ROI Direct - Press Room

ROI DIRECT.COM Introduces Rick Pugh as Chief Technology Officer

Previous HNC Software Executive to lead continued technology development of feature-rich, advanced eCommerce, customer care, and direct marketing solutions

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact:
Michael Tinkler
ROI Direct.com
415-439-6690
mtinkler@roidirect.com

San Francisco – November 17, 1999 – ROI Direct.com, a leading provider of eCommerce, Internet-based direct marketing and online customer care solutions, announced today that Rick Pugh has joined the company as CTO.

Pugh brings 18 years of technical experience to ROI Direct, having previously served as vice president of product management at HNC Software Inc. and as vice president of engineering at Aptex Software, Inc., a subsidiary of HNC for the past 4 years. At HNC, Pugh oversaw business development for the auto insurance industry in the predictive customer relationship management division, where he architected a business offering to enable carriers to more accurately predict customer retention and profitability.

At Aptex, Pugh was responsible for the development and QA processes of multiple products, ranging from information retrieval and automated e-mail answering and routing systems, to the development and delivery of SelectCast, an Internet advertising personalization application based on the patented Aptex context vector technology.

Prior to HNC and Aptex, Pugh worked at KLA Instruments, Bimillenium Corporation, GTE Spacenet Corporation, Tiburon Systems, and Ford Aerospace and Communications Corporation.

"ROI Direct.com is uniquely positioned across several fronts. First, enabling eCommerce to the middle market is a huge opportunity; it seems everyone is looking for a path to this important, untapped market. Second, I’m a big proponent of the Application Service Provider (ASP) model. It allows mid-tier companies to compete in ways that would otherwise be beyond their reach financially. By adding automated customer service and targeted email marketing services to the suite, you’ve got a comprehensive set of offerings from a single provider," states Pugh.

"Rick’s experience in customer-centric Internet technologies, personalization, and e-mail management makes him a perfect fit with our organization," said Butch Winters, CEO of ROI Direct.com. "His ability to conceptualize, develop and deliver new and advanced technologies will help further ROI Direct.com as a leader in our industry."

About ROI Direct.com

Headquartered in San Francisco with offices in Denver and New York, ROI Direct.com is an Internet application services provider (ASP), developing and integrating Web, messaging, and database technologies to assist client companies in direct marketing, e-commerce, and customer service applications. Founded in 1994, ROI Direct.com is a privately held company with investment support from Accel Partners, Crosspoint Venture Partners, Vanguard Venture Partners, and HarbourVest Partners.

For more information about ROI Direct.com, visit www.roidirect.com; e-mail info@roidirect.com; or call 1-800-420-4224.