Can A New CEO Revive Angie’s List?

July kicks off a new start for Angie’s List. Yesterday (July 1), the local services marketplace announced J. Mark Howell took over as Interim CEO.

Howell was the COO of Angie’s List and follows in the footsteps of the company’s co-founder, Bill Oesterle, who said in April that he was stepping down. Howell will be taking over as interim CEO until the board finds a permanent replacement.

“Angie’s List has a strong and talented management team and the company remains focused on executing against its marketplace strategy,” said John Chuang, Chairman of the Board. “Mark has extensive leadership experience in a public company setting and, having served successfully as Angie’s List’s COO for more than two years, has a deep understanding of the company’s strategy and operations, which will be critical during this transition period.”

But what made Oesterle step down? He reportedly determined the time was right due to increased demands that were drawing his attention away from the company. Oesterle has also officially stepped away from the board of directors.

“I have decided that now is the right time for me to step down as CEO in order to concentrate more fully on the civic issues that matter most to me,” Oesterle said. “I am very proud of what we have accomplished over 20 years and look forward to following the company’s progress in the future.”

Howell, 50, has been with the company since March 2013 and hailed from Ingram Micro Mobility, where he was President. Prior to that he served in top roles such as President, COO and CFO at Brightpoint, a supply chain services provider to the wireless industry. He was also a Corporate Controller for ADESA Corporation and an accountant with Ernst & Young LLP.

“As COO, I have worked very closely with Bill and the management team and look forward to leading Angie’s List through the transition to its next CEO,” Howell said. “The company has a loyal, engaged member base, deep service provider relationships and a solid product pipeline. The team is eager to continue to grow our business.”

In more scintillating news for Angie’s List, the company has recently brought a lawsuit against Amazon, claiming that the eCommerce giant’s Amazon Local stole provider lists and proprietary information.

Last month, Angie’s List filed a federal lawsuit against Amazon, alleging that executives and other employees at Amazon Local signed up as Angie’s members in order to copy provider profiles, member reviews and other information. According to the lawsuit, the information gathered is being used to create a competing service to Angie’s List.

“Amazon Local has chosen not to devote the necessary time, resources and effort to compete legitimately with Angie’s List and to develop its own research to identify and solicit service providers to work with. Instead, Amazon Local and its employees have chosen the shortcut of surreptitiously accessing and misappropriating Angie’s List’s proprietary information,” the lawsuit alleges.

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