Typically, startup technology companies turn to venture capitalists, angel investors or experienced entrepreneurs to sit on their boards. But Etelos -- a cloud computing startup -- pivoted slightly with its latest addition. The Maple Valley company on Thursday named Portland Trail Blazers general manager Kevin Pritchard to its board.
It's an unusual move, especially since the 42-year-old has been in the b-ball business most of his adult life. So I asked the Etelos brass why they chose a former NBA point guard, better known for identifying sharp shooters rather than software-as-a-service business models, for the board.
"We've had an opening on the board for several months that we knew we wanted to fill with a high level and well connected business executive," said Etelos CEO Danny Kolke. "We have two great software minds already and Kevin gives us a business-minded executive that understands managing under stress and competition."
Pritchard certainly has been under some stress lately, with rumors that the former University of Kansas star might lose his job as GM of the Paul Allen-owned team. The Oregonian earlier this month called Pritchard the "embattled general manager," with the NBA exec telling the newspaper that: "I can only control what I can control, and right now I'm working on getting ready for the draft."
And apparently joining the Etelos board. Pritchard is in his six year with Portland. Before that, he worked for the San Antonio Spurs and Kansas City Knights.
Founded in 1999, Etelos is a developer of a Web app distribution platform which helps businesses move existing applications to the cloud.
