NEW YORK – March 27th, 2020 – Today, the Pocket Casts Board of Directors is announcing that Matt Moog will serve as Executive Chairman and interim lead for the global podcasting platform, effective immediately. Moog is a Pocket Casts board member who most recently served as CEO of PowerReviews. The original co-founders of the business, Russell Ivanovic and Philip Simpson will work with Moog and continue in their roles as Chief Product Officer and Chief Technology Officer during the new CEO search, which is already underway.
Moog has more than 20 years of experience scaling technology companies, both public and private. He founded and scaled several successful ventures, hired hundreds of employees and raised over $200 million. Moog is an active angel investor, who founded the FireStarter Fund, an early-stage venture fund backed by serial entrepreneurs in Chicago. He also chaired the launch of 1871, a non-profit Chicago coworking community dedicated to helping entrepreneurs.
Moog has served on the board of Chicago Public Media for 11 years and most recently as the chair of the board. He is a self-proclaimed public radio nerd and podcasting fan.
Prior CEO Owen Grover is exiting his role to pursue other opportunities. Grover served as CEO for two years and ushered in an era of positive growth for Pocket Casts, overseeing the company’s shift to a freemium model and, recently, bringing in BBC Studios as a new public media investor.
Pocket Casts’ Board of Directors, including Goli Sheikholeslami of New York Public Radio, Tom Hjelm of NPR, and Moog have begun a search process to bring in a new CEO. The Board is committed to a seamless transition for Pocket Casts; listeners and publishers will not experience any changes or disruptions to the best-in-class experience that Pocket Casts delivers.
Public media organizations NPR, WNYC Studios and WBEZ Chicago acquired Pocket Casts in May 2018 to reflect their shared goal of growing audio storytelling.
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