Michael Jones

Where in the World Is Owen Van Natta? Try Zynga…

Kara Swisher in News on July 15, 2010 at 10:15 am PT

After longtime Internet tech exec Owen Van Natta was ousted from his job as CEO of MySpace last February, he seemed to drop off the map a bit to chillax and regroup. Not for long, though, as the former Facebook COO and Amazon exec soon began doing mentoring and unofficial consulting work with various Silicon Valley start-ups. Most especially, according to numerous sources, that effort has been largely focused on Zynga, the red-hot social gaming company, where many think he might eventually land as a top exec.

As BoomTown Said: Partovi Brothers Finally Leave MySpace (Here Are the Internal Memos)

Kara Swisher in News on April 20, 2010 at 5:22 pm PT

Well-known tech entrepreneurs and twin brothers Ali and Hadi Partovi are leaving MySpace, in a high-profile departure for the struggling social networking company. Internal memos were sent around to staff this afternoon about the departure, said sources, which you can see after the jump. The fate of the well-known tech wunderkinds has been one of the more interesting guessing games of late at MySpace. MySpace execs have been keenly interested in avoiding the appearance that the company is in the grip of a talent drain, especially related to such high-profile innovators.

The MySpace Sale or Spinoff May Be a Nonstory for Now–But My Barry Manilow Badge Is Sure for Real

Kara Swisher in News on March 17, 2010 at 1:30 am PT

Like others, without inquiring, BoomTown got an email–from someone who would know–regarding inexplicably whirling rumors of the sale or spinoff of MySpace. Read the “pre-emptive” note: “There is no truth, zero, zip to myspace sales report.” To be honest, I couldn’t care less about that–what matters is my new Fanilow badge from the social networking site.

MySpace Musical Chairs: Will the Partovis Stay or Will They Go Now?

Kara Swisher in News on March 11, 2010 at 11:11 pm PT

While there have surely been a lot of departures of talent at MySpace over the last year–including two major shifts in top management–one of the more interesting guessing games of late concerning the social networking company has been over the fate of well-known tech wunderkinds Hadi and Ali Partovi. According to many sources inside and outside MySpace, that’s just the discussion the pair of serial entrepreneurs has been having with the company’s newest leaders. How it turns out, though, is unclear.

Video Tour of Redesign: Back to the Future at MySpace? Or Just Another Retread?

Kara Swisher in News on March 10, 2010 at 5:19 am PT

Earlier this week, BoomTown visited MySpace HQ in Beverly Hills, Calif., to interview its new co-presidents, Michael Jones and Jason Hirschhorn, and get a look-see at its evolving revival plans to stop the social networking ship from sinking further. Thus, I did a video tour of a storyboard-like room at MySpace, where the team is trying to formulate the “discover and be discovered” motto it is now using, which is pretty much its old motto restated. Can the old become new again?

Video: New MySpace Co-Presidents Hirschhorn and Jones Talk About the Past (Troubled!), Present (Work in Progress) and Future (Revival?)

Kara Swisher in News on March 9, 2010 at 4:24 pm PT

On Monday, BoomTown traveled to Los Angeles for the day to finally check in with the new management at turmoil-plagued MySpace, Co-Presidents Jason Hirschhorn and Michael Jones. The unlikely pair are now ferreting away on a slow rollout of a plan to turn MySpace into a socially-charged music and entertainment hub. Here’s a video where they talk about it all, from corporate intrigue to what to do about declining traffic to–most of all and what unfortunately gets lost in all this mess–what the heck they are doing to innovate the product.

First M&A of 2010: Flixster + Rotten Tomatoes

Peter Kafka in Media on January 4, 2010 at 10:08 am PT

Here’s the Flixster/MySpace deal Kara Swisher sussed out on Christmas Eve: News Corp. is handing over its Rotten Tomatoes movie review site, previously owned by its IGN unit, to the movie-centric social network and will get an equity stake in the combined company.

Sphere Leader Has Exited AOL–But Staying on as "Special" Venture Advisor

Kara Swisher in News on November 4, 2009 at 9:30 am PT

Tony Conrad, CEO and co-founder of Sphere–the contextually relevant content engine AOL bought in the spring of 2008 for upward of $25 million–left the Time Warner online unit last month, several sources have told BoomTown in recent weeks. But, in an effort by AOL’s CEO Tim Armstrong to hold onto entrepreneurial talent, Conrad has agreed to become “Special Advisor” to its AOL Ventures Unit. Apparently, he is also mulling a new start-up and remains a VC too.

MySpace Poised to Hire New Ad Sales Head as It Preps Music- and Entertainment-Centric Strategy and Redesign

Kara Swisher in News on October 7, 2009 at 1:57 am PT

In a week, the entire advertising sales staff of MySpace will gather at a swanky new seaside resort about 20 miles south of Los Angeles to get a first glimpse of the fresh direction the company is preparing to take under its new management. The beleaguered social networking site has been in the midst of an effort to reinvigorate its image, spur innovation in its product and–most of all–pull itself out of a too-long slump, even as longtime rival Facebook has seen explosive growth. On the possible agenda: A new strategy aimed at music and entertainment; a new look; and, perhaps, a new boss for the ad sales team.