WebProNews

Tag: CEOs

  • Autumn Radtke, CEO Of First Meta Virtual Currency Exchange, Found Dead

    Autumn Radtke, CEO Of First Meta Virtual Currency Exchange, Found Dead

    Autumn Radtke, the 28-year-old CEO of virtual currency exchange First Meta, has died. According to multiple reports, suicide is suspected, but not confirmed.

    The Daily Mail cites “police sources” as saying they have “strongly suspected” suicide, and reports that she was discovered in her Singapore apartment on February 28th. Officials are reportedly awaiting toxicology test results to determine the cause of death.

    A message on the First Meta Exchange site says, “The First Meta team is shocked and saddened by the tragic loss of our friend and CEO Autumn Radtke. Our deepest condolences go out to her family, friends and loved ones. Autumn was an inspiration to all of us and she will be sorely missed.”

    Some of the stories about Radtke are playing up the Bitcoin angle, with at least one calling her “Bitcoin CEO,” but according to a post from September (via Business Insider) about the currencies First Meta Exchange supports, it only supports selling Bitcoin, while offering much greater support (like buying, depositing and withdrawals) of a number of other currencies, including Linden dollars.

    Here’s a 2012 presentation Radtke gave on the “past and the future” of virtual currency trading:

    Image via YouTube

  • Yelp CEO Contributes $23K To Catch Whoever Has Been Trying To Poison San Francisco’s Dogs With Meatballs

    Yelp CEO Jeremy Stoppelman is really looking to make a difference this week.

    Not only did he write an open letter to Arizona Governor Jan Brewer urging her to veto SB 1062, which would have allowed businesses to discriminate against gay people (eventually she did veto it), but he is also contributing to a $25,000 reward for information that would help catch the person who has been leaving poisoned meatballs for pets in San Francisco.

    The Animal Legal Defense Fund writes (via NBC Bay Area):

    Poisoned meatballs have been found in San Francisco again! The Animal Legal Defense Fund, SFDOG, and Yelp CEO Jeremy Stoppelman are offering a $25,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the perpetrator(s) of the poisoned meatballs in the Bay Area. On February 22, a San Francisco animal control officer found 35 meatballs that would be deadly to unsuspecting dogs and cats who came for a nibble. The poisoned meatballs were scattered through a Twin Peaks neighborhood where a similar incident occurred last year, hidden in carports, stairwells, along curbs, and in bushes. Along with funds from ALDF and SFDOG, Yelp CEO Jeremy Stoppelman has generously pledged the bulk of the reward—contributing $23,000—to help track down the perpetrator(s) responsible.

    Last year, at least two dogs were killed by very similar meatballs, and the culprit was never caught. Animal Care and Control says there’s a “high probability” the same person or people are responsible for the latest wave of meatballs.

    Stoppelman is an apparent dog lover. In addition to his reddit AMA proof picture (seen at top), he posed with his dog for a couple shots for a San Francisco Chronicle profile of him in 2012.

    Images via Jeremy Stoppelman, Twitter, Animal Legal Defense Fund

  • Klout CEO Explains How The New Klout Is Its First Product To Help Users

    On Thursday, Klout launched a big redesign with a focus on “creating content,” which I suggested was really more about sharing content that others have created, and basically seems like a social news reader.

    Klout CEO Joe Fernandez tells WebProNews, “The product we launched today is only the first step in Klout’s journey to help our users be better content creators. Sharing articles was a natural place for us to start, since curation is such a huge part of what most active social users do on a daily basis. That said, even sharing articles requires an element of original content creation.”

    Fernandez also said the new Klout is the first product its ever launched that truly helps users. Do you think this will help you build more influence on the Internet? Do you think Klout score is a solid measurement of influence? Let us know in the comments.

    “We’ve seen that articles that are shared without personal commentary do not produce as many engagements as those which also contain a point of view on what’s being shared,” he adds. “Our hope in surfacing these articles is that users are inspired to add their own thoughts and to share with their networks.”

    Fair enough.

    “We will be Implementing features over the coming months that help our users with original content creation,” he says. “We think that our data can offer a unique perspective on original content creation that will help users produce a bigger impact from their audience.”

    Ultimately that’s what Klout is all about, seeing how much of an impact you can have on your audience. Your Klout score is meant to symbolize how much of an impact you’re having. The algorithm for scoring, by the way, is not changing with the new Klout.

    If you’re familiar with Klout, you know that users are presented with topics that they are supposed to have “klout” in. For example, you may have klout in SEO or in social media. The new design utilizes these topics (which you can add) to deliver you content recommendations for sharing with your followers.

    “The Klout Topics system is one of the assets that we’re most proud of,” Fernandez tells us. “We’ve been investing in it for years, and our new product is the first to fully take advantage of it. The Topics system is based on a living ontology of ~10k topics. It adapts and grows based upon what’s being shared on social media and is managed by a team of data scientists who rationalize it on a regular basis.”

    Topics are only one of the signals the new Klout uses to determine what to show in your news feed.

    “The Klout content stream is based upon what’s being shared across social media,” Fernandez explains. “Although trending stories are included, it is far more interesting to talk about the stories which are not trending. We apply ‘flags’ to many of these articles in order to show you what articles are most likely to get a reaction from your audience for a multitude of reasons.”

    These flags are: “on the rise,” “crowd pleaser,” “hidden gem,” and “hot off he press,” and are mostly self-explanatory, but Fernandez explained exactly what they mean. “On the rise” means the content is on the verge of trending. “Crowd pleaser” means a significant portion of a user’s network is interested in the topics in the content. “Hidden gem” means a large percentage of people in the user’s network haven’t seen it. “Hot of the press” of course means it was recently published by a trusted source, though it’s unclear what makes a source “trusted”.

