Steve Jarvis. (Photo courtesy of Steve Jarvis)

Former Expedia, Concur and Alaska Airlines executive Steve Jarvis has taken on a new role, GeekWire has learned. Jarvis, who is officially retired from corporate life, is now serving as a founder-in-residence at Madrona Venture Labs, helping the startup incubation team create new companies.

“One of the focus areas for Labs currently is blockchain and cryptocurrency,” Jarvis told GeekWire in an email interview.

“We’re working on a concept in my career vertical of travel and tourism. We believe the loyalty space in travel is ripe for disruption and innovation, and are working on an approach to it that would benefit consumers and suppliers,” he said.

Jarvis spent more than 11 years as a vice president at Alaska Airlines from 1999 to 2010, leading divisions like e-commerce, sales and customer experience. During that time, he met Madrona Venture Labs CEO Mike Fridgen, who at the time was working in marketing for Alaska.

“I’ve been a friend of Madrona Ventures for many years, supporting investments where technology meets travel such as Farecast and Off & Away,” Jarvis said.

He left Alaska in 2010 to serve as the VP of marketing for small and mid-size businesses at Concur and later spent five years as a VP at Expedia, leading the company’s strategy in global tour and transport for much of that time. Now Jarvis is semi-retired, but is still working in strategy and business consulting.

“I considered my departure from corporate life a form of modern retirement, never intending to go play golf,” he said. “Working in this capacity at Labs specifically suits me given my long history with the team, my trust and admiration for Mike and the MVG crew.”

Madrona Venture Group, one of Seattle’s most prominent venture capital firms, just last week announced a new 3-month startup accelerator program that will be operated by Madrona Venture Labs.

Esina Alic. (Photo via LinkedIn)

— Longtime aerospace executive Esina Alic is rejoining Boeing-owned drone maker Insitu as the company’s new CEO. She replaces Ryan Hartman, who left Insitu in February to become the CEO of Hood Technology Corp.

Alic was most recently the SVP of global operations, strategy and programs at Adidas. She formerly spent eight years as a VP at Insitu, leading internal operations and global operations and later serving as VP of strategy. She additionally spent two years in marketing and strategy roles at Boeing.

“Esina’s global experience, strategic vision and passion for Insitu customers and products make her the ideal choice to accelerate Insitu’s growth and success,” Chris Raymond, vice president and general manager for Boeing Autonomous Systems, said in a press release.

Alic will relocate from Adidas headquarters in Germany to work full-time at Insitu’s headquarters in Bingen, Wash. Boing purchased Insitu in 2008 for a reported purchase price of about $400 million.

Molly Hartney. (Photo courtesy of Funko)

—  Funko, the Everett, Wash.-based maker of Pop! vinyl figurines, added Molly Hartney as the company’s first chief marketing officer. Hartney will also serve as the company’s SVP of e-commerce.

Hartney spent the last eight years in various roles at hardware company Lowe’s and its affiliated brands. She was most recently the vice president of marketing and merchandise at The Mine, the company’s home furnishings and decor brand.

Hartney’s addition comes shortly after Funko’s IPO in October. Despite an initial drop, the company’s stock has risen in the news of positive earnings reports and the recent acquisition of toy company A Large Evil Corporation.

— Office space leasing company WeWork poached a key Amazon executive for its leadership team, according to a report by Fortune.

Sebastian Gunningham is joining WeWork as a “jack-of-all-trades vice chairman,” according to the report.

Gunningham has been with Amazon for more than 11 years. He is currently an SVP in charge of Amazon operations including its seller services division and has held executive positions at companies including Oracle, Apple and Peace Software.

Daniel Yu. (Photo via The Laurel Group)

— Advertising impression metrics technology company iSpot.tv tapped Seattle tech executive and entrepreneur Daniel Yu as its new VP of product.

Yu most recently co-founded and served as the CEO of supply chain machine learning company Abra Technologies. GeekWire has asked Abra for comment on Yu’s departure and plans to fill the CEO role and will update this story when we hear back.

Yu’s addition to iSpot.tv was announced by executive search firm The Laurel Group.

Chris Masino. (Photo via LinkedIn)

— Portland, Ore.-based marketing automation company Act-On Software added New-York based sales executive Chris Masino to its leadership team as chief revenue officer. According to his LinkedIn profile, Masino will remain in New York City.

Masino was most recently the SVP of revenue at AI-fueled advertising company Signpost and formerly spent six years as the SVP of global sales and field operations at Jive Software. He has held executive sales positions at HP and marketing IT company Smartling.

“As Act-On develops the next generation of technology for the modern marketer, I am really excited to work with — and further develop — a global sales team that has the opportunity to bring this message to marketers, proving how adaptive marketing will meaningfully and measurably impact their business,” Masino said in a press release.

Noah Fletcher. (West Monroe Partners Photo)

— Business and technology consultant West Monroe Partners promoted Noah Fletcher to lead the company’s Seattle office operations excellence program.

Fletcher first joined the company in 2007 and serves as a manager in its enterprise practice business consulting. He will now also lead the Seattle West Monroe Partners operations excellence practice, helping the company with large-scale business transformation for clients primarily in IT, operations and finance.

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