Gazzang recently appointed Michael J. Harper as their new vice president of worldwide sales and alliances. He brings to the team his comprehensive experience in the field of cloud and open source market strategies. Prior to joining Gazzang, Harper was with VMware as their senior director of Cloud Foundry Services. There’s more about his appointment on this news link.

Joingo, LLC recently named Kevin Williams as the company’s new National Sales Director. He will contribute to the company more than two decades of experience in the field of online travel as well as resort management. Williams was formerly part of Yuupon.com. There’s more about his appointment on this news link.

SCAN Health Plan recently added Deanna Weatherly to their management team as the company’s new vice president of sales operations. She was previously with Molina Healthcare where she served as corporate director of Medicare marketing. Weatherly will contribute to the team her comprehensive experience in working with health plans, spanning over 25 years. There’s more about her appointment on this news link.

John Clark was recently welcomed as the new vice president of sales for North America for Altus Positioning Systems. He was previously with Geomatic Resources LLC where he served as a managing partner. Clark was also formerly part of Leica Geosystems Inc. There’s more about his appointment on this news link.

Man Lift Mfg. Co. was recently joined by Timothy Henrich as their Vice President of Sales and Marketing. He brings to the Man Lift team his experience in the field of sales and new business development, spanning more than 15 years. Henrich was previously a U.S Marine. There’s more about his appointment on this news link.

Antares Pharma, Inc. recently named LeRoux Jooste as the company’s new Senior Vice President of Pharmaceutical Sales and Marketing. He will contribute to the Antares team his comprehensive experience in the pharmaceutical and biotech fields, spanning more than 25 years. Jooste was most recently with Cephalon, Inc., where he was Vice President Commercial Assessment and New Product Planning. There’s more about his appointment on this news link.

From an impressive list of more than 540 tech companies in the Georgia area, Lead411 has now come up with the Top 26.

These are the most innovative businesses in the state and Lead411 recognizes them through the “Hottest Companies in Georgia” awards.

The third of Lead411’s annual awards, the research done for this year was by no means any less strenuous as in the past years. Every day, the staff of Lead411 goes through more than 600 press releases, business launches, company materials, and much more.

In order to qualify, the company must first and foremost be a private company that’s part of the Software, Wireless, Internet, Hardware, or Media industries. Most importantly, it should be located within the vicinity of Georgia.

In addition, it must also either have 100% increase in revenues for the past couple of years, or have gained more than $1M in funding in the same timeframe.

Companies like Clearleap, Cloud Sherpas, and simplifyMD had made it to the list of Hottest Companies in Georgia. Want to know what other companies were awarded? You can see the complete list here.

Actifio recently welcomed Michael Troiano as the company’s new Chief Marketing Officer. He was previously part of Holland-Mark, where he served as a Principal. Troiano had also worked with companies like Ogilvy & Mather Interactive, matchmine, and Primix Solutions. There’s more about his appointment on this news link.

Spinnaker Support recently appointed Bob Ludlam as the company’s new vice president of sales. He was previously with Rimini Street. Ludlam will contribute to the team his over 25 years of comprehensive experience in the field of IT, finance, as well as sales management. There’s more about his appointment on this news link.

Robert G. O’Hare was recently named as the new Executive Vice President, Sales and Marketing for EmploymentGroup. He has done 25 years of transformational sales management work. O’Hare was previously part of eHigher Education. There’s more about his appointment on this news link.

Implant Sciences Corporation recently designated Darryl Jones as the company’s new Vice President of Sales and Marketing. He was previously the Vice President of Global Product Management of Safran’s Morpho Detection department. Jones was also formerly with GE Healthcare. There’s more about his appointment on this news link.

The problem with startups is that they have such a short trajectory. As soon as they launch, it’s a race to either getting funding, getting acquired or failing miserably. Startup founders need every resource they can get their hands on to make sure they succeed. Incubators have started popping up all over the country, since Y Combinator launched in 2005. And while startup incubators can provide a much-needed injection of cash, as well as mentorship and contacts, is it really what your business needs?

Drawbacks to Incubators

1. If you work full-time, you’ll find it hard to keep up with the work. The Founder Institute requires at least 15 hours of work on the incubator each week. That’s a 3.5 hour weekly session, as well as oodles of homework. If you’re working a job (either your startup or another 9-to-5), you’ll find it difficult to balance both (we won’t even throw in family time to that equation).

2. Incubators take some of your revenue. This is pretty standard, but if you’re not prepared to share on average 6% with your incubator, it might not be for you.

3. You’ll meet a lot of talkers and few doers. Everyone will be excited about your brand. Everyone. But the number of callbacks you get from those excited people? Significantly fewer. VCs who mentor or speak at incubators see companies like yours all the time, and just because you were smart enough to get into the incubator doesn’t mean they’ll want to fund you.