    “We also believe that someone should get more credit for finding something that’s not already trending, although that credit is determined by the reactions a user’s network has to the content when shared,” Fernandez adds.

    But let’s face it. No algorithm is perfect, and that include’s Klout’s. You’re going to get some irrelevant stuff from time to time, especially for broad categories. For the “social media” tag, for example, I was shown a BuzzFeed article “10 Pictures That Prove Bruno Mars Is Actually Powerline From “A Goofy Movie”. I can’t honestly see how sharing an article like that proves my worth to the social media industry.

    Fernandez says, “The ‘Social Media’ topic is definitely one of our broadest topics. We continue to invest in topical science to refine some of these broader tags. We would recommend that users add more specific topics within the social media space to find the most sharable content about social media.”

    As mentioned, Klout is planning to add more tools on top of all of this. For one, they’ll be adding more social networks to share content on. Klout has historically let you connect to a variety of networks, including LinkedIn, Google+, Instagram, Foursquare, etc. As it stands now, you can only share content to Twitter and Facebook. Fernandez tells us support for additional networks is on the way (in the coming months).

    But the big focus area, he says, is on providing more tools that are actually around original content creation, as well as providing more advanced measurement to help people determine the impact of the content they create.

    “We will also be launching our new mobile app in the coming weeks which will bring our content creation features into our app,” he says. “We expect this to be incredibly valuable to users given the that so much content creation happens on mobile.”

    “We’re incredibly excited about this launch,” he adds. “It’s the first product from Klout that truly helps our users. We believe in the power of each person’s voice, and look forward to providing more tools to help people have an impact.”

    We’ve seen reports in the past of employers using applicants’ Klout scores in hiring decisions. I don’t know how much this is actually happening, but if your’e ever put into a situation that can be altered by your Klout score, I suppose anything that can help you boost it is a plus, though it still seems to me if you really deserve your “klout,” you’ll be good enough at creating content and sharing the right stuff with or without this new offering.

    What do you think of the new Klout? Of Klout in general? How seriously do you take Klout score? Let us know in the comments.

    Image via Klout

  • Satya Nadella Officially Microsoft’s New CEO

    Microsoft has officially named Satya Nadella as CEO after news late last week that he had been selected. He was previously the Executive Vice President of the company’s Cloud and Enterprise group.

    Nadella joined the company back in 1992, and now has become the third ever CEO.

    “During this time of transformation, there is no better person to lead Microsoft than Satya Nadella,” said Bill Gates. “Satya is a proven leader with hard-core engineering skills, business vision and the ability to bring people together. His vision for how technology will be used and experienced around the world is exactly what Microsoft needs as the company enters its next chapter of expanded product innovation and growth.”

    Gates will be taking on a new role on the Board as Founder and Technology Advisor. Microsoft says he’ll be devoting more of his time to the company, “shaping technology and product direction.”

    John Thompson, lead independent director for the Board of Directors, will assume the role of Chairman of the Board.

    “Satya is clearly the best person to lead Microsoft, and he has the unanimous support of our Board,” he said. “The Board took the thoughtful approach that our shareholders, customers, partners and employees expected and deserved.”

    Here’s more from Thompson:

    Board members now include Ballmer; Dina Dublon, former Chief Financial Officer of JPMorgan Chase; Gates; Maria M. Klawe, President of Harvey Mudd College; Stephen J. Luczo, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Seagate Technology PLC; David F. Marquardt, General Partner at August Capital; Nadella; Charles H. Noski, former Vice Chairman of Bank of America Corp.; Dr. Helmut Panke, former Chairman of the Board of Management at BMW Bayerische Motoren Werke AG; and Thompson, Chief Executive Officer of Virtual Instruments.

    Nadella said, “Microsoft is one of those rare companies to have truly revolutionized the world through technology, and I couldn’t be more honored to have been chosen to lead the company. The opportunity ahead for Microsoft is vast, but to seize it, we must focus clearly, move faster and continue to transform. A big part of my job is to accelerate our ability to bring innovative products to our customers more quickly.”

    Outgoing CEO Steve Ballmer added, “Having worked with him for more than 20 years, I know that Satya is the right leader at the right time for Microsoft. I’ve had the distinct privilege of working with the most talented employees and senior leadership team in the industry, and I know their passion and hunger for greatness will only grow stronger under Satya’s leadership.”

    Ballmer also sent an email to all Microsoft employees, which the company has released. Here’s the full text of that:

    Today is an incredibly exciting day as we announce Satya Nadella as the new CEO of Microsoft. Satya will be a great CEO, and I am pumped for the future of Microsoft. You can read the full announcement here.

    Satya is a proven leader. He’s got strong technical skills and great business insights. He has a remarkable ability to see what’s going on in the market, to sense opportunity, and to really understand how we come together at Microsoft to execute against those opportunities in a collaborative way. I have worked closely with Satya for many years and I have seen these skills many times. He is not alone, though. Our Senior Leadership Team has never been stronger, and together this group will drive us forward.

    Microsoft is one of the great companies in the world. I love this company. I love the bigness and boldness of what we do. I love the way we partner with other companies to come together to change the world. I love the breadth and the diversity of all of the customers we empower, from students in the classroom to consumers to small businesses to governments to the largest enterprises.

    Above all, I love the spirit of this place, the passion, and the perseverance, which has been the cornerstone of our culture from the very beginning.

    Stay focused and keep moving forward. I am excited about what we will do. Satya’s appointment confirms that.

    Thanks for making Microsoft the most amazing place to work on the planet, and thanks for the chance to lead.

    Steve

    Satya Nadella

    Nadella wrote one as well:

    Today is a very humbling day for me. It reminds me of my very first day at Microsoft, 22 years ago. Like you, I had a choice about where to come to work. I came here because I believed Microsoft was the best company in the world. I saw then how clearly we empower people to do magical things with our creations and ultimately make the world a better place. I knew there was no better company to join if I wanted to make a difference. This is the very same inspiration that continues to drive me today.

