Sarah Bird is leaving Moz after 14 years at the Seattle SEO software startup, including 7 as CEO

Sarah Vogel. (LinkedIn photo)

Sarah Bird is leaving Moz, the Seattle-based SEO software startup she joined in 2007 and which she led as CEO for more than seven years. The company was acquired in June of this year.

Bird is a leading presence in the Seattle tech community and a former attorney who started at Moz as chief operating officer. She became CEO in January 2014 after Moz co-founder Rand Fishkin stepped down.

In a blog post on Monday morning, Bird described her time at the company as a “wonderfully wild ride” but said, “It’s time for me to move on and make room for new voices, new leaders.”

She said she plans to skip winter to “reflect, rest, and appreciate loved ones,” and in an email to GeekWire, she said her only other immediate goals are to finally see Game of Thrones and perfecting her at home recipe of Cinerama’s famous chocolate popcorn.

She said she didn’t know what the future holds, “but I know it will be a great adventure.”

When she took the CEO position in 2014, Bird said she was excited and humble about the opportunity to run the company.

“Moz has spent most of my waking hours since 2007,” she said. “I love the company. I am honored to be asked to take the helm. “

Email marketing company iContact, a subsidiary of J2 Global, acquired Moz in the summer and in August Bird took over the position of Executive Vice President and Chief Revenue Officer of the Moz Group under J2.

Fishkin and his mother Gillian Muessig founded Moz in 2004. Originally known as SEOMoz, it grew into one of the top startups in Seattle. It was profitable, growing, and at the time of its acquisition was number 10 on GeekWire 200, our list of the leading private tech companies in the Pacific Northwest.

“The shared focus on delivering high-performing digital marketing solutions fits our brand, our people and our community perfectly,” Bird said in a June statement about the acquisition.

Sarah Bird, left, at the 2017 GeekWire Awards in Seattle when she was nominated for CEO of the Year alongside Smartsheet’s Mark Mader (who won), Outreach’s Manny Medina, Remitly’s Matt Oppenheimer, and Textio’s Kieran Snyder. (GeekWire file photo)

In 2017, Bird weathered tough times at the startup, cutting 28 percent of Moz’s workforce as part of a broader search engine optimization initiative as other areas of the company lagged.

In June, Moz employed 177 people. The company acquired six other startups and had borrowed $ 29.1 million prior to the acquisition.

Fishkin left Moz in 2018 and left the board in September 2020. He now runs the Seattle-based marketing startup SparkToro.

https://www.geekwire.com/2021/sarah-bird-leaving-moz-14-years-seattle-seo-software-startup-including-7-ceo/
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