According to sources close to the situation, well-known tech exec Jon Rubinstein will be joining the board of Qualcomm, the San Diego-based chipmaker that has gotten a big boost of late for its role in the explosion of mobile devices.

Rubinstein is an interesting and logical choice for Qualcomm, having been a high-profile player for a long time in the mobile space, beginning with his work on the iPod while at Apple. After he left his last job at Hewlett-Packard last year, though, he has been very low-key.

(Update: Qualcomm confirmed the appointment in a press release.)

For Qualcomm, the selection of Rubinstein to join the board is something to watch, as he is the second exec from Silicon Valley to be tapped by the company recently. In March, Qualcomm hired tech investor Laurie Yoler as SVP of business development, making her “responsible for augmenting existing business relationships in Silicon Valley, as well as developing new strategic business opportunities for Qualcomm in the region.”

Rubinstein has even more experience here and is also familiar with a range of mobile efforts over the years, some of which were successful and others not so much, from his work at Apple, Palm and then HP. He is also a board member of Amazon.

Aside from CEO and Chairman Paul Jacobs, Rubinstein — who has degrees in electrical engineering and computer science — will be the most technically experienced director on the 11-person board.

Qualcomm declined to comment.

Here’s a nice primer on Rubinstein by Arik Hesseldahl, in a report on his leaving HP early last year:

Best known for his work on Apple’s iconic iPod music player, Rubinstein left Apple in 2006 and joined Roger McNamee as a partner in the private equity firm Elevation Partners, following its 2007 investments in Palm.

In 2009 he replaced longtime Palm executive Ed Colligan as its CEO, and oversaw a dramatic restructuring of the company’s products, including a significant rebuild of its smartphone operating system. Gone was the legacy PalmOS that had been used in so many popular devices like the Treo that for a time competed seriously against Research In Motion’s BlackBerry.

PalmOS was replaced by WebOS, which first appeared on the Pre smartphone, then later on the Pixi and Veer devices. After HP acquired Palm, WebOS was also used on the abandoned TouchPad tablet, and is now an open-source operating system overseen by HP.

Rubinstein’s departure is no big surprise. Sources said he hadn’t been seen at HP’s offices following the decision by former CEO Léo Apotheker to get out of the business of making WebOS-based hardware. His future plans have been the subject of speculation for some time.

After HP decided to exit the WebOS hardware business, Rubinstein was assigned to a vaguely described “product innovation role” within HP’s Personal Systems Group during a management shakeup last July. It was an unusual move and one made with little explanation at the time. But sources say it was a preface to Rubinstein’s departure, one intended to lessen its PR impact when he finally left. “That ‘innovation’ gig he was given in July was his first step toward the exit,” said one source, a former Palm exec with close ties to Rubinstein.

If truth be told, Jerry Yang never really disappeared from the Silicon Valley scene, even though he did leave Yahoo rather suddenly just over a year ago — resigning from the board and all other positions at the iconic company he co-founded with David Filo in 1995, and then going very quiet.

When I met him last week at the airy and newish office space of Ame Cloud Ventures, off Camino Real, he politely declined to talk about that Yahoo tenure and departure, although Yahoo and he are inextricably linked in the history of tech.

That’s because the former Chief Yahoo has moved onto the next stage of his career, which perhaps could be called Jerry 2.0 — a term he’d hate (and give me a hard time for using).

Still, in many ways, Yang has launched a new digital life by focusing on what made him interested in tech in the first place: Entrepreneurs.

“I feel like the thing I missed the most is what really early entrepreneurs were doing,” he said of his latest efforts, which have been well known among techies, even if Yang has never been one to toot his own horn much in general. “I’m not sure at all that I’m any good at this mentoring/investing business — that’s why I’m using my own money, and that’s why it’s not a career.”

Yet. Yang is calling his nascent investment business — he’s more than an angel, but not quite a VC — a “work in progress” that might morph into something more.

“There are no LPs — just me, myself and I,” said Yang. “I invest in things for the long term and have a long horizon and the flexibility.”

That said, via Ame — which means rain (雨) in Japanese and happens to be the acronym of the names of his wife and kids — Yang has already invested in about two dozen startups in which he has typically puts in $100,000 to $500,000.

Explaining the name, Yang said: “Without rain, there is no life.”

And it’s clear that Yang has been very busy dousing the startup sector with a wide range of interesting investments, including:

• dotCloud, an application platform for developers
• AeroFS, a private file syncing and sharing service
• Impermium, an Internet security offering
• Jetpac, a travel app for the Apple iPad
• Lex Machina, IP litigation data and analytics
• Tomfoolery, which is aimed at improving mobile enterprise apps

Yang said what informs his investment choices centers on the activity around mobility, sensors, cloud and big data that is enabling the next generation of computing.

“The main investing premise is the idea that devices are more and more network connected,” said Yang, who noted that data that is being collected is now at another order of magnitude than ever before. “The cloud has become the next-generation supercomputer, and the smartphone has provided the revolution to spur its use.”

To select from the companies he sees, Yang has only one young associate, Nick Adams, who codes, helps on deal mechanics, interacts with entrepreneurs and also has had extensive experience in Asia.

That has been important, since Adams also leads business development for China’s Cloud Valley, which is run by Edward Tian, one of Yang’s strategic partners there. It was with Cloud Valley that Evernote, the hot productivity app in which Yang is also an investor, partnered to create a business there.

Still, Yang is not completely alone. He has weekly meetings with another former Yahoo, Ash Patel — who started the $10 million micro-venture fund Morado Ventures, which means “purple” in Spanish, and has a lot of ex-Yahoos as investors — as well as individual angel and former Yahoo CTO Farzad Nazem.

The trio trade ideas and deal flow, sometimes making bets together and sometimes not. Most of all, they leverage their time in the tech sector, both good and bad.

“I might not have better ideas, but I think my experience is unique and helpful [to entrepreneurs] and there is a value to my network,” said Yang. “I think what I have to contribute, besides money and a network, is that I am very candid about the experience I have had.”

That is indeed the case, because it is clear that Yang has a lot of wisdom to impart from his long and eventful history at Yahoo, as well as his stature as one of the Internet’s most important pioneers.

And, having covered the often circumspect Yang for much of that time, I would have to say that these days he looks about as energized, excited and enthusiastic as I have ever seen him.

“I’m truly humbled by the talent that’s out there, and at the same time recognize it’s a very crowded space,” said Yang. “It is not a career yet, but I’m having a lot of fun, and we’ll see.”

According to sources, two high-ranking Yahoo execs have departed the company — longtime strategy exec Raymond Stern and advertising exec Liz Ritzcovan.

Stern — whose recent Yahoo title has been SVP of business development and partnerships — was hired at the Silicon Valley Internet giant in 2009, and has held a number of jobs in areas such as business development, audience, mobile and local. Ritzcovan has been at the company since early 2011, most currently as a VP of marketing solutions.

Meanwhile, SVP of advertising and data platforms Scott Burke has been elevated to the executive staff, reporting directly to CEO Marissa Mayer. Sources said Mayer has put him in charge of all ad tech platforms in a continuing product overhaul at Yahoo.

As March approaches — a time when stock options and bonus payments come due — insiders at Yahoo said to expect a lot of such talent movement within the company. Sources also noted that Mayer has been working hard to bring in new execs from outside Yahoo, but has been having a harder time than she expected recruiting high-level talent.

