Former Boomi CEO Bob Moul appointed president of Philly Startup Leaders

Former Dell Boomi CEO Bob Moul has been named the next president of Philly Startup Leaders.

“Bob was the number one pick, unanimously voted in among the board and advisors,” says acting PSL president Chris Cera. “I think he’ll change the ecosystem in major way.”

Berwyn-based Boomi is one of the major success stories in Philadelphia technology community. The cloud computing company was acquired by Dell in 2010. Since the sale to Dell, Moul has been active in the local entrepreneurial community speaking on several panels throughout the Summer. Moul is also organizing Phorum 2012, a cloud computing conference coming to town in March.

“I feel like it’s incumbent on us to give back to the community to give back what we learned,” Moul told Technically Philly in a Q&A in September. “I feel like a rising tide will raise all boats.”
While searching for the next president, Cera actively searched for input on ways to improve the group hosting a “fishbowl” this Summer and meeting with members of the city’s technology community.

“It was [First Round Capital Managing Partner] Josh Kopelman that came up to me and said the Bob is the best guy for the job and told us that we should be looking for him,” Cera said.

The group has been searching for a president since the departure of Jameson Detweiler this summer. Detweiler moved to Silicon Valley to join 500 Startups to grow his Philly Startup Weekend-created startup Launchrock. Detweiler’s predecessor, PSL founder Blake Jannelle, moved to New York City in 2010.

Moul’s last day at Dell was Friday and the group will be throwing a party in January to welcome its new president, said Cera who will now act as chairman of the board.

“The work is just beginning,” he said.