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Dave Hersh, former Jive Software CEO, starting stealthy new company RipFog [The Oregonian, Portland, Ore. :: ](Oregonian (Portland, OR) Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) July 02--In the post dot-com era, no CEO had more success in Portland's startup scene than former Jive Software chief Dave Hersh. He, along with Jive founders Matt Tucker and Bill Lynch, moved the business to Portland in 2004 and carved out a niche in the emerging social media sphere -- social business software. While Jive moved its headquarters to Palo Alto in 2010, its 2011 IPO remains the only one from a tech company nurtured in Oregon since 2004 (and Portland remains Jive's largest hub.) Hersh moved to California in 2009 and stepped down as Jive's CEO in 2010. He's remained active in Portland tech, though, advising Oregon startups. Now, he's getting ready to go out on his own again with a stealthy new company. RipFog stands for "Rip City + Fog City," and will split operations between Portland and San Francisco. It's a joint project between Hersh and fellow Jive alum Erik Onnen, who joined Urban Airship in 2010 and has held senior positions at that Portland mobile software company until this spring. The rough idea is that product engineering will take place in Portland while RipFog will put its marketing efforts in San Francisco -- though Hersh says there are no hard rules. He emphasizes, via e-mail that Portland will not be a (development) satellite but one 'half of the barbell' -- thus the name." So what will RipFog do? That's still under the radar as Hersh and Onnen rough out their concept and strategy. RipFog's Twitter account says, merely, "stay tuned." - Mike Rogoway; twitter: @rogoway; 503-294-7699 ___ (c)2014 The Oregonian (Portland, Ore.) Visit The Oregonian (Portland, Ore.) at www.oregonian.com Distributed by MCT Information Services |