The culture-celebrating hijinks continue at Yahoo, it seems.

After free food and smartphones and even dressing up as a Yahoo purple banger, CEO Marissa Mayer now has a high-ranking exec dancing for employee enjoyment.

As part of an effort to improve participation in the annual Yahoo Employee Satisfaction Survey (YESS), Mayer instituted a punishment for the lowest participation rate of any division on her executive staff.

The culprit turned out to be Jackie Reses, EVP of people and development for Yahoo, which includes the unlikely combo of human resources and business development.

Thus, Reses apparently had to dance to the hit K-pop song “Gangnam Style” with her staff at the weekly FYI employee meeting at Yahoo’s Sunnyvale, Calif., HQ on Friday.

Despite having a rep as an intense New Yorker, said one employee, Reses has some “decent moves.” Others agreed.

Also decent was one of the top results of YESS, which showed that employee belief in the future vision of the company was up 32 points year over year.

That’s not a big surprise, given the upward trajectory of Yahoo’s shares of late. But, more to the point, it has a weak comparable in last year’s survey, which painted a picture of a deeply demoralized workplace. That’s because the 2011 YESS questions went out to employees the week that the company fired CEO Carol Bartz, with most of the responses gathered in the ensuing weeks.

Despite the improvement, this year’s YESS also still showed a lot of worry about whether Yahoo leadership can execute, and whether the company can achieve strong results over the long term.

[UPDATE: One reader said the Yahoo survey is now called YEES, the Yahoo Employee Engagement Survey. I could not determine if that name change had been made.]

That’s the question that at least one Wall Street firm was asking, in a downgrade of Yahoo stock today. In dropping Yahoo’s rank to “market-perform,” Sanford C. Bernstein analysts noted worries about its turnaround efficacy, a possibly jarring reorg of its advertising unit, and also whether the future sale of its assets in China’s Alibaba Group can save the day again, as it did for last quarter’s results.

“We think there may be upside from an eventual Alibaba IPO at a valuation much higher than $50B or a Yahoo! core turn-around, but it is hard to have high conviction in either given the facts we currently have,” said the report, in part. “In addition, there is manageable but real downside risk: reorganization (e.g., of the sales force) could be negative for revenues, management could decide to invest in growth now and cut excess later, and MSFT RPS guarantee could expire without a renewal.”

Those are all good questions for investors to ask, of course, although more have been caught up in the hype/hope ahead of actual performance gains.

Still, it’s no sweat to get caught up in digital execs being made to trip the light fantastic for their weak results. So, since I was not there to enjoy Reses’ performance, click here for an also fun-tastic JibJab Gangnam video I made of her.

Jonathan Flesher

According to sources familiar with the move, Flesher’s last day was Nov. 9. He could not be reached for comment, but sources said he left for a mix of reasons. While increased family time was part of it, he’s also looking for new challenges and opportunities. A Zynga spokesperson did not immediately return calls seeking comment.

While at Zynga, Flesher worked on a number of partnerships, including deals with Yahoo, Google+, MSN and AOL. He also worked on securing celebrity deals with Lady Gaga and Snoop Dogg for in-game integrations or marketing stunts. Just recently, he inked an exclusive partnership with bwin.party, a real-money gaming operator in the U.K.

To be sure, much of Flesher’s role was behind the scenes, but clearly over the years he’s contributed meaningfully to both revenue and marketing efforts. He reported to Barry Cottle, who recently took over as chief revenue officer.

Flesher’s departure further depletes the ranks at the struggling company. The highest-profile recent exits have been those of CFO Dave Wehner and treasurer Mike Gupta. But over the last several months, a much wider swath of employees have decided to leave. Additionally, Zynga made the decision in October to trim five percent of its workforce involuntarily.

Over the past few months, Zynga has watched its stock price tank to single digits as it has failed to come up with a new hit game. At the same time, it is having to pivot from making games for Facebook to building games for smartphones and tablets. During the transition period, some employees are simply making the decision not to stick around and to seek opportunities elsewhere.

Correction: The original version of this story incorrectly stated that Flesher was directly responsible for Zynga’s partnership with Lady Gaga. Another member of his team was directly responsible for that deal.

This is the exact path I embarked upon one year ago. I’ve survived 12 months working at my first start-up job — and wow, what a learning experience it has been. If you’re like me and are starting right out of college: 1) Congrats, really. You’ve beaten a ton of other hopeful candidates and are poised to gain some truly valuable work experience. And 2) Get ready to work.

Transitioning from college classes and homework to “real life” and project deadlines can be a daunting challenge. To help you make the most of your first year, I have listed below the Top 10 lessons I learned in my first start-up job out of college.

1. Take Advantage of the Seasoned Veterans Around You

   Chances are there are some really talented people at the table next to you. No, seriously, take a few seconds away from being glued to your monitor and just look around your office. You’re guaranteed to find experienced co-workers who have worked on a great product at one company or another. Introduce yourself! At Luminate, I’ve been fortunate enough to be graced with the presence of engineering brilliance from the early browser development team from Netscape and Mozilla. Find these amazing resources, and don’t be afraid to ask questions. They’ll be happy to hear how interested you are in their experience, and you might just get some good stories out of them.

2. Find a Passion Outside of Work

   Now that you’re done with homework and studying every night, be sure to find something to keep yourself occupied outside of work. I’m working at a start-up dedicated to making the Web’s three trillion images interactive, so photography and photo trips have become my new favorite hobbies post-graduation, and I love it. I’ve purchased my first DSLR and have taken multiple photography trips with friends all around Northern California, always attempting to hone my skills. When you’re left without labs, group projects, homework and tests, an outside interest is a surefire way to have fun and keep yourself active during the weeknights of your first full working year.

3. Be Active and Get Healthy

   I’ve watched too many peers graduate college and all of a sudden think they don’t have time for the gym. Believe me, if you could balance a full college course load and find enough time to work out at your university’s rec center, you can definitely find time to exercise while working full time. My trick is to always go to the gym on my way home from work. Unlike those freak fitness-a-holic types, I’m one of those people who will get home from work and tell myself, “I’ll go to the gym later,” and two beers later, I’m still glued to the latest update on “SportsCenter.” Instead, I pack my bag the night before I leave for work and leave it sitting on my bathroom counter, which forces me to take it with me in the morning. Who knows, you might just develop a new habit! Bonus tip: I’ve actually found that I do some of my best brainstorming while at the gym. In fact, this article was mostly written on the Stairmaster at Mountain View’s 24 Hour Fitness.

4. Never Think You’re Too Junior

   The beauty of start-ups is that they’re small, typically no more than 30 to 50 people. So while you may have been hired as an entry-level employee, there are usually no more than two degrees of separation between you and your CEO. Use this to your advantage — go ahead and spark up a conversation with your CEO, CRO or CTO. You’re not at Google, Facebook, Visa or another large firm which is restricting you to your single role or position, so use this opportunity to take on tasks that wouldn’t ordinarily be assigned to you in a very linear position. Which leads me to my next point.

5. Constantly Challenge Yourself

   You’re young, enthusiastic and full of energy. Use this first year to show your managers why you deserved that opportunity, rather than the 90 other candidates who applied. There are more college graduates living at home and looking for work than ever before, so don’t be complacent once you’ve snagged your first gig. We had a simple saying on the UC Santa Cruz Men’s soccer team that our coaches ingrained in our heads — “Raise the Level.” Every day, every practice, every drill — make your actions faster, cleaner and more refined than the last. This couldn’t be more applicable in the business world. Whether it’s a sales call, an email or answering a customer’s question, constantly challenge yourself to make every action a learning experience and raise the quality level of your business interactions.

