WASHINGTON, Dec. 7 /PRNewswire/ -- Searchles(R) () -- the intelligent social search platform that gets smarter every time you use it -- today announced the election of Mark Walsh to the board of directors. The announcement comes as the company aggressively seeks to build out its management and technology team with top-tier talent.
"Searchles impressed me as a potential hyper growth company because of the unique way search is applied socially to enhance relevancy, with connections among people to trusted content and to their trusted peer networks," said Mr. Walsh. "I see immediate applications for online media and social networking sites as well as in education. I look forward to working with Searchles to penetrate these markets."
"Mark's breadth and depth of Internet and new media experience will be a tremendous asset to Searchles as we work to rapidly scale our community of users and original content partners," said Elias Shams, CEO of Searchles. "We feel fortunate to attract his leadership at the beginning of our ramp-up."
Mark Walsh is founder and managing partner of Ruxton Ventures, LLC, a private equity and investment firm. Notable Ruxton investments include Blackboard Inc., the publicly traded leader in enterprise software for the education industry; Half.com, which was acquired by eBay; and Day Corp.
Formerly Mr. Walsh was a member of the board of Blackboard Inc. and served as president and CEO, and later as chairman, of VerticalNet, the first publicly traded business-to-business Internet company. Before VerticalNet, he was a senior vice president and corporate officer at America Online, where he founded and managed AOL Enterprise, the business-to-business division of AOL. Prior to AOL, Mr. Walsh was president of General Electric's GEnie online service, vice president and general manager of the interactive services division of CUC International, and headed Home Box Office's new business development in New York for the HBO and Cinemax brands.
Mr. Walsh serves on the board of directors of and as an advisor to a number of public and privately held companies as well as non-profits. He hosts a popular talk show on XM Satellite Radio every Sunday where discussions range from politics and technology to business, and sports with a who's who guest-list of insiders. Mr. Walsh earned his MBA from Harvard Business School and B.A. from Union College, where he serves as a trustee.
About Searchles
Searchles Media Contact: Amy M. Smith, WhiteOak Communications (703) 200-8218 asmith (at) whiteoakcom.com
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