Marketworks founder Alec Peters resigned earlier this year from his CEO position. The company, which began life as an eBay auction-management service and now helps sellers on multiple marketplaces, is currently in a national search for a replacement.

"In order to take this company to the next level, we need someone with a different skill set," said Peters. "A good entrepreneur knows when to step aside. The entrepreneur who can take a company from start-up to public company, like a Michael Dell or Jeff Bezos, is rare." According to Peters, Marketworks has the potential to be a public company in a few years.

Peters won the Ernst & Young 2004 "Entrepreneur of the Year" award for the Alabama, Georgia, and Tennessee region, which recognizes recipients for growing a company from a concept into an industry leader. He was also named one of Catalyst Magazines "Top 50 Entrepreneurs" in Atlanta. He has a law degree from the University of North Carolina School of Law and coached NCAA volleyball at the University of Southern California. Peters founded Marketworks, then called Auctionworks, in 1999.

Marketworks Chief Marketing Office Paul Lundy said Alec Peters is an inspirational leader. He brought passion and leadership to Marketworks for the first 5 years of the company. But, according to Lundy, Peters had always stated that he knew he was not the right person to run an established company with operational intricacies. "His forte is starting businesses," Lundy said, and now that Marketworks has offices in four countries with over 4,000 customers from 37 countries, "It's a natural time for him to make that decision."

Peters calls his push two-and-a-half years ago to go international the "last great challenge" for him. Since he left Marketworks, he is working on three Internet-based ideas, two in the marketplace space. "Just being excited about the potential of these ideas is fun." He also plans to increase the time he spends as a speaker at entrepreneurship classes at Georgia State University, Georgia Tech and University of Georgia and his work with the entrepreneurship program at Georgia State University.

Marketworks has hired a recruiting firm to help with the search for Peters' replacement, and the hunt is going well, said Lundy. "We are being very selective. We need someone who can create value with a great track record. We've seen a couple of candidates already that we are pretty high on."

http://www.marketworks.com