6. Learn About Every Part of Your Company

   The growth potential is virtually limitless in any given start-up, so learn every part of your company. Depending on the size of your start-up, it shouldn’t be too difficult to find out how the entire business functions. From sales and business development to product design, engineering and customer support, start learning about every moving piece in your company. The golden opportunity that we twentysomethings have working in a start-up is the option to grow with the company and potentially into the department that we are truly passionate about. Start exploring this during your first year, and it’ll pay dividends in the long run.

7. Never Limit Yourself to One Role

   This goes hand in hand with the previous rule. After you find out how your company works, start talking to the people in the department you might be interested in, or have a particular skill set for. Many start-ups are bootstrapped or shorthanded, so you have a built-in opportunity: Ask what you can do to help. I’m sure your colleagues will be happy to see you’re enthusiastic about the rest of the business. Plus, it gives you an idea of what different roles are like.

8. Grab a Good Pair of Headphones

   This is simple: Buy a good pair of headphones. I’m not talking about using the tinny-sounding pair of Apple headphones that come with your iPhone; go out and splurge on a pair of good noise-canceling headphones. With most start-ups sporting an open office atmosphere, it can get noisy in the office. Between board members, investors, flying fish, remote-controlled helicopters, drinking co-workers and the weekly Costco delivery guys, most start-ups might resemble Legoland more than actual businesses. You’ll thank me later.

9. Don’t Be Afraid to Propose a Change

   Look at your CEO. What are some of the key differences between you? Besides a few zeros on your paychecks, age may be another big one. While your managers and CEOs bring wisdom, strategy and leadership, there’s something that you have that they may not: Youth. You just graduated from college among a peer group that is one of the most connected in history. We’ve been using computers since we were old enough to walk and talk. Given that our generation is online and using mobile and Web applications more than any other age group, our perspective is often a huge help to many companies. Don’t be afraid to offer your fresh insight on things. Who knows — your proposal, idea, or suggestion might just be the next big thing for your company!

10. Work hard, but Work Smart

    Be sure to take a step back occasionally from whatever project you’re working on in order to make sure that you’re applying your energy toward the most-needed task at the time. In my first year, I frequently threw 100 percent of my time and energy at projects that definitely weren’t at the top of the priority list. It’s great to have enthusiasm and a work ethic, but make sure your efforts are aligned with your company’s goals, your quarterly goals and your personal goals. Learn from my mistakes. In essence, work hard, but work smart.

Executives at Yahoo and Facebook have completed an extensive strategic deal, as part of a final settlement of their contentious patent infringement lawsuit and countersuit.

According to sources close to the situation, the agreement will include a major expansion of their ongoing partnership, including a joint advertising sales effort, as well as cross-licensing of some key patents between the pair.

The deal has gotten approval from the companies’ boards — in fact, Yahoo’s directors agreed to it this morning in a telephonic meeting. It will be announced sometime later today.

No actual cash payment will change hands under terms of the deal over the patents, in contrast to the $550 million that Facebook paid Microsoft recently in another transaction related to AOL patents.

But sources said Facebook and Yahoo hope there will be significant upside in several possible advertising and other business deals between the pair that could yield large revenues if executed well.

In addition, there is a possibility that Facebook could later pay to license other Yahoo patents not included in this deal.

Discussions to settle the lawsuits — negotiated by Yahoo interim CEO Ross Levinsohn and Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg, among others — began almost as soon as Yahoo’s board ousted former CEO Scott Thompson, which I reported on in early June and Yahoo officially confirmed several weeks later in a regulatory filing.

The lawsuit was initially waged by Thompson, who reportedly promised directors that a big financial payoff of many billions of dollars could result from the patent lawsuits against Facebook.

At the time, despite strong support by its legal execs, many other Yahoo managers — including those who had crafted an earlier and successful content- and data-sharing agreement with Facebook — were blindsided by the aggressive move by Thompson. That included Levinsohn — who was then in charge of its global media unit — and other top execs.

So, after Thompson was gone and with board support, Levinsohn immediately reached out to Sandberg. In addition, Yahoo’s point person on the deal, VP of strategy James Heckman, met with a number of top Facebook execs including: Dan Rose, VP of business development and monetization; VP of global marketing solutions Carolyn Everson; and business development director Chris Daniels.

Such an outreach was a major shift for Yahoo, but was possible due to a newly configured board in the wake of the Thompson departure.

Still, some directors who had pushed for the initial lawsuit that Yahoo unexpectedly lobbed against the social networking powerhouse in March have remained on the board and agreed to the latest settlement.

The reason for the change of heart? While many still felt Yahoo had a strong case, backed by important intellectual property in a range of key digital arenas, Facebook was prepping for a long and expensive battle by girding its patent defenses.

Thus, the possible end of the rancorous legal battle should be greeted with enthusiasm by Wall Street investors, as well as many detractors of Yahoo’s legal action across the tech landscape.

And, indeed, the company’s reputation definitely suffered as a result of the lawsuit, with many techies, both inside and outside the company, decrying Yahoo’s lawsuit.

Many of those engineers, as well as entrepreneurs — key constituencies for Yahoo’s revival — firmly believe a patent portfolio should only be used defensively.

Now, if the deal is approved, the move will have been turned a decidedly negative situation into a potentially stronger partnership.

Among the most notable parts of the deal is an arrangement to jointly sell big events and other packages to advertisers.

In addition, as it has in content, Facebook will allow Yahoo to be the first partner to feature information about its users’ “Likes” in actual display advertising on Yahoo.

Extending and adding to such contact-sharing was apparently one bone of contention in the talks to settle the lawsuits, although there had already been an element of that in a previous partnership between the pair. Yahoo is one of the few Facebook partners with access to information from its social graph; Facebook, in turn, gets user contact data from Yahoo.

Of course, how well the pair works together to deliver better experiences for its consumers and marketing for its advertisers remains to be seen.

But it’s clear that any rocky road in cooperation is much better than the legal quagmire both had been stuck in.

One thing is likely — the successful end to the tensions ups Levinsohn’s chances of getting the permanent CEO job. Directors have not given him the nod as yet, with another candidate — Hulu CEO Jason Kilar — as Levinsohn’s leading rival for the job, as I first reported yesterday.

Longtime Yahoo exec Raymond Stern (pictured here) — who seems to have fit into a lot of management reorgs in his short time at the Silicon Valley Internet giant — has been named to a new role at the company as SVP of strategy, corporate development and new ventures.

He’ll be reporting to CEO Scott Thompson, according to an internal memo I got sent by the people who send me internal memos from Yahoo. (A group, I might add, that is getting bigger by the day.)

When he got to Yahoo in late 2009, Stern had first been named SVP of North America partnerships and business development for Yahoo. He later had to also pinch-hit as its head of U.S. audience, mobile and local, after an exec left, before being named SVP of North America audience. Then, after another exec took over the audience job, he was back to business development and partnerships and also added the listings business to his portfolio. Then, Stern got mobile biz dev back, after another exec left.

Now, the man who has been the Swiss Army Knife of Yahoo will be the key strategy guy for Thompson, who clearly wants to do a lot of strategizing.

