Athena Chiefs Opens To Provide Interim Executive Services; ``Interim CXO's'' new trend among early stage and fast growth companies.

KIRKLAND, Wash. -- Athena Chiefs, an interim executive management consulting firm, today announced its opening to cater to early-stage and fast-growth companies. The company, which started work for clients in April, is part of a trend of companies outsourcing executive positions to experienced professionals to retain more flexibility, reduce costs, and move faster.

"Athena is an alternative to conducting a long and expensive search for an executive," said Tom Ryan, President of Athena Chiefs. "Few small and fast-growth companies realize that it's possible to engage a top-rate executive without the long-term commitment and cost associated with an employee. It also lets you see if the chemistry is there in case you want to make a long term commitment -- 'try before you buy' -- probably the biggest reason for its growing popularity."

The term "CXO" is taken as a more general version of the titles that Athena Chiefs typically staffs: CEO (Chief Executive Officer), COO (Operations), CSO (Sales), CMO (Marketing), CCO (Customer) and CIO (Information). HR Magazine and other publications have written about the growing trend of companies to outsource these functions to boutique companies like Athena.

Tom Ryan, an experienced C-Level executive at several start-ups, spent over 18 years in strategic planning, sales and service operations and building successful offerings and teams from scratch (as well as helping struggling companies re-start themselves). Tom has focused on making sure companies are operationally ready to deliver, and have the appropriate infrastructure and team in place to succeed.

"Tom has a long track record of success in successfully building companies, and has access to some great nuggets of talent," said Tom Brubaker, CEO of Customerville. "We've used Tom and Athena to drive revenue and organize our sales process, which is paramount to an early-stage company's success."

Another Athena client, Mike Moskowitz of Jetstream Software, agreed. "We are in fast-growth mode, but still have limited resources, and it's great to have an alternative of someone like Tom and his team to draw upon for outside perspective and strategy," said Moskowitz.

"Athena is named after the Greek 'Goddess of Wisdom'," said Ryan. "Athena was also called the 'Protector of Heroes' - something we think entrepreneurs are in today's economy! We're very selective in the clients we take on, and are off to a great start in finding great companies that are capable of heroic and great things."

About Athena Chiefs

Athena Chiefs is a Pacific Northwest boutique consulting firm of experienced executives serving early-stage and fast-growth companies on an interim and project basis. Tom Ryan, President and Founder, and his team of senior executives cover every area of executive management including operations, sales strategy and execution, customer service, and strategic planning.