4. You’ll tweak your deck until your head explodes. And you’ll get different opinions about what it needs to look like. My husband, who graduated from The Founder Institute last year (did I mention I’m a “Founder Institute Widow?” That’s what we call spouses of founders who are mentally AWOL for the duration of the incubator) and tweaked his deck continually. He got frustrated how one mentor would tell him to go in one direction, then the next one would send him back where he started.

If this hasn’t scared you off from participating in an incubator, here’s a general idea of what you should expect:

• You may be required to move where the incubator is for the duration of the program (typically 6 weeks to 6 months).
• You’ll work with other startup founders to learn the basics of launching a business and taking it to your exit strategy.
• You may receive a small amount of cash to help grow your business.
• You’ll have access to VCs and entrepreneurs in your field.

Here are some incubators to consider.

• Y Combinator
• The Founder Institute
• Techstars
• DreamIt Ventures
• LaunchBox Digital

Angus Gephart was recently appointed as StartSampling’s new senior vice president, sales. He was previously part of companies like Pepsico,  Information Resources, Inc., and Procter & Gamble. Gephart will contribute to the team his comprehensive experience in the field of consumer packaged goods, spanning more than three decades. There’s more about his appointment on this news link.

Paladin recently named Stephanie Hill as the new Vice President of Sales for the company. She was formerly part of  a variety of national, managed care businesses. Hill will contribute to the term her comprehensive experience in the field of of managed care services, spanning over two decades. There’s more about her appointment on this news link.

Total Attorneys declares sweet success for 2012’s first quarter with their most recent acquisition of $15 million worth of growth capital investment. This particular round of funding was led by Bain Capital Ventures, and was also participated in by BIA Digital Partners.

The company’s CEO, Paul Ford, shares more about this exciting news, and other information in this e-interview with Lead411:

Who are your competitors and how are you different from them?

Our web-based practice management software is $1 per user per month. Our competitors
appear to be charging approximately $50 per month for a similar product. With the launch of Total Apps, attorneys can add on additional applications such as legal leads or payment processing. It is these additional applications that are the revenue streams for our business and provide a one-stop-shop for small and solo firms to manage their practice.

What percentage of your marketing budget are spent on the following?

A. Advertising –
B. Social Media Marketing –
C. SEO –
D. PR –
E. Direct Marketing –
F. Other –
We do not break out the exact budget spend or the percentage on each of the categories,
but I can tell you that we are active across all these channels.

What marketing tactic has given you the highest ROI? What percentage ROI do you get back on this?

Our highest ROI channel is our SEO channel. We are a ten year old company that has some very old sites with deep, rich content to help consumers investigate their legal issues.

These sites rank well with search engines and are often found by consumers. Despite the
ongoing content updates and site optimization, these SEO efforts continue to provide us
with our best return and are very difficult for others to replicate.

What do you plan to spend your new funding on? Product development? Marketing?

The growth capital will be primarily used to continue development of our web-based
practice management and customer acquisition platform, as well as to market the platform more heavily. With a $1 per user per month base license cost, we are experiencing tremendous growth of firms. We like the fact that access is being improved for both consumers and lawyers to connect using these platform tools.

If this is your first round of financing and you’re the CEO, how many hours did you put into working on getting your financing? Was that taking up the most of your day?

Yes, the process of securing the funding was quite time consuming despite running a very streamlined process. We were able to identify some of the Class A growth equity firms early in the process, which helped. Despite the distraction from running the business, the process helped confirm that we have the right partner in Bain Capital Ventures both in terms of the people as well as the firm’s deep resources.

If you are the CEO, what are your biggest challenges?

As CEO, the greatest challenge at Total Attorneys is focus. The legal vertical is so large and our cloud based Practice Management System is being so well received, that we have to be very careful not to bite off more than we can chew. As another wonderful CEO once told me, “failure is self correcting; it is success that is dangerous.”

How many employees do you have?

We do not break out our exact employee counts, but I can tell you that we are adding
people this year in the areas of software development, customer service, user experience,
and marketing.

When were you founded?

Not many people know that Total Attorneys was actually founded in 2002. As an early
internet company, there is rich history and knowledge around web-based software and
online customer acquisition.

How much did you revenue increase(if any) this year over last year?

We do not break out our revenue numbers, but the company is growing nicely and we
expect this to continue with our recent growth equity infusion.

Want to learn more about their recent funding? You can view their press release here.

BIPV Inc. has recently appointed Oliver Koehler as the company’s new Vice President of Sales and Marketing. He was previously with SunPower Corporation as their Sr. Product Manager. Koehler had also worked with BP Solar in the past. There’s more about his appointment on this news link.

ZONARE was recently joined by Stephen Edwards as the company’s new vice president of U.S. sales. He was previously with Siemens Medical Solutions, where he served in sales management roles. Edwards will contribute to the ZONARE team his comprehensive experience in the medical sales field, which spans over 25 years. There’s more about his appointment on this news link.

Stefanini was recently joined by John Shane as the company’s new Vice President of Sales. He brings to the team his comprehensive experience in the field of technology spanning more than two decades. Shane previously served as Tech Support Alliance’s President and CEO. There’s more about his appointment on this news link.

