Tech Moves: Joanna Lord named CMO at BigDoor; Brian Arbogast joins the Gates Foundation; and more

lord-joanna11

—Online marketing whiz Joanna Lord has left her VP job at SEOmoz to become chief marketing officer at BigDoor, the Seattle gamification startup. In her new role Lord will oversee branding, content, community and other functions for the Seattle-based company. Keith Smith-led BigDoor raised $5 million last year, bringing total funding to $13 million. “The first… Read More…

Microsoft names Amy Hood its new chief financial officer

amy-hood

Microsoft just named Amy Hood its new chief financial officer, replacing its departing CFO Peter Klein, who announced his plan to leave the company last month. She becomes the first woman to hold the position at Microsoft. The announcement follows a report by Bloomberg News earlier today that said Hood was up against Windows finance… Read More…

Microsoft hunts internally for CFO: Report suggests it’s Tami Reller vs. Amy Hood

Tami Reller

Microsoft is on the hunt for a new chief financial officer, and a report out from Bloomberg suggests that two internal candidates are in the running. Citing people with knowledge of the matter, Bloomberg reports that Tami Reller — the finance chief for the Windows division — and Amy Hood — the finance chief for… Read More…

Tech Moves: Amazon vet joins Relaborate; MG Siegler leaves CrunchFund; Jawfish; and more

gavares

Last week, we noted how difficult it is for startup companies to compete against Amazon.com and other tech giants in the region for software engineers. Well, here’s a counterexample. Relaborate, a new technology  startup, just tapped software developer Grant Gavares as chief technology officer. Gavares most recently spent three years at Apptio, and before that… Read More…

In ‘bittersweet’ decision, Susan Sigl to step down as CEO of the WTIA

Susan Sigl

In a blog post titled “Transitions,” Washington Technology Industry Association CEO Susan Sigl has announced that she plans to step down as head of the organization. “There’s only one place to start with this message: I love Washington’s tech industry,” wrote Sigl. “This is why it’s bittersweet to announce that after three years leading the… Read More…

Seattle tech vet Matt Hulett named CEO of ClickBank

hulett

Matt Hulett, the Seattle startup veteran who was most recently president of RealNetworks’ video-game division, has been named the CEO of ClickBank, a Boise-based digital content creation, distribution and marketing platform. Hulett, the former AdXpose (Mpire) CEO and Expedia Corporate Travel president, announced his departure from RealNetworks’ GameHouse unit a month ago for an unspecified… Read More…

Virtual assistant startup lands $16 million to help sales pros cultivate hot leads

Bradley

A fast-growing Bellingham startup has landed $16 million in venture capital from Kennet Partners and named former NexTag president Mark Bradley as CEO. AVA.ai is the maker of an “automated virtual assistant”  — an online tool used by thousands of automobile dealers, insurance agents and other sales professionals to better track sales leads. “Kennet reviewed many… Read More…

Brian Krzanich named CEO of Intel as headwinds hit PC market

Krzanich1

After an exhaustive months-long search, Intel has its new CEO. And the chip maker didn’t have to go far to find Paul Otellini’s replacement. Today, Intel announced that COO Brian Krzanich will take over the top slot at the company’s annual shareholder meeting on May 16. The 52-year-old, who has worked at Intel since 1982, will… Read More…

Tech Moves: Xbox vet joins 9Slides; Blessington lands at ExtraHop; Mixpo bolsters team

khoo111

Aaron Khoo has joined Redmond online presentation startup 9Slides as director of engineering. Khoo is the former CTO at PaidPunch, and before that held numerous engineering roles at Microsoft, primarily working on Xbox. Khoo holds a PhD in computer science from Northwestern University. “Aaron brings in vast experience working with large companies like Microsoft where he managed… Read More…