News Byte

Former Zynga Security Head Puhlmann Joins Endgame as CTO

Nils Puhlmann, former Zynga chief security officer, is joining security solutions provider Endgame — best name ever — as CTO. The Arlington, Va.-based Endgame is backed by venture investors, including Kleiner Perkins and Bessemer Venture Partners, with about $54 million in funding. Before departing in 2012, Puhlmann was at Zynga for several years managing all security issues for the online gaming company.

Snapchat Is Mulling Another Huge Round at a $3.5 Billion Valuation

Yes, we know: Cray cray.

QOTD: Fresh-Squeezed Creativity

I’m a giant vat of creative juices.

David Pogue on why he’s joining Yahoo

Longtime Online Exec Tina Sharkey Joins Sherpa Foundry as CEO

An inside/outside exec will lead an effort to get corporations to think more like startups — or get out of the way. (From someone who knows: Good luck with that!)

Yahoo Paid $60M to $70M for Rockmelt — Will Dump Browser and Use Tech to Better Deliver Its Media and Mobile Properties

Big money for tech that essentially failed to find customers.

News Byte

Battery Ventures Hires a Top Comms Exec: Former WSJ Reporter Rebecca Buckman

Like many venture firms in Silicon Valley, Battery Ventures has hired a top communications and content exec — former Wall Street Journal reporter Rebecca Buckman. She will be a VP at Battery, in charge of a number of media areas, including developing original content about its portfolio of investments. Buckman has also written for Forbes and, most recently, has been doing some PR work. Adding top execs to focus on media and content at VC firms has been increasing, including the recent hiring of former WSJ reporter Ben Worthen by Sequoia Capital and Wired’s Michael Copeland at Andreessen Horowitz, among others.

Former Facebook Exec Ali Rosenthal Joins MessageMe as COO

Can the mobile app that lets you communicate better on a smartphone break out with new exec?

News Byte

Former News Corp Digital Exec Jon Miller Joins Shari Redstone’s Advancit as Partner

Former News Corp digital head Jon Miller has joined Advancit Capital as a partner. Advancit is an early-stage investment firm that was started two years ago by Shari Redstone and Jason Ostheimer; Redstone is the daughter of Sumner Redstone, director at CBS and Viacom, and president of National Amusements. Advancit has made several dozen investments over two years, many in the online media and entertainment arenas, including Maker Studios, Oyster and Circa. In 2011, a regulatory filing noted that the venture firm had raised $3.2 million. Miller — who used to work at Viacom, where he met Redstone — is the first non-family partner at Advancit.

Bahat to Head $75 Million Bloomberg Beta Tech Fund

The newly minted VC is charged with investing in and also creating early-stage startups for the media and financial news giant.

With $1.6 Billion in Cash, Zynga Is Now Worth Less Than $750 Million to Investors

Is it a bargain or a fire sale?