Jeff and I are incredibly excited to share some news with our community. Effective immediately, I am stepping down as CEO of Silicon Prairie News and community builder Regan Carrizales has been promoted to fill the role. After five years of steering the SPN ship while also running software companies—Brightmix, Tripleseat and now Flywheel—I feel the requirements and opportunity that lay ahead for SPN will take the full-time focus of a strong leader.
Both Jeff and I couldn’t be more pumped for Regan to take the helm and help shepherd the organization to the next level. Her commitment to the entire Silicon Prairie matches, if not exceeds, that of Jeff and myself. Her passion for building a great culture within the organization means we’ll be able to continue to hire the best people—those who you’ve come to expect from SPN. And her desire and vision to sustainably grow the organization into and past this next chapter has us both more excited than ever for what lies ahead.
It’s worth noting that I won’t really be going anywhere—I just won’t be in charge. We have a great opportunity here to put “real” structure in place to ensure the company operates more like a company, and less like the hobby that it started out as. This means Jeff and I will still oversee the overall direction of things, but the execution of that strategy is left up to Regan and the team. Jeff will continue working alongside Regan and the team in his role as co-founder and chief community builder as SPN moves forward.
Nothing in my professional career has been as rewarding as watching the amazing SPN team take a kernel of an idea and grow it into the business you see today. They’re the ones you interact with on a daily basis, and who do all the hard work. They produce the content, produce the events, secure partnerships and keep all the gears turning. They’re the ones on whose backs SPN has been built, and it’s an honor to work alongside them. So to Danny, Geoff, Brittany, Kim, Regan, Caleb, Fred, Megan and everyone else who’s a part of the SPN family over the years—THANK YOU.
Thanks to our sponsor
Here’s to the next chapter in the story of Silicon Prairie News.
Credits: Regan Carrizales photo by Malone & Co.