Interesting note: Stern was a former consultant to Boston Consulting Group, which is Thompson’s go-to outside team on his ongoing restructuring of the company. He is also a former Intuit exec.

As per usual, here is the internal memo on Stern’s appointment from Thompson, who is dealing with some other very thorny issues right now too:

Yahoos –

Over the last few months, you’ve heard me talk a lot about focusing our company around our core business. As part of this, we need to find new ways to strengthen, leverage, and monetize our core assets — all in conjunction with our long-term strategy focused on driving growth. To help tackle this challenge, I’m excited to announce that Raymond Stern will take on a new role at Yahoo! as senior vice president of strategy, corporate development, and new ventures, reporting to me.

For those of you who haven’t had the chance to meet Raymond over the last two and half years here at Yahoo!, he previously oversaw distribution partnerships and business development, as well as our Latin American, Canadian, and small business teams. Earlier in his career, he spent 10 years at the Boston Consulting Group, and later had various roles at Intuit including leading strategy and corporate development during a transformational period in the late 90s through the mid 2000s.

In his new role, Raymond will work across the teams to ensure alignment and that we are taking advantage of opportunities around the globe. He will lead three critical areas for us:

Strategy: Raymond will lead corporate strategy, working in close partnership with the senior leadership team and me.

Corporate Development: Raymond will work with the team to find opportunities to accelerate our progress and growth through acquisitions, investments and strategic partnerships. In conjunction with this, Marcus Shen and his group will be renamed corporate M&A, and will continue to be the transactional execution arm supporting Yahoo!’s corporate development initiatives.

New Ventures: Raymond will look at emerging areas outside of what’s happening in the halls of Yahoo! and bring new innovative and disruptive ideas to the forefront.

In the coming weeks, you’ll hear more from Raymond as he works with the leadership team to align our corporate priorities and long-term strategy.

Please join me in welcoming Raymond to this important new role.

/signed
/Scott Thompson

And here’s to your new job, Raymond:

(c) Tim Vetter / Flickr

This last weekend, Foursquare founder Naveen Selvadurai announced in a blog post that he was leaving the company, three years after launching the check-in service with Dennis Crowley. In a terse note, Sevaldurai wrote that he would remain on the company’s board and as an adviser, as well as the “single most vocal user” of the popular check-in service.

But, he added, “spring is time for things that are new, and i realize that i have a desire to do something new as well. i’m not sure about my exact next steps.”

Spring forward indeed, because — according to numerous sources inside and outside the company — the impetus for Selvadurai’s departure was a lot more complex and fraught than he or the company indicated.

To be fair, this is not uncommon for start-ups at all. Twitter went through the mother of all contentious partings — twice, in fact — in an ongoing battle among its founders. Tech is rife with similar examples, most often of lesser drama.

And it is much the same with Selvadurai and Crowley, who had together become New York’s highest profile entrepreneurs in recent years. The pair cut a wide swatch of fame, including doing commercials together (see video below).

But times change and sources said that they had come to the conclusion over a series of talks over the last several months that there was no place for Selvadurai any longer at the fast-growing start-up.

“This company grew very quickly and a lot of senior management has been added,” said one person with knowledge of the situation. “It got to the point where Naveen was not in charge of much.”

Indeed, since Foursquare began adding execs — I have a list below — he had become ever more sidelined, ending up with a small team focused on platform efforts and supporting APIs.

“Naveen was no longer heading any meaningful area of functional responsibility, so things got tense,” said another source.

Still, according to several people familiar with the situation — unlike the highly charged parting that took place at Twitter — the departure was not ugly or closely related to either a recent stock sale by employees or its most recent funding in June that valued Foursquare at $600 million.

“Dennis and he don’t hate each other — things just changed,” said one person.

Said another source: “When you look at all the external stuff, Naveen’s leaving was really not tied to anything in particular. The business was really starting to mature … and there is eventually a line in the sand between building a product and building a company.”

Indeed, rather than a scrappy start-up, Foursquare now has 111 employees, up from 50 last year, and has moved into a new phase of trying to evolve from simply being a check-in service.

As that was happening, said multiple sources, the discussions about roles at the company became more pronounced.

“The way this company has been structured, the talks centered on how to contribute to a company and Naveen and Dennis agreed that there was not a place for him day to day,” said one person. “But that does not mean he still will not be contributing to the future of Foursquare in a different way.”

The pair both emailed Foursquare’s staff about the change, although Crowley’s public goodbye on Twitter was short and, yes, sweet:

After 3 yrs, my @foursquare co-founder is moving onto new projects & big ideas. Can’t wait to see what’s next @naveen! naveenium.com/stream/next

— Dennis Crowley (@dens) March 5, 2012

Like I said: Things change.

Here’s the current Foursquare management team:

Dennis Crowley, CEO & co-founder
Evan Cohen, COO (joined January 2010)
Holger Luedorf, head of business development (joined summer 2010)
Alex Rainert, head of product (joined April 2010)
Harry Heymann, head of engineering (joined summer 2009)
Susan Loh, head of talent (joined fall of 2010)
Jon Steinback, director of marketing and communications (joined fall of 2010)

And here are some of the latest stats from the service:

* Over 15 million users (up from just over five million this time last year).

* Over 1.5 billion check-ins.

* Five million check-ins per day.

* Over 750,000 businesses affiliated.

And here’s the video that Foursquare’s co-founders did together for USA Network last year:

Image: (c) Tim Vetter / Flickr

Jared Grusd, AOL’s SVP of business development and chief of strategy, is leaving the New York Internet giant to work at Spotify, according to sources close to the situation.

At AOL, according to his bio, Grusd “oversees the organization responsible for all domestic and international strategic partnerships and commercial alliances for AOL and each of its operating units. He is also responsible for identifying and evaluating new corporate strategies and opportunities for the company.”

The marathon fiend and former Google exec — who held top legal-deal jobs there — also serves on AOL’s Executive Management Team.

It is not clear what the well-respected Grusd will be doing at the online music service, which has been expanding its executive ranks as it has moved aggressively into the U.S. market. But sources said it was a high-level position in New York.

Spotify recently hired former Clear Channel exec Gerrit Meier as GM of distribution and partnerships, reporting to U.S. head Ken Parks.

Spotify also just scooped up former AOL sales head Jeff Levick — another Google alum — as its chief advertising officer.

The departure of Grusd further thins out the exec ranks at AOL, which is still mired in a turnaround under the leadership of CEO Tim Armstrong (yes, he too is a former Googler!).

I lobbed a query into AOL PR for comment, and am awaiting news of my news.

Timing is everything and, sometimes, very awkward.

Today at its Redmond, Wash., campus, Microsoft is hosting a splashy online “marketing leadership summit” titled “Imagine 2011″–a gathering of top marketing execs from across the globe, most of whom are advertising clients of its online division.

Also today: Its longtime head of global marketing, Mich Mathews, announced her departure–to the surprise of many Microsoft execs here, in fact–via a report in Ad Age.

In the article, she said she had told execs at Microsoft just last night.

Mathews, who is probably Microsoft’s top woman executive, has been at the software giant for a dog’s age–22 years. (BoomTown met the sharp-witted and often pointed exec in the early 1990s, when she was in charge of the PR operations for the company.)

As SVP of Microsoft’s Central Marketing Group, Mathews oversees a $1 billion budget for Microsoft products such as Windows, Xbox , Window Phone 7 and its Bing search service.

