Dive Brief:
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Lanny Baker, former CFO of Yelp, Inc., is moving to global ticketing and event technology platform Eventbrite, the company said in a press release Thursday. Baker replaces Randy Befumo, who will move from CFO to chief strategy officer.
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Baker, who has served as finance chief of the crowd-sourced review forum since 2016, will start his new role in September, The Wall Street Journal reported. Both companies are based in San Francisco.
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Yelp went public in 2012, and Eventbrite went public in September 2018. Baker served as CEO of a publicly traded company, ZipRealty, for three years prior to joining Yelp, giving him the kind of experience to help Eventbrite reach its next stage of growth, said company co-founder and CEO Julia Hartz.
Dive Insight:
"I can't think of a better partner than Lanny to help lead the company through our next phase of growth," said Hartz. "His experience scaling high-growth public companies and deep knowledge of how technology platforms can transform industries will be instrumental in helping us continue to drive sustainable long-term growth and value for our shareholders."
Baker says Eventbrite has built a robust platform where the interests of the business are directly aligned to the interests of customers. "I’m inspired by the opportunities to build upon the position Eventbrite has already established," he said in a statement.
He said his goal is to help Eventbrite build a "self-serve, business enablement platform for event creators.”
As Yelp searches for Baker's replacement, James Miln, the company's vice president of financial planning and analysis, will serve as interim CFO, The Wall Street Journal reported.
In his new role as chief strategy officer, Befumo will be in charge of assisting other Eventbrite executives with developing, communicating, executing and sustaining the company’s corporate strategic initiatives.
Representatives for Yelp and Eventbrite did not respond to requests for comment.