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From: Holden Wilen - Baltimore Business Journal
September 13, 2016
Carl Wartzack hopes to repeat history after taking the helm of what he hopes will be Baltimore's next big tech company.
Eight weeks ago Wartzack, who was previously an executive at Advertising.com and Millennial Media, became CEO of QL2 Software. QL2, founded in 2001, provides pricing data to to airlines, car rental companies, hotels and online travel agencies.
CEO Carl Wartzack hopes QL2 Software Inc. can became Baltimore's next unicorn.
As CEO, Wartzack's first major decision was to move the data technology company to Baltimore. The company was based out of Seattle but did not have a traditional headquarters. Instead, Wartazck said QL2's workforce was dispersed with employees working from home all around the U.S.
In addition to Seattle, QL2 has offices in Atlanta, the United Kingdom and India. In order to help the company grow, Wartzack said, QL2 needed a headquarters.
"Companies need a headquarters to drive a culture of winning and teamwork," said Wartzack, who declined to disclose the company's revenue.
QL2's space is in Brewers Hill in the building right next door to AOL. Wartzack found the space using Kinglet, a Baltimore-based online office space rental agency.
"It was an absolute coincidence that it's by AOL," Wartzack said. "It was the nicest place for our purposes."
Baltimore became Wartzack's first and only choice, he said, because it has an active marketplace and a deep talent pool. He chose to find a space near Canton because of its vibrant community of technology workers and entrepreneurs.
QL2 has about 220 employees worldwide, but Wartzack said he hopes to hire between 60 and 80 new employees in Baltimore over the next two to three years for jobs in data analysis, marketing and sales.
Wartzack made his first two Baltimore hires about two weeks ago. He hopes to hire six to eight more people over the next two months and then accelerate hiring in 2017.
QL2 has a large opportunity for growth, Wartzack said, particularly in the area of e-commerce. As more companies move their sales online, he said, they will need data to help them remain competitive from a pricing standpoint.
Wartzack also sees some of the same qualities in QL2 that he saw at Advertising.com and Millennial Media.
"I have been fortunate to be associated with two huge success stories," Wartzack said. "The people and the culture, I see the same attributes in QL2."
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