    It is an incredible honor for me to lead and serve this great company of ours. Steve and Bill have taken it from an idea to one of the greatest and most universally admired companies in the world. I’ve been fortunate to work closely with both Bill and Steve in my different roles at Microsoft, and as I step in as CEO, I’ve asked Bill to devote additional time to the company, focused on technology and products. I’m also looking forward to working with John Thompson as our new Chairman of the Board.

    While we have seen great success, we are hungry to do more. Our industry does not respect tradition — it only respects innovation. This is a critical time for the industry and for Microsoft. Make no mistake, we are headed for greater places — as technology evolves and we evolve with and ahead of it. Our job is to ensure that Microsoft thrives in a mobile and cloud-first world.

    As we start a new phase of our journey together, I wanted to share some background on myself and what inspires and motivates me.

    Who am I?

    I am 46. I’ve been married for 22 years and we have 3 kids. And like anyone else, a lot of what I do and how I think has been shaped by my family and my overall life experiences. Many who know me say I am also defined by my curiosity and thirst for learning. I buy more books than I can finish. I sign up for more online courses than I can complete. I fundamentally believe that if you are not learning new things, you stop doing great and useful things. So family, curiosity and hunger for knowledge all define me.

    Why am I here?

    I am here for the same reason I think most people join Microsoft — to change the world through technology that empowers people to do amazing things. I know it can sound hyperbolic — and yet it’s true. We have done it, we’re doing it today, and we are the team that will do it again.

    I believe over the next decade computing will become even more ubiquitous and intelligence will become ambient. The coevolution of software and new hardware form factors will intermediate and digitize — many of the things we do and experience in business, life and our world. This will be made possible by an ever-growing network of connected devices, incredible computing capacity from the cloud, insights from big data, and intelligence from machine learning.

    This is a software-powered world.

    It will better connect us to our friends and families and help us see, express, and share our world in ways never before possible. It will enable businesses to engage customers in more meaningful ways.

    I am here because we have unparalleled capability to make an impact.

    Why are we here?

    In our early history, our mission was about the PC on every desk and home, a goal we have mostly achieved in the developed world. Today we’re focused on a broader range of devices. While the deal is not yet complete, we will welcome to our family Nokia devices and services and the new mobile capabilities they bring us.

    As we look forward, we must zero in on what Microsoft can uniquely contribute to the world. The opportunity ahead will require us to reimagine a lot of what we have done in the past for a mobile and cloud-first world, and do new things.

    We are the only ones who can harness the power of software and deliver it through devices and services that truly empower every individual and every organization. We are the only company with history and continued focus in building platforms and ecosystems that create broad opportunity.

    Qi Lu captured it well in a recent meeting when he said that Microsoft uniquely empowers people to “do more.” This doesn’t mean that we need to do more things, but that the work we do empowers the world to do more of what they care about — get stuff done, have fun, communicate and accomplish great things. This is the core of who we are, and driving this core value in all that we do — be it the cloud or device experiences — is why we are here.

    What do we do next?

    To paraphrase a quote from Oscar Wilde — we need to believe in the impossible and remove the improbable.

    This starts with clarity of purpose and sense of mission that will lead us to imagine the impossible and deliver it. We need to prioritize innovation that is centered on our core value of empowering users and organizations to “do more.” We have picked a set of high-value activities as part of our One Microsoft strategy. And with every service and device launch going forward we need to bring more innovation to bear around these scenarios.

    Next, every one of us needs to do our best work, lead and help drive cultural change. We sometimes underestimate what we each can do to make things happen and overestimate what others need to do to move us forward. We must change this.

    Finally, I truly believe that each of us must find meaning in our work. The best work happens when you know that it’s not just work, but something that will improve other people’s lives. This is the opportunity that drives each of us at this company.

    Many companies aspire to change the world. But very few have all the elements required: talent, resources, and perseverance. Microsoft has proven that it has all three in abundance. And as the new CEO, I can’t ask for a better foundation.

    Let’s build on this foundation together.

    Satya

    Nadella’s first interview as CEO:

    Here’s the Twitter reaction to the news:


    Image via Microsoft

  • Satya Nadella Reported To Be Next Microsoft CEO

    It looks like Microsoft has its next CEO. Bloomberg is reporting that the company’s board is preparing to make the company’s enterprise and cloud chief Satya Nadella the man for the job.

    The report cites “people briefed on the process”.

    The board is also reportedly discussing replacing Bill Gates as chairman.

    Obviously the company is not commenting yet. Among the other candidates said to be in the running, Nadella has been considered one of the top choices. Here’s his full bio via Microsoft’s corporate site:

    Satya Nadella is executive vice president of Microsoft’s Cloud and Enterprise group, responsible for building and running the company’s computing platforms, developer tools and cloud services.

    Nadella and his team deliver the “Cloud OS”, Microsoft’s next generation backend platform. Designed for modern application needs, the Cloud OS is a rich, consistent platform that spans public, private and service provider clouds. The Cloud OS platform also not only powers all of Microsoft’s Internet scale cloud services (including O365, Bing, SkyDrive, Xbox Live, Skype and Dynamics) but also fuels global enterprises around the world to meet their most challenging and mission-critical computing needs. Today, businesses everywhere depend on the products that make up the Cloud OS, including Windows Azure, Windows Server, SQL Server, Visual Studio and System Center.

    Previously, Nadella was president of Microsoft’s $19 billion Server and Tools Business and led the transformation of the business and technology from client-server software to cloud infrastructure and services. Prior roles include senior vice president of R&D for the Online Services Division and vice president of the Microsoft Business Division.

