As expected, Mike Volpi, Cisco Systems Inc.'s former consummate dealmaker, has been named CEO of Joost Operations SA. He replaces founding CEO Fredrik de Wahl, who remains chief strategy officer. Volpi (pictured at left) honed his dealmaking skills over his 13-year tenure at Cisco, where he pioneered the networking equipment giant's M&A process and led the acquisitions of more than 70 companies. He was named senior vice president of routing and service provider technology before leaving Cisco in Februrary. Under Volpi's leadership, Joost could grow into a plumb acquisition target or rollup machine. Earlier this month, Joost secured $45 million in venture funding, led by Index Ventures and Sequoia Capital. Volpi isn't the only one at Joost with a golden touch. The Internet TV service was founded last year by Janus Friis and Niklas Zennström, who sold their last brainchild, Skype Technologies SA, to eBay Inc. for $4.1 billion. —Mary Kathleen Flynn

See Joost announcement
See February 8 story in The Deal
See May 10 story in The Deal
See September 12, 2005 story in The Deal