Macromedia chairman steps down

Longtime Macromedia chairman Bud Colligan will step down later this month, and will be replaced by the company's chief executive, Rob Burgess, who now will hold both titles, the company said today.

Veteran Macromedia directors John Doerr, a general partner with Kleiner, Perkins, Caufield & Byers, and Richard Kramlich, general partner with New Enterprise Associates, also will be leaving the company.

The candidates for the board seats that will be vacated by Doerr and Kramlich are New Enterprise Associates venture capitalist Stewart Alsop and Mark Kvamme, chairman and CEO of CKS Group. Burgess's appointment is subject to board approval, and the nominations of Alsop and Kvamme are subject to shareholder approval. Macromedia will hold its annual meeting July 30.

"I've been at Macromedia for ten years, and it's been a great run," Colligan said, adding he wants to spend time focusing on educational reform, nonprofit initiatives like Silicon Valley Community Ventures, and venture investing. (Colligan is a director of CNET: The Computer Network, publisher of NEWS.COM.)

Doerr and Kramlich, six-year veterans of Macromedia's board, have served as directors longer than many venture capitalists who help provide start-up funding for a company, Colligan said.

According to Burgess, Alsop was selected for the board because of his experience and role in the industry. "Stewart has walked in places that I or other people at the company haven't walked," he said. "He's also controversial, and I like that."

Kvamme brings youth to the board, as well as a different perspective that fits with the age group of many Macromedia customers, Burgess said.