Back in early 2005, FM was nothing more than a good idea. It took Andre Torrez to make it a reality. In a cramped garage in Southern Marin, Andre and I sketched out a technology platform on a small whiteboard. Andre put on his headphones, bent over his keyboard, and built what has become the core of FM’s offerings to both marketers and publishers. Over the last four years, he’s managed to turn a small team of tech geniuses into a large department responsible for nothing less than the success of the company.

Now Andre is striking out on his own. He has ideas on top of ideas and we can’t wait to see them come to life. With that, we want to send Andre off with the most heart-felt of farewells – though we won’t be saying goodbye entirely. FM is a hard habit to break and Andre’s expertise is difficult to replace, so Andre will be consulting with us during his transition and on an ongoing basis. Andre, we wish you the best of luck in everything you do, though you hardly need it. Thank you for everything, it has been an honor working with you.

Now, onto the “enthusiastic welcome” part: Amy Yeh has joined FM as our new Chief Product Officer. Here’s the official press release. Amy is a technology executive with nearly a decade of cutting-edge online experience, most recently with News Corp’s STAR TV and Fox Interactive. Her career has centered on developing technology products, strategies and solutions for large media organizations. With software development and technical management of both small teams and large organizations, Yeh will bring even more vision, innovation and expertise to an already-talented team of media technology professionals (the very same team that Andre built from the ground up).

FM managed to grow through 2009, even during such a challenging economic slump that saw the demise of many a media property. We’re quite proud of that accomplishment. We’ve managed to come out a stronger, more focused company ready for its next evolution. We are doubling down on our technology platform, bringing more sites into the FM family, working with new marketers, deepening relationships with existing partners, and creating new products that will maximize the opportunities for both our publishers and our marketers. Amy has her work cut out for her! Welcome, Amy. We are so happy to have you aboard!