Entellium deals with sudden resignations of two top execs

Seattle software company Entellium said its chief executive and head of finance have resigned, and its board was convening with remaining executives Thursday to determine the company's course of action.

Chief Executive Paul "P.J." Johnston and Senior Vice President Parrish Jones "have resigned from the company, effective immediately," the company said late Wednesday. Entellium did not disclose details of the departures.

After the resignations, Entellium removed any reference to the two executives on its Web site, including a blog written by Johnston and a description of them among the management team.

The private company makes customer-relationship-management software for small businesses.

Johnston, who founded Entellium in Malaysia in 2000, moved the headquarters to Seattle in 2003.

It has raised more than $30 million in venture capital, with backers including Bellevue-based Ignition Partners and Sigma Partners.

Entellium maintains a research and development office in Kuala Lumpur.

With almost 200 employees worldwide, the company was growing rapidly and attempting to take on competitors such as Salesforce.com.

However, it had two rounds of layoffs earlier this year.

A Wikipedia entry on Johnston was updated by Thursday to say he quit his position at Entellium.

Kristi Heim: 206-464-2718 or kheim@seattletimes.com