Health and fitness magazine publisher Rodale Inc. has hired Bobby Chowdhury as its first dedicated chief technology officer looking to draw upon his technical skills and experience for its forthcoming e-commerce platform.
Chowdhury, previously with Condé Nast, will split his time between New York and the Rodale headquarters in Emmaus, PA.
Rodale publishes such titles as Men’s Health, Prevention, and Runner’s World and is developing an e-commerce platform called Rodale’s, which is expected to go live sometime in the spring.
For now, the landing page is simply a placeholder that mentions “well-crafted” products and an “evolution” in shopping.
That sounds suspiciously similar to New York-based Fab.com’s bread-and-butter. But it’s too early to know what Rodale’s will offer. Rodale and Chowdhury did not immediately answer questions regarding plans for the e-commerce site.
Before joining Rodale, Chowdhury served as a vice president of engineering in digital technology at Condé Nast and was CTO for United Media as well as Scripps Ventures, the former venture arm of the E.W. Scripps Company.
