Kyle Rowe is very into bikes. He spent the past four years in the Seattle Department of Transportation working on various biking initiatives, including the pilot program that brought thousands of dockless bike shares to Seattle.
Now Rowe has joined one of the companies participating in that bike share pilot: Spin, a San Francisco-based startup with ambitions to spread bike sharing throughout the United States. Rowe will serve as a liaison between Spin and the governments of cities where the company wants to expand its program.
“Kyle is a true visionary in the field of urban innovation and wrote the playbook on ways local governments and private companies can work productively and collaboratively together for the greater good,” Spin CEO Derrick Ko said in a press release.
“His pioneering approach to stationless bikeshare permitting in Seattle has inspired hundreds of cities nationwide to follow suit for the benefits of residents. I’m excited to work with him at Spin,” he said.
The company said it already has bikes in six U.S. cities and is in talks to bring its service to more than 100 others.
— Networking and infastructure giant F5 Networks is losing another top executive. The company’s CMO, Ben Gibson, will retire from his role effective Dec. 1, according to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Gibson had been with the company for just over a year and formerly held top marketing positions at companies including networking giant Cisco and Hewlett-Packard subsidiary Aruba. The SEC filing did not give a reason for his departure.
“Ben Gibson has resigned from F5 to pursue another opportunity,” the company told GeekWire in an emailed statement. “We thank Ben for his contributions to F5’s success and wish him the best of luck in his new endeavors. We will be conducting a search for his replacement and will make an announcement when we have additional news.”
Gibson’s departure follows a turbulent few years for the company, including multiple leadership changes that resulted in new CEO Francois Locoh-Donou taking over the company in January.
Since then, several other executives have left, most recently the announcement that the company’s longtime COO Edward Eames will retire at the end of the year. The company also laid off a round of employees in September following two quarters of disappointing earnings. F5 is also set to move from its longtime home on Seattle’s waterfront into a brand new skyscraper downtown.
— Longtime Zillow executive Rebekah Bastian has taken on a new role: She will now serve as the company’s VP of community and culture. The change was announced by Zillow CEO Spencer Rascoff in a LinkedIn post.
“Zillow Group’s commitment to creating an inclusive and diverse environment for our employees starts with our leadership and I’m proud that this role will be dedicated to ensuring that we continue to hire great people and build products that have a positive impact on our communities,” Rascoff wrote.
Bastian has held senior positions at Zillow for over a decade. She most recently served as the company’s VP of product.
— GCI, an Alaska-based communications provider expanding to the Pacific Northwest, announced the addition of Gareth Wade as the company’s national director of business development. Wade will be based out of GCI’s Seattle office.
Wade most recently worked as a senior sales professional at video conferencing service Polycom. He formerly served as the chief sales officer of e-commerce content creator content26.
“Gareth’s experience leading global sales teams will shape our strategy as we expand GCI’s global presence,” Justin Burgess, CGI’s vice president of new markets, said in a press release. “Gareth understands the importance of driving sustainable revenue growth while boosting profit and customer retention, ensuring companies invest in ways that make their business more efficient.”
— Bellevue, Wash.-based Blueprint Consulting Services announced the promotion of Danielle Funston to vice president of solutions delivery. Funston first joined the company in 2013 and was its first employee.
During her time at the company, she has helped build out key departments and most recently served as its VP of operations. In her new role, Funston will be responsible for client delivery success. Blueprint has been recognized as one of the quickest growing companies in Washington and made Inc.’s annual list of the top growing companies in th country.
— Portland-based financial technology company CrowdStreet announced the addition of several new leaders: Molly Moore joins the company as its chief marketing officer and Rohit Colaço is the company’s new vice president of engineering.
The company also announced the formation of a new advisory board, including: REAL Dynamics managing partner Thomas Byrne; Heritage Capital Ventures Founder and CEO Lewis Feldman; Head of investments and strategy at McCourt global Christopher Keber; and GitPrime President and COO John Witchel.
“I’m joining CrowdStreet’s executive team at a true industry inflection point, when we can realize the potential of online investing,” Moore said in a press release. “As a team, we’ll work to disrupt a fast-growing industry by building and launching innovative ways to serve the industry and delight our customers.”
CrowdStreet offers online fundraising and investor lifecycle management for the corporate real estate industry.
