— Seattle-based RFID technology provider Impinj announced Friday that President and Chief Operating Officer Eric Brodersen will leave the company March 6. Prior to joining Impinj five years ago, Brodersen served as a senior vice president at Seattle-based data storage company Isilon through its acquisition by EMC, which was, in turn, acquired by Dell.
“I am immensely proud of, and humbled by, Impinj’s many accomplishments during my tenure, highlighted by our success enabling partners and end customers with a platform that gives digital life to everyday items,” Brodersen said. “The power of our strategic direction and the strength of our current management team provide me the opportunity to step back with confidence. I plan to spend time traveling and with my family before pursuing other opportunities.”
The company does not plan to fill his position. Founded in 2000, Impinj went public in 2016 and its stock more than doubled last year. In its most recent earnings report, the company beat expectations and, for the first time, topped more than $40 million in quarterly revenue.
— Kiran Akkineni returned to Zulily as CMO/SVP of marketing. He previously worked in Zulily’s marketing department as head of analytics, departing in 2013. In between stints at the Seattle-based online retailer, Akkineni held executive roles at home improvement marketplace Porch and clothing company Dolls Kill, and most recently was VP of analytics and data science at Expedia Group.
— Bellevue, Wash.-based Donuts, a domain name registry, announced Randy Haas as EVP and chief financial officer. Haas most recently served as CFO at Napster. He spent 19 years at Microsoft in various financial roles.
— Speaking of Microsoft, the tech giant’s latest reorg includes personnel changes among several corporate vice presidents, as the company brings the Windows user experience and Surfaces businesses together under chief product officer Panos Panay. Read more.
—Rod Fergusson, studio head of Vancouver, BC-based The Coalition, developer of the Gears of War video game franchise, announced he will join California video game company Blizzard Entertainment to oversee its Diablo video game series.
Starting in March, I will join Blizzard to oversee the Diablo franchise. Leaving is bittersweet as I love our Gears family, the fans, and everyone at The Coalition and Xbox. Thank you, it has been an honor and a privilege to work with you all. pic.twitter.com/0FuO3RFYSQ
— Rod Fergusson (@GearsViking) February 5, 2020
A longtime manager in the video game industry, Fergusson spent almost ten years as a program manager at Microsoft at the beginning of his career. The Coalition is one of 15 game development studios that make up Xbox Game Studios and describes itself as a “Microsoft first-party studio” dedicated to Gears of War.
— Law firm Fenwick & West hired corporate, securities and M&A attorney Byron Dailey as a new corporate partner in its Seattle office. He will lead the firm’s private investment funds practice, advising on private equity and VC deals. Dailey was most recently a shareholder at Lane Powell PC.
— Former City of Seattle IT leader Ryan Meeks joined Bellevue, Wash.-based Blueprint Technologies as director of IT. Meeks will lead the technology solutions firm’s IT department providing services for both Blueprint employees and clients.