Manfrotto Distribution Inc. recently appointed Paul Zakrzewski as the company’s Director of Product Marketing. He will contribute to the team his comprehensive history in the field of consumer and commercial products. Zakrzewski was also previously part Samsung Electronics America. There’s more about his appointment on this news link.

Jumpstart Automotive Group recently appointed Jason Koenigsknecht as their Vice President of National Sales. He previously served as their East Coast Digital Sales Director. Koenigsknecht was previously Midwest Sales Director for SocialVibe.  There’s more about his appointment on this news link.

Forsythe Technology has recently designated Grace Bulger as the company’s new vice president, marketing. She has been with the company’s marketing department for five years. All in all, Bulger has been working in the marketing field for fifteen years. There’s more about his appointment on this news link.

Crescent Resources, LLC has recently named Tyler Niess as the company’s vice president and chief marketing officer. He was previously part of Playground Destination Properties, where he was a VP. Niess spent 7 years at Playground Destination. There’s more about his appointment on this news link.

Innovative Security Designs recently added Carey Lefebvre to the management team as the company’s new Vice President of Sales. He will contribute to the team his comprehensive experience in industry sales, spanning 17 years. Lefebvre was previously with Network Optix. There’s more about his appointment on this news link.

Ioxus, Inc. was recently joined by Nick Cataldo as the company’s new senior vice president of global sales and marketing. He has been in the industry for more than two decades. Cataldo was previously with Leyden Energy as their vice president of sales and marketing. There’s more about his appointment on this news link.

Joseph Reges was recently made part of D4, LLC as the company’s new vice president of sales, Western Region. He brings to the team two decades of experience in the field of legal and document management field. Reges was formerly part of Océ Business Services. There’s more about his appointment on this news link.

Stewart National Title Services recently welcomed Walker Molinare as the company’s new vice president and sales manager for their Houston commercial division. He has been part of the real estate field for more than 15 years. Molinare specializes in doing sales training, management work, as well as professional and personal development. There’s more about his appointment on this news link.

Clear Vision Information Systems has recently named Gina Stassi as the company’s new vice president of marketing and business development. She was formerly part of Health Net, where she was vice president of marketing and product development. Stassi had also previously worked with Blue Shield of California. There’s more about his appointment on this news link.

Data Storage Corporation was recently joined by Guy Sanfilippo as their new director of Sales Engineering. He will contribute to the team his comprehensive experience in the field of information technology, spanning over 35 years. Sanfilippo was previously with American Federation of Musicians and Employers’ Pension Fund where he was Director of IT. There’s more about his appointment on this news link.

Precision Health Media was recently joined by Mark Magnani as their Vice President – Advertising Sales. He brings to the team over two decades of experience in the field of online, print as well as out-of-home media. Magnani was previously with Healthy Advice Networks. There’s more about his appointment on this news link.

Needle recently welcomed to the team Nick Annison as the company’s  Vice President of Sales for their Western United States offices. He was previously part of Adobe Systems’ Digital Marketing Business Unit, where he served as their Enterprise Account Executive. Annison also worked with Omniture. There’s more about his appointment on this news link.

Engle Saez was recently named as the the new Chief Marketing Officer for Blue Nile. He was previously with Coinstar, where he served as their head of product and marketing efforts. Saez will contribute to the team his comprehensive experience of over two decades of experience in doing marketing work, branding, and product leadership. There’s more about his appointment on this news link.

Colette LaForce was recently designated as the new senior vice president and chief marketing officer for AMD. Prior to this appointment, she was with Dell, where she served as global vice president and chief marketing officer. LaForce had also previously worked with companies like Rackable Systems and Accenture. There’s more about her appointment on this news link.

Credorax recently appointed Nathan Jackson as the company’s new Vice President of Sales & Business Development for their office in the UK. He was previously with Chase Paymentech as Vice President of Business Development and Technical Services. Jackson will contribute to the team his comprehensive experience of  25 years in the technology sector, specifically in dealing with European Electronic Payment and Risk Management. There’s more about his appointment on this news link.

Todd W. Campbell was recently named as the new Sales Manager, New England for Morris Group, Inc. He was previously with Yamazen, Inc. as a General Manager. Campbell will contribute to the team his more than two decades of experience in doing manufacturing-related work. There’s more about his appointment on this news link.

ERG Property Advisors recently promoted Clinton Botway as their Director of Investment Sales. Before his promotion, he was doing brokerage and management of commercial properties in the New York Tri-State Area. Botway also underwent a mentoring session as a Senior Associate with the company’s CEO James Kinsey. There’s more about his appointment on this news link.

Mike Delzingaro was recently designated as the new Vice President and Director of Sales for Xylem’s dewatering solutions department. Most recently, he was their Regional manager for the Northeastern offices. Delzingaro had also previously worked with Godwin Pumps. There’s more about his appointment on this news link.