While Microsoft will be conducting a global search for a replacement, several sources said the most obvious internal candidate for the job is Yusuf Mehdi, who is SVP for its Online Audience Business.

He leads global product management, strategic partnerships, business development and U.S. marketing execution for the unit.

Another strong internal possibility: Chris Capossela, who just left his job as SVP of the Microsoft Business division for unspecified duties around social initiatives. He had a similar job to Mehdi’s, with key marketing duties.

Attendees at the Imagine event were buzzing about the Mathews news, taking some focus off the program, which included an opening speech by CEO Steve Ballmer.

Ballmer did not mention Mathews onstage, which was a by-the-book overview of its online ad offerings.

Another sticky situation for Microsoft: The Imagine event was organized by another top woman exec at Microsoft, global ad sales head Carolyn Everson.

But, she left the company in mid-February after only six months, for essentially the same job at Microsoft partner Facebook.

Since then Microsoft and Facebook have been wrangling over the talent raid, including Microsoft even considering legal action to block the move.

(In yet another unrelated embarrassing situation–here’s an excerpt from a memoir by Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen, in which he alleges co-founder Bill Gates tried to shanghai him out of shares when he was sick with cancer.)

Like I said: Awkward!

Microsoft–furious over a recent talent grab of its top advertising exec by Facebook–has been considering a wide range of options, including legal action to block the move, according to sources close to the situation.

Lawyer at both companies have been in back-and-forth talks in recent days after the hiring of Microsoft’s global ad sales head Carolyn Everson by the Silicon Valley social networking powerhouse to be its VP of global sales.

Among the more likely solutions being discussed: Barring Everson–a longtime ad sales exec who came to Microsoft from MTV Networks–from using any strategic information she learned at the company and also from contacting certain ad clients on behalf of Facebook for a certain period of time.

While a legal action to stop her from actually taking the position is the most serious option, it is certainly not without precedent for Microsoft. The company recently got a temporary restraining order to block one of its top government relations execs, Matt Miszewski, from working at Salesforce.com, pointing to non-compete and confidentiality contracts.

Whatever happens, it is clear the Everson hiring has infuriated Microsoft execs, especially CEO Steve Ballmer, since the company regards Facebook as a close partner. Microsoft is also a longtime investor in Facebook.

While considering a temporary restraining order against Everson in this kind of situation–since it is essentially the same job–is standard operating procedure for any company, several sources said tensions are higher than usual.

“This is just tone deaf on Facebook’s part not to think this would not be a problem,” said one person.

One particularly irksome aspect–top Facebook execs did not call Ballmer before news of the appointment leaked out to assuage the situation.

Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg did release a statement when BoomTown broke news of the move in mid-February, in an attempt to make nice.

“Microsoft was one of our earliest partners and is still one of our most valued,” she said, in part. “We look forward to continuing to expand our relationship with them.”

Her dulcet words have apparently not worked.

In fact, the talent raid came as a surprise to many at Microsoft, especially since Everson (pictured here) had been hired in June after a long search and had become a high-profile presence at internal and external Microsoft events.

That included organizing the splashy “Imagine 2011, Microsoft Advertising’s Marketing Leadership Summit.” The event is set to take place at the end of March at the software giant’s Redmond, Wa. HQ and will include an evening concert by the band Train.

Now she will be doing such things for Facebook, where Everson will be replacing longtime and well-regarded ad exec Mike Murphy, who left the Palo Alto, Calif., company last fall. She will report to former Googler David Fischer, VP of Advertising and Global Operations.

Having a top exec who is amenable to and well known by Madison Avenue is key for Facebook as it ramps up its business, in anticipation of an IPO next year.

Despite being private, Facebook has recently been valued at between $50 and $60 billion by investors, who have been eagerly buying up shares of the company on secondary markets.

Under Murphy and Fischer, ad sales have been doing well already. Facebook’s share of online display advertising has more than quadrupled, from about three percent to almost 14 percent of the nearly $9 billion U.S. market, according to a recent survey.

In growing so quickly, Facebook has grabbed ad revenue–reportedly $2 billion last year–from old online powerhouses, especially Yahoo, Microsoft and AOL, and is also in a big fight with Google over premium ad sales.

Facebook’s surging usage and engagement are the reasons for the increased interest from advertisers, as well as its global growth in both market share and mindshare of consumers.

The opportunity at Facebook is clearly a big–and probably irresistible–move for the dynamic Everson, who has mostly worked in the mainstream media for much of her career.

Still, while movement of execs among top tech companies is not uncommon, there has been a lot less from Microsoft to Facebook.

Instead, Facebook has been most aggressive in its efforts to attract talent from Google.

No longer. In fact, the week before Facebook grabbed Everson, it also hired an up-and-coming exec, Chris Daniels, GM of Bing Mobile Product Management, to be its director of business development.

Still, there is some hiring war history between the companies. In late 2008, Microsoft’s Ballmer managed to lure former Yahoo exec Qi Lu to run its Online Services Division, several sources at both companies said, after he had told Facebook he would work there as its engineering lead. Lu had also been heavily recruited by Google.

Eventually, that was water under the bridge, which is what Facebook is hoping will happen with Microsoft over Everson.

Also important in the weighing of options at Microsoft is the obvious importance of keeping up good relations with Facebook. It is an important partnership, especially for its Bing search business, as an advantage over Google.

“Everyone is hoping to resolve this amicably,” said one person close to the situation. “There has been some damage to the relationship for sure, but the question is whether Microsoft wants to do something that would escalate that damage.”

Not surprisingly, both Facebook and Microsoft declined to comment on the fracas.

The cellphone maker is hoping that its PlayStation phone, combined with several other new smartphones, will help lift the company to the top of the Android race as opposed to being just one of the pack.

In an interview at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Sony Ericsson CTO Jan Uddenfeldt told Mobilized that the company intends to capitalize on Sony technologies beyond gaming, particularly in the areas of screens and cameras.

“We think we have a really competitive edge,” said Uddenfeldt. The Xperia Arc, for example, uses the Bravia Engine that comes from Sony’s television heritage. “We will introduce 3-D technology and that will come from Sony, of course.

Uddenfeldt said that the company is now leading on Android as well, being the first company outside of Google itself to release a Gingerbread-based phone, with its Arc that was announced at CES. At Mobile World Congress, it announced the Xperia Play and two other phones.

“From being a little bit of a laggard when it comes to Android releases, we are now the leader,” he said. “We intend to really stay that way. Our intention is to be the number one player in this Android world.”

First and foremost, Uddenfeldt said the company has to be a leader when it comes to using both the latest version of Android and the newest chips and other hardware. “It is a technology race, so it is very important to be on the latest technology,” he said.

With Xperia Play, Uddenfeldt said, the company has something that takes advantage of the latest and greatest version of Android but also does something unique.

“We don’t see anyone else doing this in the near future,” he said. In addition to being PlayStation certified, it will also work with a lot of Android games, including many customized just for the Play.

“Most of the games that we will launch are actually non-Sony-based games, Android games,” he said, referring to deals with Gameloft and EA Sports to create Xperia Play-optimized titles. “There’s going to be like 50 games when we launch the product in March or April.”

Though most Americans wouldn’t know it, Sony Ericsson is a top-three global player in Android phones, with about 20 percent market share, he said. Until recently, Uddenfeldt said, the company would tend to introduce phones first in Europe and Asia, bringing them to the U.S. several months later–and that, he said, “was absolutely not the right strategy.”

