Former BlackBerry Executive Alec Saunders Takes Up Role at Microsoft Ventures

Former BlackBerry executive Alec Saunders said Monday that he has started a new job at Microsoft, working in the arm of the software maker that works with startups.

Saunders, who led BlackBerry’s developer relations efforts for much of his time with the company, will remain in Waterloo and work for Microsoft Ventures. Saunders will report to Steven Guggenheimer, Microsoft’s corporate vice president for developer experience.

“Over the last few months I have thought a lot about getting more directly involved in the startup world,” Saunders said in a blog post. “Rather than found another company, I want to apply some of what I have learned to help other founders — to scale the knowledge I’ve acquired beyond simply doing another startup myself.”

Saunders, who left BlackBerry late last year, worked at Microsoft previously in 1999 and 2000, serving as a marketing director for Redmond’s home networking efforts.

Updated at 11:15 am PT to note that Saunders left BlackBerry late last year.

This article originally appeared on Recode.net.

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