Tag: LL News

After about four months as interim CEO, working closely with Bob Komin, the management team, and the board, we’ve decided we are ready to start the search for a new CEO. I’ll be leaving day-to-day management of the company and continuing in my role on the board, including helping in the search to find a great CEO. I will also be continuing my work with my new company, LoveMachine. Bob will lead Linden Lab while we conduct the search. It’s been an intense few months of transition, and we all feel like we are in a better place now, with a clearer sense of direction and more focus, and are ready to bring someone new into the mix as a leader.

So sez Philip Rosedale today. I find this news interesting on two levels. Firstly, as Ciaran and others point out, it’s not surprising. Philip made it clear his return was an interim thing following the departure (voluntarily or otherwise) of one Mark “Target” Kingdon. Nor is it a surprise that Philip is “returning” to LoveMachine – the latter has been his first love for a goodly while, and one in some respects cannot fault him for wanting to “get back” to it.

And yet…the timing of the move is a little odd. In the general scheme of things, “interim” CEOs are brought in / step in to oversee a transitional period in a company – and it is very odd to see one depart when the transition is less than 50% done – and with a new CEO yet to be found, leave alone recruited, then it is more than fair to say the job is less than 50% done.

Indeed, it is also fair to say that the departure of an interim CEO during a transitional process can usually be taken as an indication that the CEO and the Board have had a difference of opinion and have reached an impasse of some form. Now, I’ve never been entirely sure that Philip’s original “departure” from the day-to-day running of Linden Research was as rosy as was portrayed at the time, coming as it did  at the time when other Board members were becoming ever more belligerent towards the user base as a whole (vis-a-vis Kapor’s “step aside” speech at SL5B). And while you can accuse Philip of many things, he’s never lost his respect for the SL user community as a whole; as such, his attitude could be said to be in sharp contrast of that of other board members at the time – and this contrast might have encouraged his “departure” from the CEO role. Could it be that the very same contrast has come up again, forcing his “premature” departure from the interim role?

Or could the reason be a lot simpler to explain: that he has in fact already “found” the next CEO of Linden Lab in the form of Bob Komin – but the Board have yet to accept / appreciate this?

Lets face it, Bob Komin has been effectively running the company alongside Rosedale since the latter “returned” so dramatically. It was Komin (apparently) that spearheaded the staff cuts and the realignment of much of LL’s satellite business (SLE, etc.).  He’s be brought out of the relative shadows for in-world meetings, and his name has been extensively linked with things like the “back to basics” campaign as much as Rosedale has hitched his own name to that particular wagon.

Now Komin is moving from a position of co-pilot alongside Rosedale to actually piloting the company on a day-to-day basis. Given this, I can’t help but wonder if he is not being given a chance (by Rosedale himself) to demonstrate to the Board that not only does he have the wherewithal to make the hard choices and drive through extensive cuts – he can also lead the company as a whole, managerially as well as fiscally.

Let’s face it; bringing-in a CEO from outside is fraught with risk – as the Kingdon Years demonstrate. Second Life – let alone the quirky nature of Linden Lab – is not the easiest thing for one to get one’s business head around; so bringing anyone in from outside is a massive gamble. This is where I differ in view to Ciaran and others: the risks in bringing-in someone from outside, to me, are far greater than the risks inherent in having someone like Komin take the helm “from within”, so to speak, full-time.

Right now, LL doesn’t need more upheaval. It needs a period of steady, considered management progress and stability. This is more likely to come from within, where the egos involved have already gone through the arc of putting down a stamp of authority on matters, than it is by bringing in a “big gun” (assuming one can even be found and hired) from outside who is going to put their need to exercise their own stamp and brand of leadership on things ahead of what actually needs to be done.

For that reason, I’m hoping that Philip’s oddly timed departure from the CEO seat is at least in part because they have a CEO-in-waiting in the form of Komin; that this move is, in fact, a canny means of allowing Komin to demonstrate this is fact to the Board, and the “search” will result in a further announcement in, say, a month, that he has been appointed to the role full-time.

So we have another round of departures from LL – among them Catherine Linden. Some have praise Catherine’s tenure at LL; I’m not entirely in the same mindset. As the architecture of the LL Trademark documentation, she opened up something of a can of confusing worm – particularly with regards to the use of every day words such as “Life” (which LL “banned” the likes of TPV developers from using, claiming it was a breach of their trademark / copyright). As someone with a degree of responsibility for communications (at least at one time), she also made a pretty poor communicator herself; although that is pretty much par for the course for many at LL.

