New COO with Fast Roots for Attivio
May 9, 2014
When Microsoft snapped up Fast Search in 2008, the great minds behind the platform “scattered to the four winds,” as our own expert, Stephen E Arnold, put it back in 2012. Now, yet another Fast Search alum has joined Attivio, we learn from “Attivio Names Stephen Baker Chief Operating Officer” at Virtual-Strategy Magazine. Baker will serve as the company’s very first COO. The press release summarizes his background:
“Prior to joining Attivio, Baker was President and Chief Revenue Officer of RAMP, a SaaS-based Online Video Platform based in Boston. During his seven years at RAMP, Baker led the sales, account management and client operations teams to profitability and was an integral part of raising the company’s B and C rounds of funding.
“Baker previously worked under Riaz at FAST, first as Product Manager and VP of Business Development for the AllTheWeb Business unit, which was sold to Overture/Yahoo! in 2003, and later as VP/General Manager eBusiness for FAST’s enterprise software business. Baker also spent a year as CEO of Online for Reed Business Information, where he was instrumental in driving digital strategy, execution, and revenue growth.”
It does seem the position should be a good fit, and we wish Baker and Attivio well. Baker’s revenue background reminds us of the recent legal troubles for Fast Search founder John Lervik, who it seems will serve at least a year in prison for financial reporting issues. See here for Arnold’s analysis on why enterprise search is so difficult to manage financially (and technically.) I view it as a cautionary tale.
Cynthia Murrell, May 09, 2014
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, developer of Augmentext
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