    Before joining Microsoft in 1992, Nadella was a member of the technology staff at Sun Microsystems. A native of Hyderabad, India, Nadella earned a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering from Mangalore University, a master’s degree in computer science from the University of Wisconsin and a master’s degree in business administration from the University of Chicago.

    It’s pretty easy to see why he would be an ideal candidate for the position.

    CEO Steve Ballmer announced his resignation last summer. The company gave an update on the search for his replacement last month, saying that they were looking both inside and outside of the company. Few will be incredibly surprised with the company’s choice.

  • Netflix CEO Basically Called HBO Netflix’s ‘Bitch’

    HBO CEO Richard Plepler recently made comments indicating that he doesn’t really care if HBO subscribers share their HBO Go passwords.

    Netflix held its fourth quarter earnings conference call in the form of a Google Hangout on Wednesday. One analyst brought Plepler’s comments up to Netflix CEO Reed Hastings. Hastings’ response was:

    “That was an interesting comment, I suppose. So, I guess Plepler – the CEO of HBO – doesn’t mind me sharing his account information. So it’s [email protected], and his password is ‘Netflix Bitch’.”

    Everyone on the hangout appeared to think that was pretty funny. You can watch it at about fourteen and a half minutes in:

    So I guess he’s kind of saying that HBO is Netflix’s bitch? I’m not sure how grounded in reality that is, considering HBO’s content is one major thing that keeps people clinging to cable and not going all in with streaming services like Netflix.

    He’s obviously joking, but still. These comments don’t bode well for any content agreements between these two anytime soon.

    NPD Group put out a report earlier this week indicating that HBO is rapidly losing subscribers as Netflix gains them. HBO called the report “simply incorrect,” and NPD ended up pulling the report. It’s unclear if Hastings knew that the report was pulled.

    Either way, Netflix’s subscribers do continue to grow. The company announced that it has surpassed 44 million members, and expects to surpass 48 million this quarter.

    Image via YouTube

  • Biz Stone Looks To Lead Jelly As A Cross Between Evan Williams, Jack Dorsey and Dick Costolo

    Twitter co-founder Biz Stone appeared on Bloomberg Television today to talk about his new app Jelly, but ended up talking a bit about Twitter as well.

    His time at Twitter and the people he worked with there are apparently having a major affect on Stone’s first go at the CEO role.

    “It sounds kinda cheesy to say this, but I look up to Evan and Jack and Dick,” he said in the interview. “I like to kind of steal their best traits and fold them in to my own leadership skills. But my main thing as a leader is to be as communicative as possible. I think that’s like 50% or 75% of the job as a CEO — to make sure everybody knows everything they need to know.”

    “It is great,” he said. “I love it. The fact that I have Kevin Thau at my back, that really made all the difference. We were talking before about how we didn’t really intend to make this a company. In fact, I was telling Kevin Thau, one of my friends and trusted advisors, about the idea. And he just said, ‘I’m in.’ And I thought he meant he likes the idea. And then I went to dinner at his house and he said ‘hey, Biz – Jelly, I’m in.’ I said, what does that mean? Is that something the kids are saying? He said, no, I want to do this. So once he decided to come on board, that’s when really I said, well with your help, I think I can make a good CEO.”

    Stone’s new app accumulated Twice as many new accounts in three days as Twitter did in an entire year. I’d say that’s a good start.

    Stone, by the way, thinks the story in the “Hatching Twitter” book is a fair representation of the founding of Twitter.

    Image via Twitter

  • Nest: If Privacy Policy Changes Under Google, It Will Be Opt-In

    Google announced a week ago that it has entered into an agreement to acquire Nest Labs, the company behind the Nest Thermostat and Nest Protect smart thermostat and smoke detector devices.

    Naturally, many Nest device users and otherwise curious parties wondered what the deal would mean for their data, and if and how Google would access/use it.

    Google has a privacy policy in place (which it is being fined for in Europe) that enables it to share user data from one of its products to the next. Will Nest fall into this policy?

    When the acquisition was first announced, Nest included an FAQ section in a blog post. One of the questions was: Will Nest customer data be shared with Google?

    The answer was: “Our privacy policy clearly limits the use of customer information to providing and improving Nest’s products and services. We’ve always taken privacy seriously and this will not change.”

    This answer, however, was met with skepticism from some, including those who think Google will just create its own products with the Nest team rather than continue with the Nest line itself. Officially, for now, the Nest products will continue though.

    Further responding to concerns, Nest CEO Tony Fadell said in an interview at the DLD Conference that any changes to its privacy policy will be opt-in, and that the company will be transparent about such changes. He’s quoted as saying:

    “At this point, there are no changes. The data that we collect is all about our products and improving them.”

    The acquisition is still pending regulatory approval.

    Image via YouTube

  • Sarah Bird Is Now Officially The CEO Of Moz

    A little over a month ago, Rand Fishkin announced that he would step down as CEO of Moz (formerly SEOmoz). He would remain with the company, and focus on product and marketing, while handing over the reins to President and COO Sarah Bird.

    Read our recent interview with Fishkin about the transition here.

    Fishkin told us the transition would come in mid-January, which has now arrived. Bird is now officially CEO.

    The linked post includes a half-hour video about Fishkin’s and Bird’s past work together and plans for the future.

    Image via Moz

  • Mullenweg Takes Over Automattic CEO Role

    Mullenweg Takes Over Automattic CEO Role

    Automattic, the company behind WordPress, is getting a new CEO. Kind of.

    Founder Matt Mullenweg is stepping into the CEO role held by Toni Schneider for the past eight years, while Schneider is taking over for Mullenweg. From the sound of it, it’s not going to be a huge change in the company’s operations.

