Steve Woda, Founder and Chairman of buySAFE, Pursues New Entrepreneurial Ventures

Today, I want to personally share with you the news that Steve Woda, buySAFE’s Founder, Chairman, and Senior VP - Product & Strategy, has decided to leave the company to pursue new entrepreneurial interests. Steve has also joined buySAFE’s Board of Advisors so that the company can continue to benefit from his guidance and deep insights into eCommerce and Internet trust and safety.

Steve announced his decision on his blog today at http://www.stevewoda.com/2009/03/thank-you-buysafe.html, and he shared this quote...

”After almost nine years of building buySAFE, I am leaving the Company in very capable hands, with fresh funding, and the brightest future that the Company has ever had. It has been a deeply satisfying experience to create something valuable, and I want to sincerely thank our customers, our partners, my colleagues and the many investors who made buySAFE possible. I am obviously looking forward to my next adventure, but I am also very much looking forward to buySAFE’s continued success over the coming months and years.”

Steve founded buySAFE and developed its early business/technology plans and management team. He combined his background in surety bonding with his expertise in online markets to develop the first mass retail application of surety bonds to protect online purchasers while simultaneously driving up revenue for online merchants.

This innovation has benefited both consumers, who rely on third-party validation to know whom to trust, and merchants, who experience increased sales and profits when they increase buyer confidence. Since Steve founded buySAFE, it has bonded over 19 million online transactions, protected millions of online shoppers, and created tens of millions of dollars in additional revenue for thousands of eCommerce merchants. Today, the buySAFE Seal™ is viewed over 100 million times every month.

While Steve has been engaged in and managed virtually every aspect of the business operations, his most important contributions have been to buySAFE’s product development. He led the Product Team which developed all of the Company’s core products, including the buySAFE Seal™, website bonding, the Safe Shopping Rating™ and most recently buySAFE Shopping Advisor™, which integrates the Safe Shopping Rating™ into all popular search engine results.

Without Steve there would be no buySAFE. His creativity, imagination and persistence gave birth to the concept, the company, and the products that have changed the face of eCommerce. It’s been an honor to work with him.

Jeff Grass
buySAFE CEO & President

Comments

[Frank Hudson]

Best of luck Steve!

[Mike Enos]

Steve contacted me back in the buySAFE early days since he knew I was both a heavy-duty eBay seller and promoter through my website www.PlatinumPowerSeller.com, and asked me to join the "Seller Advisory Board" to get the word out to eBay sellers.

It's always been a pleasure to work Steve and the rest of the team, and I always looked forward to "eBay LIVE" to get the chance to talk and catch-up. :-)

Steve's knowledge, enthusiasm, and energy will be a positive force in whatever direction he next goes.

No doubt his confidence in the excellent team he leaves behind at buySAFE is well placed.

Mike Enos
eBay guru, buySAFE user, and founder of
www.PlatinumPowerSeller.com,
www.AuctionTNT.com,
www.InstantNicheMaker.com

[Clarissa Parashar]

Steve will be sorely missed by those, like myself who have known him since buySAFE started...but I know that he leaves the company in very capable hands.

Clarissa (long time buySAFE user)
www.TattooApparel.com
www.PerpetualVogue.com