Power Moves: IoT expert joins Microsoft, Indy Hall hires ‘tummler’

Power Moves is a column where we chart the comings and goings of talent across the region. Got a new hire, gig or promotion? Email us: philly@technical.ly

After selling his company for $112 million, ThingWorx cofounder and CTO Rick Bullotta sought to look for his next big thing. He even made a consulting company out of it.

Next week, the Internet of Things consultant will start another chapter in his career: Bullotta accepted a role as Microsoft’s Director of Azure IoT Strategy, where he’ll work with in-house teams, customers and partners on IoT offerings for the tech giant’s cloud computing platform.

Bullotta said in an email he’ll remain Philly-based, and the role will be part-time “to keep the family happy.”

“Really looking forward to this new role and working with some awesome people,” Bullotta said in a LinkedIn post. “It’ll be fun having a company with the size, commitment, market reach and culture of Microsoft to build from. I think I’m done with startups after 20 years or so of them!”

Expect the Microsoft exec to remain connected to the Philly tech community: He’ll also be mentoring ventures in the Techstars/Comcast incubator and will continue to advise a couple of local startups.

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When coworking camp Indy Hall set out to find a new front-facing person for its team, it was a chance to ask what exactly the role could entail.

“The position has molded with every person who’s been in it,” Indy Hall founder Alex Hillman said. “We treated it more like a residency: We got a personal intro, talk about people’s goals and and then describe objective of the role.”

There’s a lot to gain, Hillman said, from being immersed in the Old City coworking space. But the problem was that, in the past, the hiring process had never been open, but rather filled with people who were able to get a direct referral.

“The big change now was that we made it available,” Hillman said. “And we wanted to put this in the hands of people who wouldn’t normally walk into Indy Hall.”

The intentional outreach to groups like Writers of Color, Philly Game Mechanics and a few LGBTQ Facebook groups helped to diversified the talent pipeline, brought in “a ton of good applicants” and reduced the ratio of “throwaway applications.”

After reviewing 75+ applications, Anaia Daigle, 22, of Germantown came out on top. She officially joined the coworking spot as “tummler” earlier this month. What’s a tummler, you ask? Read Hillman’s explanation here.

“This is my first experience in a coworking space, so everything is brand new to me,” Daigle said. “I expect this experience to inform of a variety of potential paths and to empower my vision of my professional goals. There is a huge variety in my professional ambitions, and I am nowhere near deciding what to do with the rest of my life, so getting to know people who are already making a living doing things I’m interested in (writers, educators, designers, etc.) will give me a little window into the reality of those paths and choices.”

Anaia Daigle, the new tummler at Indy Hall. (Photo courtesy of Sam Abrams Photography)

Transparency throughout the hiring process made things smooth, Daigle said. For Hillman, having the candidates aware of what stage they were at throughout the process yielded positive feedback.

“What that really says to me is that the bar [for responsible hiring] is set really low,” Hillman said.

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How about a quick check-in with realLIST startup Keriton before summer kicks in?

The Center City breastmilk-management platform been racking up some wins:

• Stevie American Business Awards – Tech Startup of the Year
• Vizient Award for top performers in supply chain management (to Penn Medicine, for its use of Keriton)
• Winners of the health IT track at the Pitch Perfect competition, part of MedCity News’ INVEST conference

Pitch Perfect Winner Spotlight: @Keriton CEO highlights benefits of ‘conference room pilots’ by @stephlbaum https://t.co/gLGpTgAR14 #healthIT #mcINVEST

— MedCity News (@medcitynews) May 25, 2018