First Off

Announcements and the like.

If you don't know by now, voting in Round 3 of the Wisconsin Inno Madness competition has begun!

Based on your votes in Round 2, we're down to eight local startups vying for the coveted title of 2022 Inno Madness champion. Vote for which startup you're most likely to invest in.

In Round 2 last week, underdog Honeycomb Luxury (#32) captured the most overall votes — 1,779 — to beat WorkShift (#17) by a 12-percentage-point margin. Valortech (#20) was victorious over last year's second-place winner Pivotal Health (#4) by an 11-percentage-point margin, with nearly 56% of the votes.

There were also some super close Round 2 matchups — Rapid Radicals Technology (#7) edged out PartsBadger (#23) by just 27 votes to win by picking up 50.4% of the votes.

Round 3 voting continues through March 18 at 11:59 pm. Vote now.

The Big One

A breakdown of the day's biggest Inno story.

Milwaukee-based president of OpenGov steps down. What's next for him and the software firm?

Less than two years after moving home to Milwaukee and establishing a local office for Silicon Valley-based software company OpenGov Inc., David Reeves stepped down as president of the growing firm, which has said it will hire at least 100 employees in Milwaukee.

But both Reeves and OpenGov plan to stay in Milwaukee.

OpenGov will maintain its Milwaukee office in the Global Water Center and will continue hiring local employees through a partnership with Marquette University, OpenGov director of marketing and communications Stephanie Beer said. It currently has 44 Milwaukee employees.

Reeves said that after successful stints as an executive at three different software companies — OpenGov, Zuora Inc. and PTC — "it was time to take a break and do new things," he wrote in a text message Thursday while on a flight to Phoenix.

"I was proud to have helped build a market-leading and transformational company in the GovTech space," he wrote, adding that he's still a large shareholder in OpenGov.

Reeves is now an executive in residence at Marquette, where he helps teach a class in the business school. He's also working on a project to help retain computer science and information systems students in Wisconsin after they graduate, he said.

Additionally, Reeves said he'll continue investing in and mentoring startups. He backed Character Capital's first $30 million venture fund, which is co-led by a former Google Ventures partner who has Wisconsin roots.

Making Moves

Inside the people, companies and organizations making moves in Wisconsin.

Sue Marks to step down as CEO of Brookfield firm Cielo

Cielo, the Brookfield-based recruitment process outsourcing company, said Tuesday that founder Sue Marks will step down as CEO of the company, effective May 31.

Marks will continue to serve on the company's board, advising on key strategic initiatives and customer, partner and analyst relationships, Cielo said. Chief operating officer Marissa Geist will succeed Marks as CEO.

In a press release, Marks said she is proud to pass the reins of the company over to Geist, who she said was a "remarkable leader."

Marks founded Cielo 15 years ago as Pinstripe and has built the firm into a human capital management partner with over 3,600 employees across 108 countries. Geist has contributed to that growth in recent years, said John Coyle, a partner at Permira, the majority investor in Cielo and member of the board of directors.