    “He’s going to focus on some of Automattic’s new products, and I’m going to take on the role of CEO,” Mullenweg says in a blog post. “Internally this isn’t a big change as our roles have always been quite fluid, and I’ve had some recent practice filling in for him for a few months last year when he was on sabbatical. I’ve learned a tremendous amount from Toni over the years and I’m looking forward to putting that into practice.”

    “Besides, it’s obvious that no one in their twenties should run a company,” he adds. “They think they know everything, a fact I can now say with complete confidence now that I’m 30 and two days old.”

    Schneider also blogged about the change.

    “A few months ago, I started to feel a sense of completion about our early goals, coupled with a growing itch to work on some new product ideas,” he wrote. “So I turned to Matt and suggested that now felt like a good time for us to “swap jobs” and have him become Automattic’s next CEO. Matt and I have been working side-by-side, building and running Automattic over the years, and he is without a doubt one of the most talented people in tech today, so I have full confidence that Automattic will continue to thrive after we make this change. And yes, Matt did just turn 30, which makes it a fun moment in time to say that he’s finally old enough to be a CEO! As for me, I will stay at Automattic (and at True), excited to switch my focus to working on new ideas and building new products.”

    It’s unclear what new projects the company has in the pipeline. According to Schneider, WordPress.com is the 8th largest site on the Internet.

    Image via Matt Mullenweg (Facebook)

  • Yelp Discloses Lobbying Efforts, CEO Sells 15,000 Shares

    A couple of interesting pieces of Yelp news have surfaced in that the company is lobbying for patent reform and copyright laws, and CEO Jeremy Stoppelman has sold nearly 15,000 shares of the company.

    As first reported by The Hill, the company hired former House staffer Laurent Crenshaw as its first lobbyist a couple months ago. He is a former aide to House Oversight Committee Chairman Darrell Issa.

    Crenshaw was quoted as saying at the time, “I’m extremely excited to be joining this fast-growing company and plan to continue working on issues I care about and love including Internet freedom, intellectual property, technology and telecommunications, along with a host of others.”

    This week, The Hill reported on the company’s first lobbying campaigns on the aforementioned issues, pointing to Yelp’s official lobbying disclosure form, where it says Crenshaw was lobbying on the Innovation Act, and is lobbying on the 998 Digital Millennium Copyright Act. He will also lobby on the “anti-SLAPP” bill,” which would prevent strategic lawsuits against public participation.

    Stoppelman’s stock sale was revealed in an SEC filing (via Ticker Report). He sold 14,705 shares of common stock on December 30th at $64.83 per share, and got $953,322 from the sale.

    Image: Jeremy Stoppelman (Twitter)

  • Snapchat Talks Breach, Updates App

    Snapchat Talks Breach, Updates App

    As you’re probably aware, Snapchat was the target of a massive security breach that compromised 4.6 million usernames and phone numbers. The company has since responded to the problem both with an interview for the Today show and a blog post announcing an update to the app.

    CEO Evan Spiegel spoke about the breach with Carson Daly:

    Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

    “We call it abuse of the ‘find friends’ service…you know, a tool we developed to help snapchatters find their friends was used by someone to find the usernames of people who weren’t their friends,” he said. “This person had 4.6 million friends in their address book, and they were able to match those phone numbers to user names, and then release that list.”

    “All technology businesses in general are susceptible to hacking, and that’s why you have to work really really hard with law enforcement, with security experts, you know, internal and external groups to make sure you’re paying attention and addressing security concerns,” he told Daly.

    As discussed in the aforementioned blog post, Snapchat had been warned that service was vulnerable days before the breach. The company wrote:

    A security group first published a report about potential Find Friends abuse in August 2013. Shortly thereafter, we implemented practices like rate limiting aimed at addressing these concerns. On Christmas Eve, that same group publicly documented our API, making it easier for individuals to abuse our service and violate our Terms of Use.

    We acknowledged in a blog post last Friday that it was possible for an attacker to use the functionality of Find Friends to upload a large number of random phone numbers and match them with Snapchat usernames. On New Years Eve, an attacker released a database of partially redacted phone numbers and usernames. No other information, including Snaps, was leaked or accessed in these attacks.

    “I believe at the time we thought we had done enough, but I think in a business like this – in a business that’s moving so quickly – if you spend your time looking backward, you’re just gonna kill yourself,” Spiegel said on the Today show.

    Snapchat has released an update to its app so that users can opt out of appearing in the Find Friends feature after they’ve verified their number. The company says it’s also improving the rate limiting and other restrictions to address future attempts at abuse.

    Finally, they’re urging security experts who find issues to email them at [email protected].

    Image: Snapchat (Google Play)

  • Rand Fishkin On The Best And Worst Parts Of Being Moz CEO

    Last month, we learned that Moz (formerly SEOmoz) CEO Rand Fishkin is stepping down from the role. He revealed that he would be handing the reins over to President and COO Sarah Bird, while taking on less of a people management role, and instead focusing more on his product and marketing passions with the company.

    We reached out to Fishkin for some more about his decision and the pending transition. He told us about what he liked and disliked about being a CEO, as well as his regrets about holding the position.

    On what he enjoyed most, Fishkin told WebProNews, “The ability to create and influence the company culture, product, team, and mission have certainly been the best parts. I’m hopeful that the ‘influence’ parts will continue for a long time to come in this new role.”

    On what he enjoyed the least, he said, “Over time, it’s been a lot of the organizational development, conflict resolution, and people management issues. Those seem, to me, to be less about how to make a great product, market it, improve it, and deliver value to customer and more about politics, which I wish didn’t exist. The bigger a company gets, the harder all that stuff is, and the better you have to be at it in order to have success doing all the customer-value-add stuff.”

    “I also don’t really enjoy interacting with financial folks outside of Moz,” he added.

