300 percent and expects revenues of close to $5 million this year. More on HasOffers in this GeekWire profile…. Read More…

Motricity posts disappointing Q2 results, terminates execs and hints at cost-cutting measures

motiricity

Shares of Motricity fell more than 50 percent in after hours trading today following a disappointing second quarter earnings report. The Bellevue company posted a net loss of $4.3 million on revenue of $34.6 million, with CEO Ryan Wuerch saying in a release that the company was “clearly not satisfied with the company’s financial performance… Read More…

Tech Moves: Ex-Microsoft GM joins Motricity; Medio’s Lanphear lands at Livemocha; and more

John O'Rourke

We’ve been tracking a number of key departures, appointments and new hires in the Pacific Northwest tech industry in recent days. Here are a few notable Tech Moves: Motricity has been in the Tech Moves column a lot lately with changes in the board and in the executive ranks. And this week it has added… Read More…