Siebrecht

AdReady CEO Aaron Finn has stepped down from the top post at the Seattle online advertising startup, a move that comes just three months after former aQuantive executive Karl Siebrecht joined as president and chief operating officer. As part of the transition, Siebrecht will assume the CEO duties at the 50-person company.

Finn, a former Classmates.com executive who co-founded AdReady in 2006, will stay on with the company as chairman and chief strategy officer. And the 38-year-old tells TechFlash that he plans to remain actively involved in AdReady.

"I am absolutely staying on 100 percent full time," said Finn, who plans to assist with product and business strategy while Siebrecht runs the day-to-day operations. The transition had always been planned, but it sped up in recent weeks as the company started planning for 2010.

"I am the one who is driving this with Karl," said Finn. "We just feel like -- for the 2010 plan and the budget we just laid out -- that this is the appropriate time to make this happen."

The announcement -- which still is awaiting board approval -- was made to employees last Friday at a company meeting.

In some ways, Siebrecht said that AdReady is following in the footsteps of his former employer: aQuantive.

The Seattle online advertising company brought on board seasoned executive Brian McAndrews early on, though co-founder and product visionary Mike Galgon stayed on board in a very active role.

Despite the tough economic situaiton, Siebrecht said that he's "very optimistic about the year to come." Finn and Siebrecht declined to offer specifics about revenue, though it appears that annual revenue now stands above $10 million.

AdReady's technology allows small businesses -- car dealers, real estate agents, dentists and others -- to easily create display advertising campaigns that can be targeted to certain demographic groups. Publishing customers using the service include The New York Times and The Atlanta Journal Constitution.

Greg Gottesman, a board member and partner at Madrona Venture Group, said he supports the executive move.

"Karl has been at the company now for three months, and what's exciting is to see how well Aaron, Karl and the team are working together," said Gottesman. "It bodes well for AdReady in 2010. Aaron has done an exceptional job getting the company to where it is today. Karl's job, together with Aaron and team, is to take the company to the next level."

AdReady is backed with $12 million from Madrona, Khosla Ventures, Bain Capital and others.

A big thanks to the reader who tipped me off to the news in yesterday's post.

Related story: "Q&A: AdReady's Karl Siebrecht"

John Cook is co-founder of TechFlash. Follow on Twitter @johnhcook.