“The U.S. is now the leading market,” he said. “The U.S. is the country where the most advanced products are being launched first. That was not the case two or three years ago.”

Sony Ericsson is realizing this and is changing, he said, noting that Verizon will be among the first carriers to offer the Play. “We will work very closely with AT&T in launching different products as well,” he added.

The company is also shifting more of its design and engineering to the U.S., Uddenfeldt said, noting that the Redwood Shores, Calif., office where he works, established just two years ago, now has about 300 workers doing everything from product design and engineering to business development.

“It’s the right place to be,” he said. “We have Android there. We have Facebook.”

Uddenfeldt has a unique perspective, having been with Sony Ericsson for only six months but at the same time being a 30-year Ericsson veteran and being based in Silicon Valley for the past several years. He’s also not afraid to admit that the company has made mistakes, including in the past year as it tried to move from proprietary Walkman and Cybershot phones to a fully Android-based lineup.

“I don’t think Sony Ericsson fully understood the importance of being on the latest Android release,” he said. “That kind of hindered a little bit the growth of the company during last year.”

However, he said, with the move to Android, the company has stemmed its losses and has now had four profitable quarters. This year, he said, it is time for growth.

It started with some simple graffiti that Ben Berkowitz wanted to get removed from a wall near his office in New Haven, Conn. 

“And not the nice kind of graffiti,” he added. 

Instead of knocking on the door of City Hall to get the unsightly spray paint dealt with, Berkowitz and his fellow co-founders developed SeeClickFix.

The Web and mobile app, from the company of the same name, has been aiming to help users document and report civic annoyances since its alpha launch in 2008.

Now SeeClickFix has just completed a $1.5 million Series A round of funding led by Bryce Roberts at O’Reilly AlphaTech Ventures. EBay founder Pierre Omidyar’s Omidyar Network also invested.  

The round closed very shortly after a major upgrade of its Apple iPhone app and formalization of partnerships with San Francisco’s 311 issue reporting system, as well as Washington, D.C.’s similar service.

So issues submitted in those cities via the SeeCickFix apps will actually create a work order in the cities’ official system, rather than just being directed to the appropriate agency’s email “tip line.”

Berkowitz said the infusion of cash will allow the addition of a sales and business development staff, as well as the hiring of two developers to focus on its apps and Web presence.

The concept behind SeeClickFix is simple, if not entirely original. In fact, Berkowitz admitted, it began as an outright copy of FixMyStreet, a pothole-reporting Web app from the U.K. 

“We looked at the FixMyStreet code when building SeeClickFix, and quickly realized that it was built specifically not to scale outside of the U.K.,” Berkowitz said. ”We had to rebuild the concept from scratch so it would be useful here in the U.S. and so it could scale.”

SeeClickFix took the pothole concept and added the ability to report graffiti, speeding school buses, broken infrastructure and just about any kind of civic breakdown one might imagine. 

People have even used it to request beautification, other than blight removal, such as asking for a tree in their neighborhood. 

Berkowitz claimed the resolution rate for issues filed with SeeClickFix is approximately 45 percent nationally, although he wouldn’t elaborate on given municipalities. 

He did say that he hoped the new formal partnerships would close the loop and allow SeeClickFix to more accurately list the issues that had been fixed through municipal reporting, rather than waiting for citizens to document the fixes. 

I asked about the somewhat unusual funding situation SeeClickFix is now in, having a venture investor best known for supporting micro-finance and political engagement campaigns in the developing world. 

But to Berkowitz, it seemed like a pretty natural partnership. 

“Citizens are our users. That’s who we serve,” he said. “Governments just benefit from it.” 

Berkowitz actually had quite a bit to say about the larger motivations behind SeeClickFix, and you can watch the video interview below to hear it all from him:

(Early Adopter is a new column on early-stage start-ups and ideas that will be written weekly by Drake Martinet.)

]]> http://allthingsd.com/20110114/early-adopter-pothole-reporting-app-seeclickfix-raises-1-5-million-to-help-you-be-a-squeakier-wheel/feed/ 0 http://allthingsd.com/20110112/longtime-facebook-biz-dev-leader-ali-rosenthal-to-depart/ http://allthingsd.com/20110112/longtime-facebook-biz-dev-leader-ali-rosenthal-to-depart/#comments Thu, 13 Jan 2011 05:00:56 +0000 Liz Gannes http://networkeffect.allthingsd.com/?p=2318 Alison “Ali” Rosenthal, a veteran of the Facebook business development team, will leave the company at the end of this week, she told NetworkEffect.

Rosenthal had focused on mobile business development in recent years, overseeing Facebook’s relationships with some 300 mobile operators around the world. She is not departing for a specific opportunity, though she said it was likely she’ll end up involved in another start-up.

Rosenthal had joined the company in February 2006, making her one of its earliest remaining employees. She’s the latest of many early Facebookers, including the three Facebook co-founders other than Mark Zuckerberg, to depart over the years.

“I’ve started to feel the pull of some new ideas,” said Rosenthal, adding that she felt Facebook had “unlocked real opportunities at the convergence of mobile and social” that she wants to explore.

By way of explanation for her own and other early-Facebooker departures, Rosenthal contended it’s just that Facebookers tend to be entrepreneurial, and recognize opportunities to extend the social Web in new directions outside of Facebook’s core mission. “It’s very alluring to try a specific idea in an industry you’re passionate about,” she said.

But for now, Rosenthal wants to take some time off. The only specific future plan she would share is to ditch her smartphone for a feature phone for a while in order to “extract myself a little from technology.”

Rosenthal has her MBA from Stanford and previously worked at General Atlantic Partners and Zazzle. She said her replacement has not yet been found, but that Facebook is hiring internationally to have biz dev folks overseeing carrier relationships on a local basis from offices in Europe, Asia and elsewhere.

Other significant recent Facebook departures have included ad sales head Mike Murphy, engineering director Aditya Agarwal and PR head Brandee Barker.

Please see the disclosure about Facebook in my ethics statement.

]]> http://allthingsd.com/20110112/longtime-facebook-biz-dev-leader-ali-rosenthal-to-depart/feed/ 1 http://allthingsd.com/20110110/mickie-rosen-to-join-yahoo-as-audience-head/ http://allthingsd.com/20110110/mickie-rosen-to-join-yahoo-as-audience-head/#comments Mon, 10 Jan 2011 17:30:08 +0000 Kara Swisher http://kara.allthingsd.com/?p=39369

It’s not all departures!

Yahoo is hiring former News Corp. and Disney online exec Mickie Rosen (pictured here) to run its Audience unit, which includes the Silicon Valley Internet giant’s powerful content sites, sources said.

Starting next week, Rosen will report to Americas head Ross Levinsohn, who has worked with her before, at both News Corp. and Fuse Capital.

Her new title is SVP of the Yahoo Media Network, which is apparently a rebranding of Audience.

Previous to this job, Rosen was CEO of Tecca, a price-checking service Fuse created in partnership with Best Buy.

It’s likely she will remain based in the Los Angeles area, where Yahoo has a large office in Santa Monica, Calif.

The move is Levinsohn’s first management rejiggering since he took over last year, and there is likely to be more to come.

Rosen, who has also worked at the Fandango online movie ticketing site, will replace interim audience head Raymond Stern, who will be–as before–running partnerships and business development, as well as Yahoo’s listings business.

Rosen’s new job had actually been that of former Audience head David Ko, as well as former Media VP Jimmy Pitaro.

