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Jive Software CEO Tony Zingale retires, Elisa Steele named president; shares jump on strong Q3 results [The Oregonian, Portland, Ore.](Oregonian (Portland, OR) Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) Nov. 04--Jive Software chief executive Tony Zingale stepped down Tuesday and the social networking company promoted chief marketing officer Elisa Steele to president while the company conducts a CEO search. Jive shares jumped 19 percent on the news and stronger-than forecast revenues. Before joining Jive in January, Steele held executive positions at Microsoft and its Skype subsidiary, and at Yahoo, NetApp and Sun Microsystems. Zingale, 58, had been CEO since 2010 and took the company through its 2011 initial public offering. He will stay with Jive as executive chairman after his retirement. Jive said it will consider both internal and external candidates during its CEO search. Though its headquarters are in California, Jive occupies a unique place in Oregon tech history. It kicked off Portland's entrepreneurial renaissance when the company moved to Oregon in 2004 and it remains one of the city's largest tech employers, with around 250 at its office downtown. Jive's "social business software" uses Facebook-style social networking tools that encourage professional collaboration. In the years following its IPO, though, Jive has been unable to maintain the rapid growth that excited investors when social networking fervor was at its height. On Tuesday, Steele said the company is focusing its message to help various types of businesses understand how Jive's tools can facilitate communication among remote offices and among multiple generations of employees. "Jive is the hub where all work happens," Steele said. Company co-founder Matt Tucker, now Jive's chief technology officer, said Steele is re-connecting the company to its roots and helping communicate what its software offers. "It felt like: Let's go back to really understanding the Jive story," he said Tuesday. Jive shares shot up in after-hours trading Tuesday on evidence that Jive is making more headway with customers: --Third-quarter sales totaled $46.6 million, above the $44 million to $45 million Jive had forecast. Sales were up 24.7 percent from the third quarter last year, Jive's fastest growth in a year. --Jive cut its losses, too, reporting a loss of !2.1 million, 17 cents a share, compared to a loss of 27 cents a share a year earlier. --In the current quarter Jive told investors to expect sales between $46.5 million and $47.5 million -- implying annual growth around 20 percent. Jive's stock, which had been near an all-time low, jumped $1.11 in after-hours trading to $7 a share. -- Mike Rogoway; twitter: @rogoway; phone: 503-294-7699 ___ (c)2014 The Oregonian (Portland, Ore.) Visit The Oregonian (Portland, Ore.) at www.oregonian.com Distributed by MCT Information Services |