— General Manager and Chief Operating Officer of Microsoft Azure Asim data Joined Madrona Venture Group as a partner. The Seattle Investment Company also announced, Chris Picardo Has been promoted to partner and Birkan Uzun Has joined as an investor.
Datar initially worked as an engineering manager at Microsoft and has been with the company for more than 17 years. He has worked on the Windows and Office teams, and became the general manager of Microsoft Azure and Data Platform in 2014. He is an angel investor and consultant for start-up companies.
“For many years, I have known and worked closely with Aseem-during my time at Microsoft and in the recent past. Aseem has expanded its business scale,” Madrona Venture Group Managing Director S. “Soma” Somasegar said in a statement. Post on LinkedIn.
Picardo joined Madrona in 2017 as a senior assistant and is currently a board observer of Unearth Technologies, Knock, Shyft and Ovation.io. He left the company briefly in 2019 to lead the Los Angeles sportswear company WONE.
Before joining Madrona, Picardo was the director of financial and business intelligence for Rockets of Awesome, a New York startup, and the private equity partner of Invus Group.
Uzun is a former Amazon software engineer who recently worked on Amazon’s COVID-19 response and is a researcher at MIT Alumni Ventures, Castor Ventures.
— Chief Scientist of Microsoft Jaime Steven Has been promoted to corporate vice president (CVP).
in a Post on LinkedIn, Teevan described initially feeling “weird and absurdly uncomfortable” with the announcement, but finally chose to accept it.
“Being a CVP at Microsoft is a big deal. I am now an official of the company,” she said. “It feels very cool to be responsible for helping to shape such an influential company at such a critical time.”
Teevan joined Microsoft in 2006 as the principal researcher. She was previously a technical advisor to CEO Satya Nadella and was named GeekWire Geek of the Week.
As the chief scientist, Teevan is a member of Microsoft’s experience and devices department, working on projects ranging from artificial intelligence standards to the technology giant’s evolving work policies after the COVID-19 pandemic was interrupted.
— Sarah BirdThe long-term CEO of Moz, after the Seattle company was acquired by the J2 Global subsidiary iContact, is currently the Executive Vice President and Chief Revenue Officer of Moz Group.
— Microsoft Alum Ganesh Ramosi Joined the Seattle DevOps platform Esper as the vice president of business development. He recently held a similar position at IoTium, a software startup that was acquired by View, Inc. in July.
During his 15 years at Microsoft, Ramamoorthy led the development of the Windows and device business, the Windows Phone business, and the strategic partnership with Intel.
Esper raised $30 million earlier this year to develop its DevOps platform for the IoT device fleet.
— Avalara added Squarespace Chief Financial Officer Marcella Martin To its board of directors. Martin was previously the Chief Financial Officer of Booking.com.
Avalara CEO Scott McFarlane said in a statement: “Her expertise in streamlining operations and mergers and acquisitions integration, coupled with her experience in guiding strategic operations during growth periods, will add tremendous value to Avalara’s board of directors.”
Avalara also stated that Chelsea Stoner, a partner of Battery Ventures, resigned from the board of directors on August 27.
The Seattle-based tax software company appointed Bruce Crawford and Srinivas Tallapragada to its board of directors in June.