Posse.com hires Google engineer Alex North, mulls expansion plans
Posse.com, which recently received a $758,000 grant from the ministry of innovation, has hired Google engineer Alex North as the music fan website eyes expansion.
The site, which launched in August 2010, has plans to launch in another vertical later in the year, the company’s CEO Rebekah Campbell (pictured) told Mumbrella.
North joins Posse’s engineering team in Surry Hills as product manager, leading product development. At Google, he was involved in the development of Google Wave, the real-time collaboration platform.
Posse.com has also hired Virgin UK marketer Brett Volker to run its UK operation, which is scheduled to launch in August.
Campbell said: “Our initial mandate was to create a more effective marketing system for brands and music events. Later in the year, we want to branch into wider social commerce – it could be sport, fashion, retail or travel, we’re still working out which.”
Posse enables bands and festivals to use their own fans to do the promotional work, by rewarding them with prizes for spreading the word among their friends. The company works with retailers including Moshtix, OzTix, Ticketmaster and iTunes.
