exits

Departing Googler: Perks are nice, but I was bored and not getting rich

Nicholas Carlson · 04/15/08 11:00AM

An anonymous software engineer who says he used to work on AdWords, Google's lucrative if straightforward ad-selling system, has written a blog post explaining why he's leaving the search giant. Unfortunately, his tenure at Google did not include a tutorial on the use of the "Return" key, and most of his post is one long paragraph reaching 1,422 words. Here's the 100-word version on why he split for a social-networking startup.

Barry Diller is paying Jakob Lodwick more than $100,000 a year to stay away from IAC employees

Nicholas Carlson · 04/14/08 06:40PM

We heard Jakob Lodwick may have broken his severance agreement with IAC's Connected Ventures when he poached Vimeo Web designer Justin Ouellette to help him start Muxtape, an online mix-tapes startup. How much could the gaffe cost the Connected Ventures cofounder? Reportedly, $100,000 a year through 2011. "What a mess," an IAC exec tells us. True, but mostly for Lodwick. IAC can hire more Web designers to replace the one Lodwick's entrepreneurial ventures have cost them so far. Diller's six-figure dole will be harder for Lodwick to replace.

Here's one person AMD won't have to lay off

Jordan Golson · 04/11/08 03:20PM

Chipmaker AMD has announced several layoffs recently. This one, the company claims, has nothing to do with that. AMD's chief technology officer Phil Hester has resigned. The company will not be filling his position, but instead will rely on CTOs in individual technology groups within the company to run the show. Wait: AMD has more than one CTO? Why not lay off all of them? That seems easier.

Startup employee retirement plan: sell toast on eBay

Jackson West · 04/10/08 08:00PM

A friend of an animator laid off from a recently imploded East Bay videogames startup writes to pimp the newly unemployed buddy's latest venture: selling toast on eBay. But not just any toast — it's toast that will be lovingly sculpted into the shape of each of America's 50 great states. First up? Texas. You laugh now, but you won't think it's such a terrible idea when the recession has you out on the street and your options underwater.

Ashton Kutcher-backed startup Ooma is falling apart

Owen Thomas · 04/09/08 02:20PM

Hold the phone: Voice-over-Internet startup Ooma is flailing, despite — or perhaps because of — a viral-video marketing campaign directed by Hollywood star Ashton Kutcher. Ooma launched its product, a $400 device which offers unlimited phone calls, last year, with a splash of press. Starstruck tech bloggers like TechCrunch's Michael Arrington gave away Ooma gadgets to readers in exchange for some facetime with Kutcher — and asked few questions about its nonsensical business model, which had it charging high upfront prices for hardware and giving away phone service. Now, we're told, its high-school-dropout CEO, Andrew Frame, has seen a host of executives leave.

Lodwick's Muxtape mess

Nicholas Carlson · 04/08/08 03:00PM

Jakob Lodwick, the fired founder of Vimeo who's now dabbling in online music, rushed out an announcement of his involvement with Muxtape, an online mix-tapes startup — shortly after we started asking questions. But in his attempt to spoil our scoop, Lodwick may have put the payout he got from Vimeo's parent company, IAC, at risk. We're told that part of Lodwick's severance package included a fairly typical agreement to not poach any of his former Connected Venture colleagues for future projects. But with Muxtape, that's just what Lodwick's done.

Ad sales VP leaves Yahoo for Electronic Arts

Jackson West · 04/07/08 12:00PM

Yahoo VP Elizabeth Harz has left the company to become SVP of global ad sales at videogame publisher Electronic Arts. At Yahoo, she was most recently in charge of poring over marketing data — the kind of background that will be invaluable to EA as the company develops advertising strategies for casual games on sites like Pogo.com and mobile devices. And in the wake of Jerry Yang's announcement that the new AMP brand advertising platform will be ready to go by the third quarter, it sounds like more bad news for Yahoo. Even if the code works, you need people to bring in customers.

Departing Yahoo music chief gave Scott Moore two days' notice

Nicholas Carlson · 04/05/08 06:00PM

Departing Yahoo music chief Ian Rogers wasn't "reorganized out" of the company, a source tells us. "The reorg was caused by his departure with two days' notice." Rogers left for all the obvious reasons: to escape both Microsoft and — like others before him — Yahoo Media czar Scott Moore's high-pressure management style. "He was tied of swimming upstream," our source says. "But he was careful to make nice with Scott before he left as to not burn the bridge."

News Corp. boss reorganizes Fox Interactive, cans top sales guy

Nicholas Carlson · 04/04/08 08:00AM

Fox Interactive Media — the unit overseeing MySpace and other News Corp. online properties — will miss its fiscal-year revenue projections of $1 billion by more than 10 percent, or $100 million, the WSJ reports. As a result, Fox Interactive chief revenue officer Michael Barrett is out of a job. The big problem is making money off of MySpace. It has lots of users, but as MySpace advertising partner Google has discovered, brands don't want to put their product next to Tila Tequila. So now MySpace is going to try something we thought Facebook would do — create an ad network that targets MySpace members when they visit third-party sites. It'll be called the "Fox Interactive Media Audience Network," and Adam Bain will run it. PaidContent obtained a memo from Peter Levinsohn, president of Fox Interactive Media on the reshuffling and it's pasted below.