Ko left Yahoo and is now heading mobile games at Zynga, while Pitaro is a top digital exec at Disney.

More to come from Levinsohn, but here is Rosen’s bio from the Fuse Web site:

Mickie has over 20 years of operating, strategy and investing experience. For the past dozen years, she has been at the intersection of media and technology, in both large companies such as News Corporation and The Walt Disney Company and in small, early stage start-ups.

Prior to joining the firm, she was the head of entertainment for Fox Interactive Media where she was responsible for properties such as AmericanIdol.com, Rotten Tomatoes and the entertainment channels of MySpace. Mickie also led content acquisition across the Company, and was a lead in envisioning, structuring and negotiating Hulu, the premier video joint venture between News Corp. and NBC Universal.

Prior to Fox Interactive Media, Mickie was the head of product development, marketing and public relations for Fandango, where she helped lead the company from an early-stage start-up to profitability as it became a leader in its space (acquired by Comcast). Mickie was also a senior executive with an e-learning start-up, an Idealab! consumer robotics company and Disney’s Corporate Alliances group, where she negotiated deals and managed Disney’s top global partners such as Coca-Cola, American Express and AT&T.

Mickie built the foundation of her career with McKinsey & Company, where she spent seven years consulting with senior management on strategy, operational and organizational issues across a number of industries, including media and technology.
Mickie has an MBA from Harvard Business School, and a B.A. in Economics from UC San Diego, and is based in Los Angeles.

]]> http://allthingsd.com/20110110/mickie-rosen-to-join-yahoo-as-audience-head/feed/ 0 http://allthingsd.com/20110104/top-microsoft-ma-and-strategy-exec-charlie-songhurst-to-depart/ http://allthingsd.com/20110104/top-microsoft-ma-and-strategy-exec-charlie-songhurst-to-depart/#comments Tue, 04 Jan 2011 15:55:14 +0000 Kara Swisher http://kara.allthingsd.com/?p=39104

Charles Songhurst (pictured here), one of Microsoft’s top corporate strategy and M&A execs, is departing the company, according to several sources.

Sources said he was leaving for a new opportunity, and he is not the only big business-development-related departure recently.

Another exec leaving is Senior Director of Corporate Strategy and Acquisitions Fritz Lanman, who TechCrunch reported late yesterday was moving to create a new social start-up called 5Star.

The departure of Songhurst is perplexing, as sources said he has been a favorite of CEO Steve Ballmer.

He also was a key exec in crafting Microsoft’s search and online advertising deal with Yahoo, which was a long and convoluted journey to say the least for the software giant.

But since then, Microsoft has done relatively little in the way of significant acquisitions or big partnership deals, which perhaps might be part of the reason for Songhurst’s departure.

Microsoft declined comment after a BoomTown query.

]]> http://allthingsd.com/20110104/top-microsoft-ma-and-strategy-exec-charlie-songhurst-to-depart/feed/ 0 http://allthingsd.com/20101209/new-miramax-ceo-lang-talks-digital-options-for-movie-company/ http://allthingsd.com/20101209/new-miramax-ceo-lang-talks-digital-options-for-movie-company/#comments Thu, 09 Dec 2010 13:02:47 +0000 Kara Swisher http://kara.allthingsd.com/?p=38359

While the news has been be out there for a month, Miramax officially confirmed this morning that former News Corp. exec Mike Lang was named CEO of the Hollywood movie company.

What will be interesting about that for digital content players will be to see exactly what the man who was deeply involved in deals to buy the Myspace social networking site and also create the Hulu premium video service will do with Miramax’s rich trove of more than 700 award-winning films, including “Shakespeare in Love” and “Pulp Fiction,” in its movie library.

Lang left his post as EVP of business development and strategy at Fox Entertainment, including its film studio, broadcast network, sports and cable channel, earlier this year.

BoomTown spoke to him last night about his new job, which came after he advised the group that finally won Miramax–Filmyard Holdings.

“We are trying to take this company to the next level by exploring not only our traditional options, but our digital ones,” he said.

Miramax will not be aggressive in making new movies, but in taking advantage of the sequel rights it has to a number of hits, as well as the existing movies, which include four of the last 15 Best Picture Oscar winners.

“Our strategy is still emerging, but we want to exploit our assets in a variety of ways,” said Lang, who noted that could include everything from subscription deals with online video services, such as Netflix and Amazon, to digital content lockers in the cloud.

“We want people to be able to access our content across multiple medias,” he said. “We’ll take any payment, of course, but we also have to be smart about how we do these things.”

Lang, who has always had a foot in both worlds, said he thinks that digital media could develop similarly to the way traditional media has.

“There is no reason to think that digital will not emulate older media, with different windows in which subscribers watch content,” he said.

But, said Lang, he also thinks there is still life in physical media, such as Blu-ray players.

Since the deal just closed with former Miramax owner Disney, there are no employees yet for the Santa Monica, Calif.-based company.

But once he staffs up, Langs said he hopes to present a different picture of Hollywood to the digerati than the more typical wary hostility.

“Our goal really is we want to send a signal that we are a different company,” said Lang. “Not only about digital, but in being an innovative company.”

Here is the official press release about Lang:

MICHAEL LANG NAMED MIRAMAX CEO

SANTA MONICA, CA–December 8, 2010–Miramax today announced that Michael Lang has been appointed chief executive officer, effective immediately. Lang will be based at the new Miramax headquarters in Santa Monica and will oversee the renowned Miramax film library, which was acquired by Filmyard Holdings on December 3, 2010.

“I have known and worked closely with Mike for almost 20 years and have always respected his talents,” said Richard Nanula, chairman of Miramax and a principal at Colony Capital. “We are confident that he is the right person to lead Miramax in its next phase of growth.”

“I have always admired the Miramax library, which includes many respected titles and award-winning films,” said Lang. “Based on the quality of these assets, I believe bringing new life to this library–by working with traditional and new partners–will be an exciting and unprecedented story of growth and innovation. I am honored by this opportunity, and I look forward to working with my partners as we build a new kind of media company.”

Lang, 45, most recently served as a consultant to Filmyard in its acquisition of Miramax. Prior to that, he was EVP, Business Development and Strategy at Fox Entertainment, responsible for strategic initiatives across News Corp.’s entertainment assets, including Fox’s film studio, broadcast network, sports and cable channels. Lang played key roles in the acquisition of MySpace and the formation of the MySpace Music joint venture, and he led the creation of Hulu, with major broadcast partners. In addition, Lang was involved in Fox’s mobile, digital and video game initiatives. He joined Fox in 2004.

Prior to Fox, Lang served as a consultant on media-related investments. In the late ’90s, he was a founding executive of Z.com. Lang began his career at The Walt Disney Company in Strategic Planning. Lang earned his MBA with high distinction at Harvard Business School and he holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from Claremont McKenna College.

(Full disclosure: News Corp. owns Dow Jones, which owns this site.)

]]> http://allthingsd.com/20101209/new-miramax-ceo-lang-talks-digital-options-for-movie-company/feed/ 0 http://allthingsd.com/20101109/intern-becomes-real-blog-dude-atd-hires-drake-martinet/ http://allthingsd.com/20101109/intern-becomes-real-blog-dude-atd-hires-drake-martinet/#comments Tue, 09 Nov 2010 18:29:51 +0000 Kara Swisher http://kara.allthingsd.com/?p=36968

It is always nice when an intern makes good, and that is entirely the case with Drake Martinet (pictured here), who joins All Things Digital–as of yesterday, in fact.

