Greg Waldorf is Accel's new CEO in residence

Waldorf recently announced his resignation as CEO of eHarmony

Greg Waldorf has jumped the eHarmony ship and joined Accel Partners as the company’s CEO in residence.  Two weeks ago, the former dating site CEO announced his resignation from eHarmony (including his resignation from the board of directors) without citing any specific reason for his leaving, other than to say that “as eHarmony begins its second decade, the time is right for me to step down.”

Waldorf will be working with Accel’s portfolio companies to help identify promising new ventures.  Accel Partners could not be reached for comment, but Waldorf told reporters from SFGate that he is interested in freemium business models, in which businesses give customers a basic service for free and an upgraded service for a fee.  He also said he’s primarily interested in small businesses and online services for consumers, and not so much in enterprise.

One of eHarmony’s founding investors in 2000, Waldorf took on the role of chief executive in 2000 and under his leadership, the company reached revenues of $1 billion a year and a valuation of $500 million.  In 2010, eHarmony’s international revenues tripled as it launched in Brazil and opened an office in Tokyo.  Additionally, the company launched a mobile app for iOS and Android, and mobile users now account for 20% of the site’s global unique visitors.

Waldorf will be inheriting his new position with Accel Partners from former CEOs in residence Singh Cassidy, who joined in 2009 and left in 2010 to become CEO of fashion social network Polyvore.  LinkedIn CEO Jeff Weiner also served as a CEO in residence, holding a similar position simultaneously with Greylock Partners, before he went on to take the helm of LinkedIn, which recently filed for an IPO.

Accel has been in the news quite a bit as of late, not only for the sale of Quidsi to Amazon for $545 million in November and the 2009 sale of AdMob to Google in 2009, but also for its recently sale of $500 million worth of Facebook shares to private investors in November. The company has also invested heavily in Groupon, which is rumored to be looking at a $15 billion IPO this year. 

Image source: turner.com