—Charles Seybold will be joining Academy.IO, a new early-stage business e-learning startup. He’s the co-founder of LiquidPlanner, and has worked at that company for the past nine years. In the new role, he’ll be working with Jake Gordon, a former LiquidPlanner software architect, who founded the company.
Seybold was the chief product officer at LiquidPlanner, which he founded with Jason Carlson in 2006. Carlson will remain on board as the company’s chief technology officer, and will continue to oversee product development. The company has raised almost $12 million in funding to date, from investors including TVC Capital and Alliance of Angels.
“For the past nine years I’ve had the pleasure of working with and learning alongside Charles,” LiquidPlanner CEO Liz Pearce said in a statement provided to GeekWire. “He’s one of the most innovative, passionate and dedicated entrepreneurs I’ve ever met. While it’s never easy to see a good friend depart, it’s reassuring to know that Charles is following his passion to develop and build what I hope will be the next big thing in e-learning.”
—Uber named Rachel Whetstone its new senior vice president of policy and communications. Whetstone joins the transportation from Google, where she served as the head of that tech titan’s policy and communications unit since 2008. In her new role, she’ll replace David Plouffe, the former adviser to Barack Obama who was hired less than a year ago as a “campaign manager” for the firm.
Plouffe will go on to serve as a strategic adviser for Uber and will join the board of the ride-sharing company. He’ll report directly to Uber CEO Travis Kalanick, as will Whetstone. The move is an important one for Uber, which continues to face opposition from regulators as it attempts to roll out its services around the world.
—Werner Koepf has joined Conversica as the company’s senior vice president of engineering. In his new role, Koepf will lead the artificial intelligence-powered lead generation management software company’s technical teams, and guide the development of its platform. Most recently, he served as Ticketmaster’s vice president of engineering. Koepf has held a number of leadership roles in the tech industry, including stints at Expedia, Wetpaint and Amazon.
“I’m very excited to join the Conversica management team as the company expands its technology leadership,” Koepf said in a press release. “This position is a great fit with my background in analytics and high volume transactional systems, and I look forward to building upon the Conversica AI platform and growing the engineering teams to bring the kinds of results I’ve accomplished with other world class companies.”
—Changepoint named a new vice president this week. Paul Yaros has joined the company as vice president of Professional Services. He’ll work on ensuring effective operations of projects for Changepoint’s clients, and will expand and apply engagement methodologies.
—HackerAgency hired Jason Grollman to serve as its new vice president of operations. He joins the global digital and direct marketing agency from Y&R Group Seattle, where he worked as a program management operations director. Prior to that, he also worked as the director of partner services for RedDot Solutions.
“Jason’s track record for increasing efficiencies and collaborating across teams made him a perfect fit for HackerAgency,” Spyro Kourtis, the president and CEO of HackerAgency, said in a press release. “His global experience is an added benefit to our clients, as we service global accounts.”
—Sean McMahon has been named General Manager of the new Tallwave office in Portland, Oregon. In his new role, he’ll be charged with spearheading the Arizona-based venture services company’s expansion into the Pacific Northwest. McMahon is a five-time entrepreneur who also serves as an advisor to Ethology, one of Tallwave’s portfolio companies that has an office in Portland. Prior to his work at Tallwave, he co-founded EngineWorks, which was acquired by Ethology in 2011.
“We started Tallwave with a vision to expand into additional markets with thriving startup ecosystems and I’m proud to see the goal come to fruition,” Tallwave CEO Jeffrey Pruitt said in a press release. “Our first portfolio company, Ethology, established a strong foothold in the Portland market early on and grew quickly, which compelled us to take the next logical step and open a Tallwave office to broaden our services in the region.”
Editor’s note: This post has been updated since publication.
