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Category: SurveyMonkey

SurveyMonkey picks up former Yahoo as new CEO

Rick Turoczy on April 20, 2009

SurveyMonkeyWithout a doubt, my favorite “they’re a Silicon Forest company?!!?” startup is Portland-based SurveyMonkey, the nearly ubiquitous Web-based survey service. It’s one of those local success stories of which everyone seems to have heard—even though they don’t realize they’re Portland-based.

And while the company keeps a fairly low profile here around town, that may have just gotten a lot more difficult. You see, the former head of Yahoo! Music, Dave Goldberg, has just been named the CEO of SurveyMonkey.

As Kara Swisher reports on All Things D:

SurveyMonkey is the largest such survey company online, with competitors that include Zoomerang and Constant Contact.

The move is an unusual one for Goldberg, whom many expected to join or start an online entertainment or music company, given his background.

With changes like this, the first question that crops up is usually: But will they remain a Portland company?

According to paidContent, it appears so:

Goldberg will be based in Menlo Park, where SurveyMonkey is opening a new office. (Goldberg’s wife Sheryl Sandberg is COO of Facebook.) The company is also holding on to its Portland headquarters, where Ryan and Chris Finley will work.

Hopefully, with someone else on board to help guide the company, Ryan and Chris will finally find some free time to spend with their Portland fans (hint, hint 😉 ).

In related news, Dave is being brought in by Spectrum Equity, which has lead a group of investors in gaining a controlling stake in SurveyMonkey.

Todd MacLean, a Director at Bain Capital Ventures [one of the group of investors in SurveyMonkey] said, “We are extremely excited to partner with Dave Goldberg, a dynamic entrepreneur who we believe is ideally suited to lead the next phase of the company’s growth. We believe our experience with low-touch, viral software models will be an asset in supporting Dave and the team of talented professionals at SurveyMonkey as they grow the business. In addition, we have great affinity and respect for Spectrum, having co-invested with them in the past, and look forward to a great partnership on the Board of SurveyMonkey.”

For more on Dave, see the ReadWriteHire write-up. For more on the company, visit SurveyMonkey.

(Hat tip Adam DuVander)

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Silicon Forest Universe: Get yourself into orbit

Rick Turoczy on September 12, 2007

Have a hard time visualizing the Silicon Forest? Maybe the Silicon Forest Universe can help.

The Silicon Forest Universe tracks the massive celestial bodies in the Portland-area—like Tektronix and Intel—and the startups that have launched because of them—which slide into an orbit around the originating company.

Brings “spin off” to a whole new level, doesn’t it?

Well, now that you know what it is, what’s in it for you?

I’m glad you asked.

Apparently, universal shifts are underway. And those cataclysmic events are your gain. You’re invited to launch your own planet.

Heike Mayer was a PSU student in 2002 when she helped create the original. Now a Virginia Tech professor, Mayer is working with PSU’s Sheila Martin (from the Institute of Portland Metropolitan Studies) and a host of regional technology associations to update it.

That’s right. It’s like our own local version of the International Star Registry. Or maybe Virgin Galactic.

Either way, if you’d like to get your startup into orbit, head on over to another Portland-based startup, Survey Monkey, to fill out the Silicon Forest Universe survey.

I’m looking forward to seeing you among the stars.

(Hat tip to the Silicon Forest blog)