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Tamblyn made Kobo president
Kobo’s Michael Tamblyn has been promoted to president at the company, on top of his chief content officer role.
The promotion comes shortly after Mike Serbinis stood down as the chief executive of the company in February, being replaced by Takahito "Taka" Aiki, a former executive in Kobo’s parent company Rakuten.
In the expanded role, Tamblyn will continue to build Kobo’s content, with responsibilities for sales, publisher and industry relations, content acquisition, and the merchandising experience across Kobo's E Ink e-readers, Android tablets, and reading apps.
He will work closely with Aiki in his role as president, to continue expanding on the company’s e-reading service around the world, while driving the company’s success through “sustainable and long-term profitable growth.”
Tamblyn said: “We are entering an exciting time as we continue to evolve Kobo to capture new opportunities in each of the territories in which we operate. We will continue to focus on increasing profitability, growing our market share, succeeding with our incredible partners, and, above all, ensuring we deliver the very best e-reading experience to the most passionate readers around the world.”
Aiki said that as one of his closest advisors, Tamblyn had “tremendous insight into the organisation." He added: "He is the perfect partner to help grow the company, while continuing to put the customer first in all the decisions we make."
Tamblyn is a member of Kobo’s founding executive team, joining its predecessor Shortcovers in June 2009. Since then, he has led the expansion of Kobo’s publisher relationships, content catalogue, and merchandising operations around the world.
Prior to joining Kobo, Tamblyn was the founding c.e.o of the supply chain agency BookNet Canada, where he launched the national sales reporting service BNC SalesData. Tamblyn also co-founded Canada's first online bookstore Bookshelf.ca, purchased by Indigo Books & Music in 1998, where he also served as Vice President of Online Operations.