Former MIT blackjack whiz Eric Boyd cashes in his chips at Yahoo

Jackson West · 04/02/08 08:00PM

Yahoo's VP of platform engineering Eric Boyd is leaving Yahoo after ten years at the company, according to a source. Boyd, pictured here with friend Kyle and actress Kate Bosworth at the premiere of card-sharp thriller 21, made a name for himself as a member of the MIT card-counting team the current box office smash is based on. At Yahoo, he helped developed the user database, mail systems, My Yahoo portal, and most recently, the company's OpenSocial project, reporting to do-little EVP Ash Patel. What might have convinced him to go? I mean, besides the whole Microsoft thing?

Veronica Belmont soft-quits Mahalo Daily, Jason Calacanis

Nicholas Carlson · 04/02/08 01:40PM

Mahalo Daily host Veronica Belmont — the videoblogger whom Mahalo CEO Jason Calacanis once dubbed a "Rojas-level hire" , in a comparison to Engadget cofounder Peter Rojas — has announced she's "moving on to new projects." She'll host the show for a few more weeks and then later contribute as a correspondent. "This came out of nowhere," a Mahalo source tells us. Considering Belmont's working conditions, it shouldn't have been a surprise. Interviewed in the video clip below, Belmont — who lives in San Francisco — says she spends two weeks each month in Santa Monica. How did Belmont like the commute? "It's not optimal, but it gets the job done." Not anymore. But there is a winner here.

Joost hires chief software architect, cans three marketers

Nicholas Carlson · 03/28/08 11:20AM

Joost yesterday hired Jason Gaedtke as its new chief software architect. Joost's last top engineer, the recently departed CTO Dirk-Willem van Gulik fared poorly with his coworkers, one of whom described him as "an arrogant, condescending jerk." Gaedtke will face less peer review, if only because fewer people now work at Joost. Three marketers lost their jobs with the company yesterday as part of Joost's efforts to "streamline its operations," as NewTeeVee reports.

Google, Blogger veteran Jason Shellen quits LiveJournal after three months

Owen Thomas · 03/26/08 02:20PM

LiveJournal, only months after Six Apart sold the blogging site to Russian Web firm Sup, has resumed its tradition of corporate drama. Jason Shellen, the company's VP of product management, just announced he'd left the company. I asked him if this had anything to do with the ruckus over LiveJournal's elimination of unpaid, advertising-free accounts. "No," said Shellen, who worked at Blogger and then Google after the search giant bought the blog startup. "In social media, you have to have a thick skin." What did Shellen in was the 10-hour time difference between Moscow, where Sup is headquartered, and LiveJournal's San Francisco office.

The 5 real blunders of Philip Rosedale's virtual career

Mary Jane Irwin · 03/14/08 05:40PM

Despite a silver-tongued PR team capable of spinning any irrelevant Second Life happening into a New York Times story, former Linden Lab CEO Philip Rosedale couldn't save himself from the downside of the virtual hype cycle. His "life's work" has become a punchline. Here are the five mistakes that added up to cost Rosedale his job.

Linden Lab CEO stepping down

Jordan Golson · 03/14/08 12:00PM

Linden Lab CEO Philip Rosedale is stepping down as CEO. The Benchmark Capital-backed company is looking for a new chief with more operational and management experience. "This is my life's work. I'm not going anywhere, and I'm still full-time on this, probably for the rest of my life," says Rosedale, shown here as his Second Life alter ego. The story was broken by the Reuters Second Life news center within Second Life. This is likely the only news ever broken by the bureau that you'll care about.

Microsoft ad exec dodges painful Yahoo integration

Nicholas Carlson · 03/13/08 03:39PM

Microsoft VP Joanne Bradford has left the company and will join Los Angeles-based ad agency Spot Runner. Even with a new title of EVP, it's hardly a leap up the ladder. Our guess on why Bradford bolted? A former executive at Microsoft and Yahoo told us, " I shudder to think about a MSNBC.com and Yahoo News integration." Bradford's departure plans likely came together not long after Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer made it clear he favored Yahoo's brands over the MSN portal Bradford ran.

Platform A CEO is out

Evelyn Nussenbaum · 03/10/08 04:59PM

Curt Viebranz, the CEO of AOL's ad sales unit Platform A, is leaving. AOL did not say why, but "sources" are suddenly tipping off a lot of blogs that he was fired. Viebranz, former head of Tacoda, joined Platform A at its inception last fall. The unit was supposed to house ad sales for all AOL units. Another AOL executive, Advertising.com president Linda Clarizio, will replace him. Advertising.com execs strongly opposed the Tacoda acquisition, saying Tacoda's technology was overrated. Guess who just won that argument?