Local Tech Supporter Moves to BizBuyer.com

Bill Manassero, executive director of the Southern California Software Council and a key player in helping to develop the Orange County and Los Angeles technology scenes, will announce today that he is stepping down.

Manassero, 44, joined the council six years ago. Since then, he has helped transform the tiny effort into a powerful networking group driven by hundreds of volunteers.

“It’s been an amazing experience, but this job offer was too good to pass,” said Manassero, who today becomes director of business development at BizBuyer.com in Santa Monica. “I see hundreds of business plans a year. I’ve had dozens of job offers before, and nothing ever grabbed me like this.”

BizBuyer.com helps small businesses find everything from long-distance phone service and computer equipment to patent attorneys and temporary staffing by putting their needs out to bid on the Internet.

Think of it as EBay for the corporate set. Companies post what they’re looking for and how much they’re willing to spend. Customers then get job bids from up to five firms, usually within a few hours. If the customers like the offer, they are put in touch with a supplier, and the two entities seal the deal directly. BizBuyer charges a listing fee to vendors each time they submit a bid; the service is free to small-business clients shopping for help.

According to Manassero, the company’s power-heavy management team is what drew him to the job. Bernard Louvat, BizBuyer’s CEO, was formerly with Walt Disney Co. and was general manager for Ticketmaster Online-CitySearch. Meg Whitman, the CEO of EBay, liked the company’s plan so much that she made a personal investment and joined the company’s board of directors.

The Software Council has named David Fournier, director of Peerless Systems Corp. in El Segundo, as its interim executive director.