Branchout Hires Ebbe Altberg, Former Yahoo! Senior Executive, As Chief Operating Officer

SAN FRANCISCO, Oct. 25, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- BranchOut, the largest professional community on Facebook, today announced that Ebbe Altberg, a former senior vice president, media engineering at Yahoo! has joined BranchOut as chief operating officer. In addition, Chris Merritt, who joined BranchOut as vice president of sales and general manager of enterprise products, has been promoted to chief marketing and sales officer. 

"Ebbe is a catalyst in taking our company to the next level," said CEO and Founder Rick Marini. "With our recent redesign, BranchOut has evolved into a true professional community. Ebbe will be managing our product, design, growth and engineering teams to provide our users the best possible experience when they come to BranchOut."

Altberg brings extensive experience leading large-scale product innovation, development and operations. He joins BranchOut after spending four years at Yahoo! as senior vice president of media engineering, where he was responsible for global media product strategy and development, including Yahoo! Homepages, News, Sports, Finance and Entertainment. Before that, he served as vice president and head of audience for EMEA where he handled consumer strategy, products and content. Prior to Yahoo!, Altberg was chief product officer for Ingenio that was acquired by AT&T Interactive. He also spent 12 years at Microsoft in various leadership positions.

"BranchOut is pushing the envelope in the professional space and I'm thrilled to join at such an important time," said Altberg. "People network and approach their careers in many different ways, and we're trying to make the process more authentic. BranchOut is a place where you can be inspired to bring your career to life. We're working on making it a deeper experience."

As chief marketing and sales officer, Chris Merritt will drive marketing, sales, business development, editorial and customer care.  Before coming to BranchOut in 2011, Merritt worked at Yahoo!, where he was responsible for the company's largest advertiser and agency relationships as vice president of global advertiser partnerships. Earlier at Yahoo!, Merritt ran small business and recruitment advertising.

"With Ebbe and Chris, the management team has deep product, operational and industry experience," said Marini. "BranchOut has a world-class team and the ability to improve the lives of millions of people. It's an exciting time for us."

About BranchOut®
BranchOut is the largest professional community on Facebook with more than 30 million users in over 200 countries. BranchOut allows people to build their professional brands by sharing photos and posts that dynamically showcase their professional skills, expertise and accomplishments. The company was founded in 2010 and has raised $49 million in funding from Accel Partners, Redpoint Ventures, Mayfield Fund and Norwest Venture Partners.

SOURCE BranchOut