Owen Van Natta

CEO
MySpace

Owen Van Natta just got to the huge social networking site, so we can't start blaming him for its troubles for at least another week, even though he is responsible for all aspects of MySpace's strategic vision and execution of its global business initiatives. Before MySpace, he was CEO of Project Playlist, a music sharing Web site allowing users to search for music, create custom playlists share the content with friends, which is also embroiled in litigation with some music labels. Before that, Van Natta was a top and early executive at MySpace rival, Facebook, where he focused on revenue operations, business development, and strategic partnerships. And, before that, he managed global marketing programs and strategic partnerships at Amazon. In other words, Van Natta has had a lot of Internet jobs.

Posts With Owen Van Natta

Hasta La Vista, Stock Options: Here’s the Zynga SEC Filing

Kara Swisher in News on November 17, 2011 at 10:46 am PT

Read on about the deets of the doings at the social gaming site.

Exclusive: Zynga’s Van Natta Moves to Strategic Adviser; Feld Off Board, Paul In

Kara Swisher in News on November 17, 2011 at 10:30 am PT

Big changes at the online social gaming phenom as it gets ready to go public.

Revenge Is a Dish Best Served Via a Cool IPO: The Delicious Irony of Myspace, Zynga and Owen Van Natta

Kara Swisher in News on July 3, 2011 at 9:00 am PT

How’s this for irony: It was less than a year and a half ago that Owen Van Natta was ousted from his job as CEO of Myspace. But last week — just as the failed social networking site sold for a paltry $35 million — Van Natta could have bought it himself for a fraction of his stake in Zynga, the social gaming phenom that just filed for its IPO and where he’s a top exec and shareholder.

Is There a Myspace Mafia, Too? Because Leaving Seems to Have Paid Off for Many Ex-Execs.

Kara Swisher in Social on June 13, 2011 at 11:28 am PT

When the selling of Myspace winds down in the next week or so, it’ll probably attract a spate of comments about what a failure the whole social networking enterprise turned out to be. That is, unless you think of the mob of former execs who have worked at the company over time, many of whom have moved on to some more golden opportunities after leaving Myspace.

Zynga Appoints DreamWorks CEO to Board, But No ShrekVille in the Works

Tricia Duryee in Commerce on April 4, 2011 at 10:30 am PT

Zynga is beefing up its board of directors by announcing today that it has added Jeffrey Katzenberg, the CEO and co-founder of DreamWorks Animation.

Wanted: Groupon COO. Must Like Cat-Wrangling, Lack of Spotlight and International Travel (Post-Samwer)

Kara Swisher in News on March 29, 2011 at 10:37 am PT

Of all the many job openings in tech, perhaps the most interesting to watch will be who Groupon selects as its next COO, after the recent announcement that it was parting ways with President and COO Rob Solomon. Requirements for running the Chicago-based social buying site: epic cat-wrangling of thousands of employees in far-flung locations; deep marketing and advertising prowess; high-level technology, product, mobile and e-commerce chops; and international experience. Also, please stand in the shadows.

Early Facebook Technical Operations Director Leaves Company

Liz Gannes in Social on March 4, 2011 at 4:30 am PT

Facebook Director of Operations Brian Walsh left the company last week after a 4.5 year stint.

News Byte

Zynga Names VP Neil Roseman to Head Up Seattle Office

Tricia Duryee in Commerce on March 3, 2011 at 5:50 pm PT

Zynga has hired Neil Roseman as VP in charge of building out the social gaming company’s Seattle office. Roseman, who has been serving as an independent advisor as of recently, was the former CEO of Evri, a semantic web startup funded by Paul Allen and one Amazon’s first VPs of Engineering. Roseman reports to Owen Van Natta, EVP of Business. Zynga will be looking at setting up offices in Seattle’s historic Pioneer Square neighborhood.

Exclusive: Former Facebook Ad Head Mike Murphy Takes Senior Advisor Role at Zynga

Kara Swisher in News on January 23, 2011 at 7:02 pm PT

Mike Murphy–Facebook’s first head of advertising sales, who left the social networking giant in October to take some personal time off–seems done with relaxing. He is now taking a part-time, but significant, role at online gaming phenom Zynga to help formulate its advertising strategy. In addition, though, Murphy is also close to formalizing an additional consulting relationship with Facebook.

Exclusive: News Corp. Online Gaming Head Sean Ryan to Head Facebook's Social Gaming Partnerships

Kara Swisher in News on January 3, 2011 at 11:47 am PT

Sean Ryan, who arrived at News Corp. mid-year to set up a new online gaming unit, is moving to Facebook to head partnerships at its key gaming platform, according to sources. Currently, Facebook does not create social games, but hosts third-party publishers of them on its king-making platform. Its most stunning success has been Zynga, maker of Farmville and CityVille.

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

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

Hasta La Vista, Stock Options: Here’s the Zynga SEC Filing

Exclusive: Zynga’s Van Natta Moves to Strategic Adviser; Feld Off Board, Paul In

Revenge Is a Dish Best Served Via a Cool IPO: The Delicious Irony of Myspace, Zynga and Owen Van Natta

Is There a Myspace Mafia, Too? Because Leaving Seems to Have Paid Off for Many Ex-Execs.

Zynga Appoints DreamWorks CEO to Board, But No ShrekVille in the Works

Wanted: Groupon COO. Must Like Cat-Wrangling, Lack of Spotlight and International Travel (Post-Samwer)

Early Facebook Technical Operations Director Leaves Company

Zynga Names VP Neil Roseman to Head Up Seattle Office

Exclusive: Former Facebook Ad Head Mike Murphy Takes Senior Advisor Role at Zynga

Exclusive: News Corp. Online Gaming Head Sean Ryan to Head Facebook's Social Gaming Partnerships

Myspace Mulls Significant Layoffs, With Potential Sale Looming

The Men and No Women of Web 2.0 Boards (BoomTown's Talking to You: Twitter, Facebook, Zynga, Groupon and Foursquare)

Facebook's Longtime Ad Sales Head Mike Murphy to Depart Company

Zynga’s Newest Deal: Snagging MySpace, Facebook Vet Owen Van Natta

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

MySpace Co-President Jason Hirschhorn Leaves

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

Hello Goodbye: What Does Talent Exodus From Internet Companies Like Yahoo Actually Mean?

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

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

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

MySpace to Hold a Remain-Calm-All-Is-Well Meeting Today for Staff–Here Are Five Questions Someone Should Ask

Weekend Update 02.13.10–The Hot Mess Edition

After Even More Turmoil, Can the "Hot Mess" at MySpace Be Saved?

MySpace CEO Van Natta Was Fired by News Corp. Digital Head Miller in Late Afternoon Meeting

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