    Fishkin had plenty of nice things to say about Bird in his announcement and in an email he sent to Moz staff. He told WebProNews, “Sarah is far more capable of possessing and projecting optimism to the team, more emotionally and culturally well-suited to the people challenges at scale, and she’s not as easily overwhelmed by non-productive emotions as I am (which is something we definitely need).”

    When asked if he has any regrets about being CEO, Fishkin told us, “Absolutely. I think I’ve made numerous terrible decisions as CEO.”

    “That said,” he added. “It’s also been a remarkable run for the company – we’ve built something really amazing culturally, product-wise, and with the Moz brand, and I’m hopeful that long term, we’ll achieve the mission we’ve set for ourselves and help hundreds of thousands of SEO-focused marketers to do their job better.”

    After sharing his plans, Fishkin wrote a blog post titled, “Can’t Sleep; Caught in the Loop,” in which he talked about his worst weeks of 2013 in which he had what he described as a “weird mental cycle,” which has kept him awake. He calls it ‘the loop.”

    “Moz’s performance this year (which wasn’t great, but was still fairly good, ~25% growth) isn’t directly connected to Sarah taking the leadership role, but it does have an indirect impact,” Fishkin told us. “I think the people challenges at our scale, combined with some of the tough decisions that didn’t pan out created a lot of cycling negativity in my head that I’ve referred to as ‘The Loop.’ That negativity and the emotional impact it’s had on me, and by extension, Moz, are certainly part of the reason I wanted to make this move.”

    “That said, there are others, too,” he added. “I think Sarah will make an excellent CEO long term, and I want to focus more on individual contributor types of work. I also want to put my energy into things I love (like product & marketing) rather than those I don’t, but felt obligated to do (like people issues).”

    Fishkin and Bird recently spoke with the Moz board, and determined that the move will be made in mid-January, when they’ll be moving to a new office.

    Image: Rand Fishkin

  • Here’s What’s Going On With The Microsoft CEO Situation

    As you’re probably aware, Microsoft announced back in the summer that CEO Steve Ballmer would be stepping down after another twelve months. The company’s Board of Directors would begin a search for his replacement.

    The company has now given an update on the search, and no, they haven’t found the replacement yet.

    As Microsoft said from the beginning, they’re looking both inside of the company and outside for the right person to fill Ballmer’s shoes.

    John W. Thompson, chair of the Board’s search committee, says he’s pleased with the search’s progress.

    “The Board has taken the thoughtful approach that our shareholders, customers, partners and employees expect and deserve,” he says. “After defining our criteria, we initially cast a wide net across a number of different industries and skill sets. We identified over 100 possible candidates, talked with several dozen, and then focused our energy intensely on a group of about 20 individuals, all extremely impressive in their own right. As you would expect, as this group has narrowed, we’ve done deeper research and investigation, including with the full Board. We’re moving ahead well, and I expect we’ll complete our work in the early part of 2014.”

    “At the same time, Microsoft has continued to drive hard,” he adds. “Our employees produced strong quarterly results, announced in October. They released new versions of Windows, our Surface products and many other offerings. And the launch of Xbox One was experienced around the world. All of us on the Board appreciate their continued focus and commitment.”

    You can take a look at the quarterly results here.

    “As a Board, we are determined and confident that the company’s third CEO will lead Microsoft to renewed and continued success,” Thompson says. ” We’re looking forward to 2014 and the opportunities and decisions that lie ahead.”

    Ford CEO Alan Mulally had been a major contender to fill the role, but a couple weeks ago, Ford Board Director Edsel Ford indicated that Mulally would be staying with Ford through the end of 2014 at least. That doesn’t quite fit the timeframe Microsoft is talking about.

    Two other frequently mentioned candidates are Satya Nadella and Tony Bates. Nadella leads Microsoft’s Cloud and Enterprise group, and Bates leads its Business Development and Strategy.

    Former Nokia CEO (and current softie) Stephen Elop has also been mentioned in various reports (with rumors swirling that if he were to get the job, he would consider getting rid of Bing and Xbox).

    There has also been an unnamed person said to be on the shortlist of potential candidates.

    Image: YouTube

  • Rand Fishkin Is Stepping Down As CEO Of Moz

    Moz CEO Rand Fishkin announced in a blog post that he is stepping down as the CEO of Moz (formerly SEOmoz). But don’t worry, you won’t be seeing less of him. In fact, from the sound of it, you’ll be seeing more.

    Fishkin is not leaving his company or anything like that. He’s just decided that he’d like to focus less on things like people managing and more on product and marketing – the areas where he is more comfortable. He’s handing the reins over to President and COO Sarah Bird.

    Fishkin shared an email sent to staff, in which he says:

    My role will actually be very similar. I’ll likely be spending more time in the weeds with product design, marketing initiatives, and evangelism (blogging/speaking). I’ll continue to represent Moz externally quite a bit. But I won’t be doing much people managing (only Nicci will continue to report to me), work on our finances, organizational development stuff, or recruiting/hiring of senior staff. I’ve also promised to write a book next year on startup marketing!

    I want to change my title to “individual contributor.” Mostly because it reflects my belief that you don’t need to manage people in order to have influence, I love and want to promote the IC track/concept, and that titles are kinda BS 🙂

    I will continue to be on the eteam and on the board of directors, representing internal shareholders (like y’all).

    Later in the email, addressing the question of if this means he will leave in the near future, Fishkin says, “Hell no…You’d have to push me kicking and screaming. I plan to be here for a long time to come.”

    The timeframe for the transition isn’t clear yet, but Fishkin says it will be more so after a board meeting next week.

    Image: Rand Fishkin

  • Marjorie Scardino Become’s Twitter’s First Female Board Member

    Twitter announced this morning that it has added Marjorie M. Scardino to its Board of Directors.