We could not be happier. Plus, we knew he was our kind of geek after he agreed to spend the night in a tent next to Robert Scoble, to cover last year’s Apple iPad release.

That was when Drake was an ATD intern, until he headed to the New York Times this past summer to work on social media efforts in the newsroom.

And that’s one of the many things he will be working on here, making ATD more Facebook-worthy, Twittified and YouTubed within an inch of our lives.

Drake will also be working on upgrading our multimedia efforts–which is to say, figuring out a more sophisticated strategy for us than BoomTown’s Flip video camera assaults, helping mesh up business development efforts with our editorial integrity, analyzing our analytics and even making sure our new interns are up to snuff.

And, for his next trick, he will also be doing posts on interesting early start-ups and emerging ideas, much in the same way he did a bang-up job with a feature called “Almost Famous” when he was an intern.

Whew! Then again, he is young!

Still, Drake has done a lot so far.

After receiving his masters degree from Stanford University’s graduate program in journalism this year, and spending time in the school’s design program (the d.school), Drake moved to Brooklyn to work for the Times.

In addition to his weekly start-up column for ATD, his written, photographic and video work has appeared in the New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, the San Francisco Chronicle and numerous Web sites and blogs.

A native of San Diego, Drake first moved to Northern California to attend the University of California at Davis. He has lived in the greater Bay Area for the last eight years, excepting short stays in Louisiana, Washington D.C., New York and Chile.

When not working on a story or doing a little Web development, Drake can be found at his workbench building all manner of things physical and electronic, like the solar-powered Timbuk2 backpack that accompanies him almost everywhere.

He also loves to twist through the Peninsula hills on his classic Triumph motorcycle. (And, now that he is our employee again, perhaps we’ll make him do it with Scoble in tow.)

Drake joins a spate of recent hires at ATD, including: Liz Gannes on social (now appearing here in her new blog, NetworkEffect); Tricia Duryee on e-commerce; Ina Fried on mobile; and, last but not least, Arik Hesseldahl on enterprise.

And, as usual, much more to come….

]]> http://allthingsd.com/20101109/intern-becomes-real-blog-dude-atd-hires-drake-martinet/feed/ 1 http://allthingsd.com/20101019/exclusive-yahoos-head-of-mobile-north-america-leaves-as-u-s-unit-reorgs/ http://allthingsd.com/20101019/exclusive-yahoos-head-of-mobile-north-america-leaves-as-u-s-unit-reorgs/#comments Wed, 20 Oct 2010 00:03:02 +0000 Kara Swisher http://kara.allthingsd.com/?p=35868 Today in Yahoo’s third-quarter earnings conference call with Wall Street analysts, Yahoo CEO Carol Bartz said tersely of a flood of exec departures at the Silicon Valley Internet giant:

“Some people leave, some get promoted and some good people arrive.”

Yes, indeedy, and this afternoon, it was David Katz’s turn to say goodbye. He was Yahoo’s VP for Mobile, North America. (He is pictured here, and you can read his bio here.)

The move, said sources, is part of a reorganization in the wake of the departure of David Ko, SVP Audience of Mobile and Local, North America.

He was replaced by Raymond Stern, who also heads business development.

If it seems a little confusing, it is because it is.

But there are all kinds of management rejiggering discussions going on after the additional departures of U.S. head Hilary Schneider and Media VP Jimmy Pitaro.

Mobile is an important arena for Yahoo, as Bartz also stressed in the call today.

Let’s hope Dave lands somewhere good, as he seems so nice from this recent video from the CTIA conference just two weeks ago, posted by Yahoo:

Yahoo! VP of Mobile, North America David Katz discusses CTIA announcements @ Yahoo! Video

]]> http://allthingsd.com/20101019/exclusive-yahoos-head-of-mobile-north-america-leaves-as-u-s-unit-reorgs/feed/ 4 http://allthingsd.com/20100930/yahoo-confirms-exec-departures-the-internal-memo-from-the-foxhole/ http://allthingsd.com/20100930/yahoo-confirms-exec-departures-the-internal-memo-from-the-foxhole/#comments Thu, 30 Sep 2010 21:02:57 +0000 Kara Swisher http://kara.allthingsd.com/?p=34623

Finally, a funny from Yahoo CEO Carol Bartz, confirming what BoomTown reported yesterday about the departures of three top execs in an email memo to the company’s employees worldwide.

It just went out and began: “Carol from the foxhole here.”

Actually, she’s in Georgia. In the memo, Bartz said she expects to announce the new head of the Americas region for Yahoo (YHOO) to replace outgoing chief Hilary Schneider before the end of the year.

The company also released a similar statement, which is below, adding that Raymond Stern, Yahoo SVP of North America partnerships and business development, will take over for another outgoing exec, Audience head David Ko.

(Yahoo VP of Media Jimmy Pitaro was the third in the sweep of execs.)

And you can see Yahoo’s just-filed 8-K here on Schneider, because a departure of such a top exec requires regulatory notification. It is also embedded below.

(By the way, they are not rumors if they are true. Don’t drop-kick me to f***ing Mars for saying so, Carol!)

Here’s the full memo from the All Things Digital Bartz-fortified bunker, just in case, signing out:

Yahoos,

Carol from the foxhole here. No, actually I’m in Atlanta to give a speech later tonight, and doing some client meetings.

But I’m sure you’ve seen the rumors about Hilary Schneider, David Ko, and Jimmy Pitaro leaving. Yes, they’re leaving, but each for different reasons that suit their life–and Hilary will send a separate note to her team with more about the Americas org. later today.

After nearly four years with Yahoo!, Hilary has decided to move on to the next phase in her career. Hilary has played a major role at Yahoo! in driving our strategies for content, online advertising and more. I want to thank her for her contributions over the years, and wish her the best as she moves on.

We expect to announce the new head of the Americas region before the end of the year. There is a lot of interest in joining our team for such a key position and, in the meantime, Hilary will stay on to help with the transition.

Now, you all know we’ve been intensely focused on improving our operations and top line growth. And we’ve seen good progress. But there’s a lot more to do, and as we transition to a new leader for the Americas we’re taking this opportunity to double down on these efforts. Hilary’s successor will clearly be maniacally focused on growing our top line in the region.

So everyone stay calm–we have a good plan in place. In fact, I’m more fired up than ever and can roll with the punches. Yahoo! is a great place.

Carol

And here is the official statement from Yahoo:

Yahoo! today announced the departures of Hilary Schneider, Yahoo!’s EVP Americas Region; David Ko, SVP Audience, Mobile and Local, North America; and Jimmy Pitaro, Vice President of Media. Yahoo! continues to be committed to delivering the best digital experiences to consumers, leadership to advertisers and amazing scale and reach to partners.

Hilary Schneider has played a major role at Yahoo! in driving the company’s strategies for content, online advertising and more. David Ko and Jimmy Pitaro have both made countless contributions to Yahoo! and have helped transform the company’s mobile and content strategies in a constantly evolving business environment. We wish them all the best in their future endeavors.

Raymond Stern will assume responsibility for David Ko’s teams and duties. The company is seeking a new head of the Americas region and expects to make that announcement before the end of the year. Schneider will stay on to help with the transition.

And here is the 8-K:

Current Report on Form 8-K.html –

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