Monster executive refuels for mission

By Jennifer Heldt Powell / Small Business Matters | Sunday, November 8, 2009 | | Business & Markets

Steve Pogorzelski isn’t zipping around the world in a corporate jet anymore or kicking back in a huge office like he had as president of Monster.com, but he’s having a lot more fun.
He’s gone from running a company with a massive marketing budget and hundreds of employees to one that has just 20 employees locally and very little money for advertising – and he couldn’t be happier. Pogorzelski is pouring his energy into building ClickFuel, a small business that helps other small and midsize businesses navigate the complex world of Internet marketing. It reminds him of the early days at Monster; shortly after, the Web site exploded into the public consciousness with an attention-grabbing Super Bowl ad.More >>

Helping Small Biz with Online Marketing

By Venessa Wong  (posted on Nov. 3, 2009) BusinessWeek Online

Steve Pogorzelski and Brian Farrey

Steve Pogorzelski, formerly group president-international at Monster.com, found a new calling when he met Colby West, an entrepreneur looking to get a startup funded. West, 30, had co-founded AuctionPal, a Web-based company that helps people sell their belongings online, but wanted to shift his focus from consumer-to-consumer transactions to business-to-consumer. He saw an opportunity in helping small and mid-sized enterprises—dentists, plumbers, salons, electricians, law offices, and so forth—market themselves online. West founded ClickFuel in Boston late last year. Pogorzelski became ClickFuel’s first investor by putting up $250,000 and last January was appointed chief executive. The company raised an additional $2.5 million in June through Chicago-based venture capital fund Baird Venture Partners. More >>

Former Monster Worldwide executives launch ClickFuel with $2.5 million Series A financing  Baird Venture Partners Leads Investment in Internet Marketing Services Provider

BOSTON, JUNE 25, 2009 – ClickFuel Inc., a Boston-based provider of Internet marketing services to small and mid-sized businesses (SMBs), announced today it has raised $2.5 million in a Series A financing, led by Baird Venture Partners..

ClickFuel was founded in 2008 and is led by former Monster Worldwide senior executive Steve Pogorzelski, CEO of ClickFuel. Prior to joining ClickFuel, Pogorzelski spent over ten years at Monster Worldwide, parent company of Monster.com, including stints as EVP-Sales, President of Monster North America and Group President, International. The company was started by the former co-founder of AuctionPal, Colby West. Pogorzelski has assembled a team of several other former executives from Monster Worldwide, including Brian Farrey, former President of Monster Technologies, Rob Hayes, former VP Finance Global Sales, David Lynch, former Director of Sales, and most recently Denise Cautela, former Senior Director of Marketing, Emerging Markets. Leveraging their experience at Monster Worldwide in servicing the SMB segment, the ClickFuel team has developed a suite of solutions that can help SMBs build an online presence and reach more potential customers via the Web. Learn More >>

Mass High Tech

By Galen Moore
Originally published on www.masshightech.com
Wednesday, May 20, 2009

Former Monster North America president Steve Pogorzelski is working on a new company based in Boston’s South End. Co-founded with AuctionPal co-founder Colby West, ClickFuel Inc. provides online marketing services for the small- to medium-sized business market.

The company doesn’t have any “whiz-bang technology,” says Pogorzelski, who has taken the role of CEO. Account managers buy pay-per-click advertising, search engine optimization consulting and custom landing pages. Another feature is designed to provide unique phone numbers on each landing page and automatically record incoming calls for sales training. The customer gets a results dashboard that helps them understand their return on investment, Pogorzelski said. Learn More >>