    Scardino is the former CEO of Pearson, and is Twitter’s first female board member. Earlier this year, there was a lot of chatter in the blogosphere about how Twitter didn’t have any women on its board.

    She describes herself in her Twitter bio as:

    Education, techology & journalism dilletante; mother of 3; wife of Albert Scardino for many yrs; recovering CEO; recovering Texan; still just a Twitter follower

    So far, she has only tweeted once, and that was in response to Twitter’s announcement:

    Scardino was also appointed as a member of the audit committee of the Baord where she will replace David Rosenblatt (who will continue to serve on the compensation committee and the nominating and corporate governance committee).

    Twitter says in an SEC filing:

    Ms. Scardino, age 66, served as Chief Executive Officer and as a member of the board of directors of Pearson plc, a publishing and education company, from 1997 to 2012. From 1985 to 1997, Ms. Scardino served in several roles at The Economist Group, a media company, including as Chief Executive Officer. Ms. Scardino served on the board of directors of Nokia Corporation, a telecommunications company, from 2001 to April 2013. Ms. Scardino holds a B.A. in Psychology from Baylor University and a J.D. from the University of San Francisco School of Law.

    In connection with her election to the Board, Ms. Scardino was granted a restricted stock unit award on December 4, 2013 covering 4,018 shares of the Company’s common stock. The restricted stock unit award will vest quarterly over one year, subject to continued service on the Board on each applicable vesting date. Notwithstanding this vesting schedule, the vesting of the restricted stock unit award granted to Ms. Scardino will vest in full upon a “change in control” (as defined in the Company’s 2013 Equity Incentive Plan). The restricted stock unit award is subject to the terms and conditions of the Company’s 2013 Equity Incentive Plan and the related restricted stock unit award agreement.

    Ms. Scardino also executed the Company’s standard form of indemnification agreement, a copy of which has been filed as Exhibit 10.1 to the Company’s Registration Statement on Form S-1 (File No. 333-191552) filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on October 3, 2013.

    According to the document, Scardino will serve in the class of directors whose term expires at the annual meeting of stockholders next year.

    Image: Marjorie M. Scardino (Twitter)

  • Walmart Just Named A New CEO

    Walmart announced Monday morning that CEO Mike Duke is stepping down, and he will be replaced by Walmart International President and CEO Doug McMillon. For the company’s Walmart International segment, McMillon has overseen over 6,300 stores and over 823,000 associates in 26 countries outside of the U.S.

    McMillon will take over in his new role on February 1st. He was also elected to the company’s board of directors, effective immediately.

    Duke will continue to serve as chairman of the executive committee of the board, and will stay on as an advisor to McMillon for a year. This follows in the tradition of his predecessors.

    Chairman of the Board, Rob Walton, said, “This leadership change comes at a time of strength and growth at Walmart. The company has the right strategy to serve the changing customer around the world, and Doug has been actively involved in this process. The company has a strong management team to execute that strategy.”

    “Doug is uniquely positioned to lead our growing global company and to serve the changing customer, while remaining true to our culture and values,” Walton added. “He has broad experience – with successful senior leadership roles in all of Walmart’s business segments – and a deep understanding of the economic, social and technological trends shaping our world. A merchant at heart, Doug has both a long history with our company and a keen sense of where our customers globally are heading next. He has also shown strong leadership on environmental sustainability and a commitment to using Walmart’s size and scale to make a difference in the lives of people, wherever they might be.”

    Duke had this to say: “This is a great company and it has been an honor to help advance Sam Walton’s vision of giving people around the world a better life. Our associates make it all possible and I’ve learned so much from them. No matter where I traveled, our associates continued to inspire me with their commitment to living our values, serving our customers and taking care of each other.”

    Duke joined the company in 1995, and has led logistics, distribution and administration divisions. He has also served as Walmart’s vice chairman (2005 – 2009).

    McMillon first worked with the company back in 1984, as a summer associate in a Walmart Distribution Center. He re-joined the company in 1990, and worked his way up the corporate ladder. From 2006 to 2009 he was the vice president and CEO of the company’s Sam’s Club division.

    Walmart says it will announce a replacement for McMillon at Walmart International by the end of the fiscal year.

  • Could Microsoft Soon Give Bing The Axe?

    Former Nokia CEO Stephen Elop, who is one of the top candidates in a recently narrowed down list to take over Steve Ballmer’s job as Microsoft CEO, would reportedly consider killing Bing and selling the company’s Xbox business.

    Should Microsoft get of rid of Bing? Xbox? Let us know what you think in the comments.

    That is according to a new report from Bloomberg, citing people with “knowledge of this thinking.” Elop would reportedly want to narrow this company’s focus, and get rid of distractions. Peter Burrows & Dina Bass report:

    Besides emphasizing Office, Elop would be prepared to sell or shut down major businesses to sharpen the company’s focus, the people said. He would consider ending Microsoft’s costly effort to take on Google with its Bing search engine, and would also consider selling healthy businesses such as the Xbox game console if he determined they weren’t critical to the company’s strategy, the people said.

    Earlier this week, investors drove Microsoft shares to their highest price since mid-2000, after Nomura Holdings Inc. analyst Rick Sherlund said the sale of Bing and Xbox, along with other moves, could lift fiscal 2015 earnings by 40 percent.

    Elop came over to Microsoft when the company announced its intent to buy Nokia’s phones unit a couple months ago. He had worked for Microsoft previously, and his name was already being thrown around a lot as a candidate for Ballmer’s replacement. He stepped aside as Nokia President and CEO to become Nokia Vice President of Devices & Services.

    A spokesperson called Bloomberg’s report a “foray into fiction,” but it’s not like even Microsoft’s PR has a window to Elop’s brain. It’s unclear how these people with “knowledge of his thinking” do, but it’s not outside of the realm of possibility that there’s something to the report.

