Most recent press release:

Atlas Accelerator Expands through Merger with Athena Chiefs, Solves Staffing and Recruiting problem for Early Stage Companies via Atlas Recruiting.

May 6, 2008 - Atlas Accelerator, the largest venture-consulting firm in the Pacific Northwest has merged with Athena Chiefs, a four-year-old firm that provides interim executive management to early-stage and fast-growth companies throughout the Pacific Northwest.  The two companies have also announced formation of a new company, Atlas Recruiting, and named Athena Chiefs founder Tom Ryan to be the new company’s CEO.

“Atlas Recruiting will solve the problem of finding great people for startups.  Every growing company wants to find great people, not every company can afford the cash to pay a recruiter.  We wanted to solve the problem by taking payment in part for stock for qualifying companies”, said Brant Williams, Managing Partner of Atlas Accelerator.  “Tom Ryan has built a company of high value and integrity that taps into a network of nearly 100 C-level executives, and we will be adding to that a new non-executive recruiting offering that provides qualifying companies the ability to take advantage of the service using mostly stock instead of cash.”

Atlas Accelerator has helped start-up companies hit key milestones for over ten years by investing time and resources in critical roles within startup companies.  Atlas Accelerator invested about $2 million in 2007, and will invest over $4 million in 2008. The new non-executive recruiting offering continues that unique approach of letting early stage companies pay for the majority of the search fee with resources they have – stock – and save the cash that is normally in tighter supply.  Companies will need to qualify for the offer by pitching their company like they would to any angel investor.

“Atlas Accelerator is essentially where Angel Investing meets consulting, and Atlas Recruiting will be where Angel Investing meets recruiting”, said Tom Ryan, the new company’s CEO.  “I’m thrilled to be running a sister company that is associated with such a high integrity and highly regarded team and to be joining the Atlas family.”

“Tom is a great connector for startup executives.  From his ‘Birds of a Feather’ CEO group to his experience with Angel investing and philanthropy efforts, Tom is an asset to the startup community and someone with whom we’re proud to be working”, said Mike Crill, Managing Director at Atlas Accelerator.

Both Atlas Recruiting and Atlas Accelerator will cater to companies in the greater Pacific Northwest, including Seattle, Boise, Portland and Vancouver, BC.  For additional information on Atlas Accelerator and the merger, contact Brant Williams (brant@atlasaccelerator.com) or visit www.atlasaccelerator.com or www.athenachiefs.com.

ABOUT ATLAS ACCELERATOR - Atlas Accelerator is the largest venture-consulting firm in the Pacific Northwest focused on the needs of growing technology companies.  Atlas fills critical roles in early stage companies so they can make stuff, sell stuff and operate themselves.  Atlas Accelerator has helped over 100 startups get off the ground.  Over 85% of their investments successfully moved to the next level.

ABOUT ATHENA CHIEFS

We date before we get married in real life – why not in business life?  Athena Chiefs provides interim CXO services to early stage and fast-growth companies that provide strategic expertise while mitigating risk in the hiring process.  

CONTACT:

Tom Ryan

PHONE:  425.241.7722

tom@atlasrecruiting.com

June 16, 2004 11:00 AM US Eastern

Athena Chiefs Opens To Provide Interim Executive Services; "Interim CXO's'' new trend among early stage and fast growth companies

KIRKLAND, Wash.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--June 16, 2004--Athena Chiefs, an interim executive management consulting firm, today announced its opening to cater to early-stage and fast-growth companies. The company, which started work for clients in April, is part of a trend of companies outsourcing executive positions to experienced professionals to retain more flexibility, reduce costs, and move faster.

"Athena is an alternative to conducting a long and expensive search for an executive," said Tom Ryan, President of Athena Chiefs. "Few small and fast-growth companies realize that it's possible to engage a top-rate executive without the long-term commitment and cost associated with an employee. It also lets you see if the chemistry is there in case you want to make a long term commitment -- 'try before you buy' -- probably the biggest reason for its growing popularity."

The term "CXO" is taken as a more general version of the titles that Athena Chiefs typically staffs: CEO (Chief Executive Officer), COO (Operations), CSO (Sales), CMO (Marketing), CCO (Customer) and CIO (Information). HR Magazine and other publications have written about the growing trend of companies to outsource these functions to boutique companies like Athena.

Tom Ryan, an experienced C-Level executive at several start-ups, spent over 18 years in strategic planning, sales and service operations and building successful offerings and teams from scratch (as well as helping struggling companies re-start themselves). Tom has focused on making sure companies are operationally ready to deliver, and have the appropriate infrastructure and team in place to succeed.

"Tom has a long track record of success in successfully building companies, and has access to some great nuggets of talent," said Tom Brubaker, CEO of Customerville. "We've used Tom and Athena to drive revenue and organize our sales process, which is paramount to an early-stage company's success."

Another Athena client, Mike Moskowitz of Jetstream Software, agreed. "We are in fast-growth mode, but still have limited resources, and it's great to have an alternative of someone like Tom and his team to draw upon for outside perspective and strategy," said Moskowitz.

"Athena is named after the Greek 'Goddess of Wisdom'," said Ryan. "Athena was also called the 'Protector of Heroes' - something we think entrepreneurs are in today's economy! We're very selective in the clients we take on, and are off to a great start in finding great companies that are capable of heroic and great things."

About Athena Chiefs

Athena Chiefs is a Pacific Northwest boutique consulting firm of experienced executives serving early-stage and fast-growth companies on an interim and project basis. Tom Ryan, President and Founder, and his team of senior executives cover every area of executive management including operations, sales strategy and execution, customer service, and strategic planning.