BOSTON -- Three industry technology companies added new blood to their staffs recently in efforts to improve develop and sales.
GasBuddy
GasBuddy, a firm known for its gasoline-price comparison app, has hired a former PayPal engineer as its new chief technology officer.
As GasBuddy’s new CTO, Max Metral will lead the engineering team and shape the technology agenda across the company. Metral was most recently the chief engineer at San Jose, Calif.-based PayPal and brings more than 20 years of consumer technology experience to GasBuddy.
“There are two keys to building great companies: a demonstrable vision and a world-class team to bring it to life. We have both,” said Walt Doyle, CEO of Boston-based GasBuddy. “Max demonstrates a track record of being a highly successful CTO that can build pretty much anything. His hands-on experience made him the perfect person to step into this important role on our management team. We’re excited to have such a seasoned veteran who is eager to help scale a fast-growing business like ours.”
Over his career, Metral has lead three companies to acquisitions and an initial public offering (IPO). He was the CEO and co-founder of a company called Fig Card, which was acquired by PayPal in April 2011. Prior to founding Fig, Metral was co-founder and CTO of Firefly, which was sold to Redmond, Wash.-based Microsoft. Then he went on to architect the sign-on system, Microsoft Passport.
Bob Breznak and Jean-Charles Sisk join Metral in leading the technology organization. Breznak was the vice president of engineering at Soofa, Cambridge, Mass., and EverTrue, Boston, and served as a software engineer at Where Inc., Boston. Sisk was an application engineer architect at PayPal, where he played a key role in moving large parts of the organization to new protocols.
GasBuddy is a popular mobile app that helps consumers find cheap gasoline. With more than 57 million downloads and 15 million monthly active users, GasBuddy is home to the world’s largest network of people working together daily to outsmart the pump.
Petroleum Solutions Inc.
In other personnel news, Petroleum Solutions Inc. (PSI), Edinburg, Texas, announced that Michael Jorgenson accepted the role of regional director, supporting northern Texas markets for the distributor and provider of petroleum equipment. Jorgenson’s responsibilities include oversight, direct management and strategic planning for the Austin, Temple, Tyler and Dallas-Ft. Worth markets. He has served the industry and PSI for more than 20 years and will use his expertise to lead the initiative in improving the ability to respond to customer requests.
“As we continue to grow as a company, both with market share and organically, we know we are best when we work collectively together,” said John Keller, vice president of PSI. “With Michael as regional director, PSI will continue to provide added value well beyond our products.”
Aztech Software
In a separate announcement, technology provider Aztech Software, Greeley, Colo., announced the hiring of Wanda Woodard as regional sales manager. Her new Aztech territory encompasses 13 states primarily in the Southeast.
“Wanda has been consulting and helping wholesale marketers and convenience-store operators find software solutions to enhance their growth and profitability,” said Don Ericson, CEO of Aztech. Woodard’s background includes owning and operating a convenience store in West Monroe, La.
Aztech is an accounting- and back-office-software provider for the fuel, lubricants and c-store industries.
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