    We won’t delve much into the Xbox side of things here (though that’s a interesting story in itself), but everybody knows that Bing has been an incredibly expensive venture for Microsoft, and has made little gain in terms of search market share against Google.

    Last month, Microsoft did report 25% growth in its online services division, which includes Bing. The loss fell 12%.

    Peter Bright at Ars Technica, who challenges the legitimacy of the Bloomberg report to begin with, writes, “As a standalone business, Bing is heading in the right direction but for the time being, it is still a money pit. Getting rid of it would improve Microsoft’s finances to the tune of about a billion dollars and change each year, something around a five percent improvement in operating income.”

    “The problem with this superficial analysis is that Bing isn’t a standalone business,” he adds. “I’m sure Microsoft would be happier if it could stand alone—if nothing else, it would help put an end to the ‘Microsoft should get rid of Bing’ chatter—but there’s more to the value and importance of Bing than just the bottom line.”

    He goes on to make the case that Microsoft essentially needs Bing for the data, and for feature integration into its operating systems to compete with Google and Apple. This is certainly a valid point as Android and iOS continue to get smarter.

    It’s true that Microsoft needs to have the kind of personal connection to users that Google and Apple (especially Google) are able to get by other means. Search is obviously a major component of such a connection. Social is another, however, and with Bing, Microsoft gets a special window into the Facebook and Twitter realms that Google does not, thanks to the companies’ partnerships (Bing and Twitter just renewed their’s).

    And if Microsoft killed Bing, where would that leave Yahoo?

    It is worth noting that Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen also reportedly thinks Microsoft should get rid of Xbox and Bing.

    What do you think? Is Bing helping or hurting Microsoft? Do you think Microsoft should consider getting rid of it? Let us know in the comments.

    Image: Flickr (Wikimedia Commons)

  • Microsoft CEO Search Reportedly Narrowed to Five Candidates

    Since Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer announced his retirement back in August, Microsoft’s board has been quickly searching for someone to replace him by the end of the year.

    Several candidates have popped up in the past few months, most notably Stephen Elop and Alan Mullaly (pictured). Elop is the former CEO of Nokia, which Microsoft bought shortly after Ballmer’s retirement announcement. Mullaly has been the CEO of Ford since 2006.

    Today, Reuters is reporting that Microsoft has narrowed its CEO search down to just five people. The report cites unnamed “sources familiar with the matter” as stating that Microsoft originally fielded a list of 40 candidates for the position.

    Elop and Mullaly are reportedly still top candidates for the position. In addition, Reuters’ sources list three Microsoft executives as possible CEO candidates – Tony Bates, Satya Nadella, and one other unnamed employee. Bates is the current EVP of Microsoft Business Development, and was formerly the CEO of Skype before its acquisition by Microsoft. Nadella is the EVP of Microsoft’s Cloud and Enterprise division.

    Though Microsoft was reportedly hoping to have a new CEO by the end of the year, Reuters’ sources have stated that the CEO search could still “take a few more months.” That report also states that unnamed “sources familiar with the conversations” have revealed that the board’s CEO search committee has been “speaking with” dissenting shareholders during the search.

  • Tim Cook Writes WSJ Piece In Favor Of ENDA

    Tim Cook Writes WSJ Piece In Favor Of ENDA

    The Wall Street Journal published an editorial written by Apple CEO Tim Cook on Sunday, titled, “Workplace Equality Is Good for Business.”

    Cook discusses why he thinks Congress should support the Employment Nondiscrimination Act. It’s not a long piece. He talks about how things are at Apple with its antidiscrimination policy before urging senators to support the piece of legislation and challenging the House to vote on it. Cook writes:

    Protections that promote equality and diversity should not be conditional on someone’s sexual orientation. For too long, too many people have had to hide that part of their identity in the workplace.

    Those who have suffered discrimination have paid the greatest price for this lack of legal protection. But ultimately we all pay a price. If our coworkers cannot be themselves in the workplace, they certainly cannot be their best selves. When that happens, we undermine people’s potential and deny ourselves and our society the full benefits of those individuals’ talents.

    So long as the law remains silent on the workplace rights of gay and lesbian Americans, we as a nation are effectively consenting to discrimination against them.

    Read the whole thing here.

    President Obama also wrote a piece appearing in the Huffington Post Gay Voices section, urging Congress to pass the act.

    Image: Apple

  • Marissa Mayer Has Reportedly Bought A Funeral Home (Here’s What It Looks Like)

    Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer has reportedly bought a funeral home in Palo Alto.

    The place is shutting down on October 31st, and the Palo Alto Online reported on Tuesday that the deal closed on October 7th. The property is just down the street from Mayer’s current home.

    According to the report (citing the president of Spangler Mortuauries, which purchased the business’ assets), the sum Mayer paid was not disclosed, but Silicon Valley Business Journal reporter Nathan Donato-Weinstein says the county transfer tax records show a shell company paid $11.2 million for the site, even though it was assessed at $672,285 just last year.

    He writes, “The Weekly notes that the property is zoned for higher-density redevelopment. Up to 21 housing units could be built there, the Weekly said, though Mayer could also submit plans to do something else there.”

    The New York Post spoke with Paul Roller, the president of the funeral home, and he said the land was sold to an LLC called 980 Middlefield Road LLC, which started out as Additto LLC, which Kaja Whitehouse reports California records show shares the same estate-planning lawyer and address as Mellunmaki LLC, which lists Marissa Mayer as an officer.

    According to Roller, Mayer has a lot of parties, and often rents out the funeral home’s parking lot.

    Here are a few pictures of the property from Google Maps (also the source of the lead image).

    Mayer funeral home

    Marissa Mayer funeral home

    Marissa Mayer bought a funeral home

    Funeral Home - mayer

    [via Mountain View Voice]

    Images: Google Maps