Former Google Exec To Lead WebTrends
“After a long search of five-months, Web analytics company WebTrends Inc. has a new permanent CEO.”
Portland, Ore. – WebTrends Inc., a leading provider of web analytics and online marketing solutions, has appointed former Google executive Daniel E. Stickel as its new CEO, the company announced Monday.
WebTrends makes software to help Web sites determine their traffic and evaluate what visitors do on their sites. The company fired its former CEO, Greg Drew, in a major shakeup last fall aimed at bettering the company’s growth prospects. Bruce Coleman, who runs a corporate services firm called El Salto Advisors, had been serving as WebTrends’ interim chief.
Stickel replaces interim CEO Bruce Coleman, who took temporary control of the firm following the departure of Greg Drew last October.
Stickel joins WebTrends from Google, Inc., where he was in charge for syndication products, serving hundreds of thousands of partners and tens of millions of end users.
Prior to Google, Stickel led the Macrovision Software Technologies Group, increasing revenue 400% in 3 years to over $100M. He earlier served as executive vice president (EVP) at AltaVista when it was one of the top 10 web sites in the world, and co-founded data integration and analysis software firm K2 Technologies.
In a statement, Neil Garfinkel, a Partner at Francisco Partners, a global private equity firm with a major investment in WebTrends: “We believe that Daniel’s leadership abilities and broad experience, together with the extensive industry knowledge of WebTrends’ existing executive team, will drive the firm in the next phase of growth.”
Stickel started his career at Bell Labs, besides he has co-founded a number of startups, and earned both an undergraduate and a graduate degree from Harvard University.
“Stickel holds a BA in Applied Mathematics and a Masters in Computer Science, both from Harvard University.”
His in-depth knowledge of technical and management will now be applied to transform WebTrends from a global leader in web analytics to a global leader in integrated enterprise marketing solutions.
“The web analytics market’s growth is predicted at just about 20% in 2008, and the growth in enterprise marketing software is even greater,” said Stickel. “That thrust is comprehensible, given the attractive ROI that can be realized from appropriately-analyzed and managed online marketing programs.
Stickel mentions that his immediate center of attention will be to get in touch with key customers, partners, prospects and employees in order to gain an understanding of where the company is “hitting the mark” and where it needs to do better. “WebTrends published a book on analytics and my job is to make sure we carry on writing the book on the industry as it matures and develops into the broader opportunity of integrated enterprise marketing software,” he added.
WebTrends is headquartered in Portland, Oregon, which employs 250 people in Portland and about 300 worldwide, though some have gone through a number of recent, high-profile changes.