About Tackle
There’s No One Quite Like Us
Where We Started
Your Frustrations Were Our Frustrations
As industry veterans, we were frustrated by the complexity of selling enterprise software, so we founded Tackle and developed a platform to remove friction in the B2B software buying and selling process — and open up new pathways to revenue via the cloud marketplaces. Our goal is to open-source our playbook to help other software companies enter the cloud era and develop cloud commerce strategies that are scalable, repeatable, and profitable.
Tackle Today
We’ve Built Something Really Special
Our combined years of experience and depth of expertise have allowed us to deliver a first-to-market platform that gets your products up and running on cloud marketplaces quickly — with zero engineering. We’ve created a culture of customer focus, communication, and collaboration that sets the pace for marketplace innovation. And it’s our ongoing priority to be a consistent, reliable, and trusted partner in your success.
Today, hundreds of the world’s leading software companies — including Salesforce, CrowdStrike, and HashiCorp — rely on Tackle to find cloud buyers, automate co-sell, and transact through AWS, Microsoft Marketplace, and Google Cloud. We’ve processed more than $20 billion in cloud marketplace transactions and we’re just getting started.
Our Next Chapter
Tackle Was Acquired by AppDirect in December 2025
As cloud marketplaces surged from a niche channel to a primary route to revenue, it became clear that the next phase of Cloud GTM would require more: more reach, more channel coverage, and a platform that could meet buyers wherever they choose to transact — not just on the hyperscalers, but through direct sales and partner ecosystems too.
With AppDirect’s global network of more than 14,000 technology advisors and millions of subscribers, and Tackle’s native hyperscaler integrations and Cloud GTM expertise, we’re uniquely positioned to help ISVs reach more buyers, close more deals, and operate with the efficiency that modern go-to-market demands.
What’s coming is more — more distribution, more buyer reach, and a more powerful end-to-end platform than either of us could have built alone.
The future of Cloud GTM is here. We’re building it together.
Get to Know Our Leadership Team
John Jahnke
CEO
John Jahnke
CEO
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John was an early investor and advisor in Tackle and now serves as the CEO. John has spent the last 20 years in executive leadership roles with B2B technology companies like Pivotal, Greenplum, EMC, and Cognizant. John is passionate about remote work and helping software companies with their go-to-market strategy. He leads Tackle from Buffalo, NY where he lives with his wife and 3 children. John is an active member of the Forbes Technology Council.
Dillon Woods
Founder / CTO
Dillon Woods
Founder / CTO
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Dillon is a technologist with a unique insight into the modern software development and delivery process. Prior to founding Tackle, Dillon led teams building complex enterprise software and cloud solutions as the CTO at both zData and Alpine Data.
Brian Denker
Founder / COO
Brian Denker
Founder / COO
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Brian has been involved in tech for almost his whole career, starting in financial services, running several professional services companies, and being an early team member of Greenplum, Pivotal, and Platfora. In 2016 Brian helped found Tackle.io with Dillon. The key Tackle values they focused on from day one were remote first, capital efficiency, doing right by the customer, trust, and transparency. Brian splits his time working between Boise, Riggins, and Boston enjoying the outdoors and taking advantage of the lifestyle that Tackle promotes.
Jake Simpson
Chief Revenue Officer
Jake Simpson
Chief Revenue Officer
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Jake Simpson is Tackle’s Chief Revenue Officer (CRO), responsible for go-to-market strategy and execution. Prior to joining Tackle, Jake was the CRO at Onapsis and Catalant Technologies, leading both companies through substantial growth phases.
Jake previously served as Divisional Vice President and General Manager at PTC where he was responsible for leading the $100M Application Lifecycle Management (ALM) business segment. His 17-year tenure at PTC included senior leadership roles in strategy, general management and global sales, helping PTC more than double its revenues.
Jake holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Massachusetts.
Ellen Thorne
Chief People Officer
Ellen Thorne
Chief People Officer
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Ellen joined in May 2021 to develop and grow the People and Culture executive function at Tackle.io. She has over 18 years experience in various HR leadership positions ranging from the Pharmaceutical sector, Open Source and DevOps. She has a passion for people and aligning business to people strategies that create the best employee experience. She has worked with distributed global teams for the last decade and is passionate about creating programs and initiatives to ensure a sense of belonging to company culture for all employees, while also striving for the best business outcomes regardless of location. She lives in Raleigh, North Carolina, with her husband and two daughters.
Scott Ward
Chief Finance Officer
Scott Ward
Chief Finance Officer
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Scott has spent the last 15 years as a Finance executive with a number of high growth technology companies. Most recently Scott spent over 4.5 years at 6 River Systems, a leader in the fulfillment automation space. The last 3 years at 6RS, Scott operated as a divisional CFO after the company was acquired by Shopify (NYSE: SHOP). Scott lives in the Boston area with his wife and two children.
Adam Boyle
VP, Product
Adam Boyle
VP, Product
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Adam has held a variety of leadership positions in 20+ years in enterprise software. Prior to Tackle, Adam was the VP of Product and Engineering for the cloud security business for Trend Micro, contributing to its success in becoming a market leader. While doing so, he helped pioneer the use and innovation with Cloud Marketplaces. Adam enjoys spending time with his children, CrossFit, listening to vinyl, and playing music.
Mellisa Maxwell
VP & General Counsel
Mellisa Maxwell
VP & General Counsel
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As a seasoned entrepreneur and transactional attorney, Mellisa has spent the last 20 years guiding executive leaders in multiple areas of business operations. Her love of technology and business drove her initial legal focus in intellectual property and privacy. Mellisa is an active mentor to community start-ups and emerging professionals. When she’s not volunteering or teaching law courses, she is in the mountains or on the beach with her rescue pups.
Seth Kahn
VP, Customer Experience
Seth Kahn
VP, Customer Experience
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Seth Kahn is Tackle’s Vice President of Customer Experience, leading the teams responsible for Customer Success, Support, and Strategic Services. Seth brings 15+ years of experience scaling post-sales organizations at SaaS companies during periods of hyper growth. Prior to Tackle, he held leadership roles at Pendo, Red Hat, and Apptio where he built customer programs that drove adoption, retention, and expansion. At Tackle, Seth focuses on delivering scalable, high-impact experiences that help customers unlock revenue through the Cloud. He lives in Raleigh, NC with his wife and two children.
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