Zipwhip, the original cloud software platform for two-way business texting, today announced the appointment of two new members to its executive leadership team. Bob Chamberlain will take the role of Chief Financial Officer (CFO) to oversee financial planning and reporting, and as Senior Vice President (SVP) of People, Kirsten Spoljaric will craft programs to further Zipwhip’s organizational development and culture strategy. These appointments come during a period of rapid revenue and employee growth for Zipwhip, as the company reinforces its reputation as the pioneer of business texting and solidifies its industry leadership position.
Chamberlain and Spoljaric bring decades of experience within their respective fields to the Zipwhip team. Chamberlain is a well-known figure within the Seattle tech community, having served as CFO during some of region’s most high-profile acquisitions in recent history including Big Fish and PopCap Games. Spoljaric brings a unique expertise in ushering startup cultures through periods of internal and external growth, based on her role as co-founder and VP of human resources at Mashery, an API management solution eventually acquired by Intel. Both originally joined Zipwhip in consultancy roles earlier in 2018, before it became clear their expertise and strategic vision were imperative for the future growth of the company. As of Oct. 2018, they have both come onboard in full-time capacities. These appointments come following a marquee year for Zipwhip, highlighted by several product innovations such as the introduction of rich communication services (RCS) capabilities as well as ongoing customer success, having expanded its user base to more than 20,000 businesses.
“We’re thrilled to have Bob and Kirsten join us at Zipwhip to help lead the way for the next phase of our business,” said John Lauer, co-founder and CEO, Zipwhip. “As we look ahead to 2019, this dynamic pair has exactly the kind of operational vision needed to guide the organization and support the continued innovation happening at Zipwhip. I’m inspired to work alongside these smart, hardworking individuals who are committed to advancing texting technology to improve business-to-consumer engagement.”
As CFO, Chamberlain will work to optimize Zipwhip’s financial performance, evolving the company’s financial planning and reporting, while tracking toward an aggressive company and product expansion. Prior to Zipwhip, Chamberlain navigated a broad and diverse career in public and private global hardware, software and social network industries, guiding companies through numerous funding rounds, acquisitions and IPOs.
“Zipwhip invented this industry so that organizations and consumers had a better way to communicate, and I’m proud to be here as we make Zipwhip the de facto software and brand for business texting,” said Bob Chamberlain, CFO, Zipwhip. “The growth we’re seeing is truly exciting, and I look forward to supporting the team as we scale in both revenue and employees.”
Spoljaric is an experienced HR executive and serial entrepreneur, having previously co-founded both a global SaaS organization Mashery, and boutique strategy, business development and HR consulting firm Cloudery. Her varied background and entrepreneurial spirit make her uniquely well suited to take on the SVP of People role, where she will further foster Zipwhip’s culture of determination, innovation, respect, enthusiasm, collaboration and trust. She will also support the larger corporate strategic direction by advancing the talent and recruitment strategy and continuing to bring in top-tier tech talent across a variety of functions, with an early focus on engineering, product, sales, and marketing.
“Having both founded and worked at a number of startups over the years, I’m eager to join a company that so highly covets its culture and invests in its team,” said Kirsten Spoljaric, SVP of People, Zipwhip. “Zipwhip is full of people who care about our customers, who care about one another and who are truly engaged and passionate about their work. The culture here is unique in today’s tech world – I knew immediately that I wanted to be part of it.”
These executive appointments culminate a strong 2018 for Zipwhip, which marked the second iteration of Zipwhip’s SaaS platform, a partnership with the Sacramento Kings to offer fan-to-franchise RCS messaging and recognition as one of the fastest-growing private companies in Seattle. For more information about open positions and partnership opportunities, visit www.zipwhip.com.
About Zipwhip
A Seattle-based SaaS company, Zipwhip is modernizing the business texting medium by enabling text messaging to existing landline, VoIP and toll-free phone numbers. Zipwhip pairs direct network connectivity with easy, cloud-based software and an enterprise-grade API, so businesses of any size can give customers the choice to “text or call” and handle two-way text conversations at scale. Learn more about Zipwhip at www.zipwhip.com.
View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20181023005399/en/
Contacts:
Michelle Isacson, 425-381-0716
zipwhip@barokas.com