Her departure is somewhat “balanced” by the announcement from Terrance Linden of the move to bring in younger teens to the main grid after the inevitable decision was made to come clean and close Teen Grid. And for once it shows a degree of common sense. Those who witnessed Philip Rosedale’s SLCC 10 address – particularly the closing minutes when he was challenged by an educator over the Teen Grid decision, could not help but feel his sympathetic ear was somewhat closed to her pleas: the move was a done deal. It is therefore refreshing that those at the Lab have taken the time to listen to a section of their community (educators) and take steps to ensure that needs of that sector of their community continue to be met. In a nutshell the move announced by Terrence means that 13-15 year olds will soon be able to access the main grid BUT – and before people start shouting and screaming, they will not be able to:

• Move outside the educational sims / estates hosting their affiliated educational organisation(s)
• Use search to make purchases via in-world stores or the Marketplace

This is still not an ideal solution – a dedicated Educational or “Teen” Continent would perhaps be preferable – but it does mean that risks of lawsuits etc., are drastically reduced so long as educational organisations themselves are restricted to private (and discounted) sims. It also means that there can be greater and more positive interaction between youngsters and others on the grid in a “controlled” environment: educators will have to ability to vet others on the main grid and invite them into their sims to give talks, presentations, etc. Undoubtedly, this could be a major boon for a range of educational projects that schools, etc., may undertake: one can well imagine in-world science lessons being enlivened by a visit from representatives from NASA, ESA or the International Space Museum.

Nevertheless, as others point out, it still begs the question why LL didn’t simply create the aforementioned “Teen Continent” that might have provided both a contiguous experience for youngsters that come in-world for educational purposes and an environment for those aged 16 and 17 (whose presence on the wider Grid is still very much a potential minefield for LL and adults alike). Indeed, if what I’ve been told is correct,that the Teen Grid was pretty much a Continent in its own right, albeit it one with additional access restrictions, why not simply merge it with the main grid as a “new continent”, complete with safeguards to avoid the pitfalls of the “wrong” kind of adult / teenage interaction (I’m not talking sex here necessarily…the “wrong” kind of interaction covers a broad spectrum of what might possibly happen – up to and including an adult “looking over” their teenager’s shoulder and getting completely the wrong impression of what goes on in SL). Doing so would have removed a “caretaking” headache for LL, removed the heartache for teens, still provided the environment Terrance has announced and – most beneficial of all – allayed the fears (real and perceived) of the adult community already on the main grid.

Sadly, however, we’re not going to get anything like a “teen” or “PG” (or even “G”) continent; that was made clear during the Adult Policy / Zindra fiasco, so campaigning for such – as some have been attempting to do since news of the closure of Teen Grid was announced – is a waste of time. It simply doesn’t fit with the LL “roadmap” – whatever that might be. But – in the case of 13-15 year olds, this move is perhaps the best compromise for all concerned. It doesn’t provide an answer for everything, but it is potentially enough to help reassure both sides of the youngsters-in-SL argument that things are not going to end up an unmitigated disaster; at least where those in the younger age range are concerned.

Tateru Nino reports some interesting news concerning Linden Lab, with three new hires joining the ranks, namely Judy Wade, Eric Argel and Peter Gray.

Wade comes in as “Vice President of Stategy and Emerging Business,” while Argel is the new “Director of Information Architecture”. Gray joins as a “PR specialist”.

What is most interesting about Wade and Argel is their pedigree: Wade was formerly employed by Mitch Kapor (a serving member of the Linden Lab Board), while Argel worked at Organic…former home of Linden Lab’s CEO Mark Kingdon (“M” Linden).

Quite what their precise roles will be is unclear. However, it would appear that Argel’s role has potential cross-over with that of Frank Ambrose (“FJ” Linden), the Senior VP for Global Technology. Has Frank perhaps been too forthcoming of late with he blogs on the status of the Grid?

Wade’s title is probably more revealing, and again, following on from the acquisition of XStreet SL and OnRez, tends to confirm that the Lab is moving to pitch itself more as a service provider than the “mere” platform provider it has until now insisted it has been.

Question is, service provider to whom? The existing user community? This is kind of hard to accept given the overwhelming attitude of Kingdon and Zdanowski, which frequently suggest we are a necessary evil to be tolerated, rather than embraced, while taking the company on to Bigger Things.

Again, taken in a broader context: the emphasis on “immersive experiences”, tie-in with the likes of Rivers Run Red, Wade’s title and Argel’s background do tend to point to Kingdon et al pinning a good part of the Lab’s future on “corporate solutions”.

Or are they looking to beef-up the company for an IPO or possible technology sell-off, as some have suggested? Of course, talk of IPOs have been around for a while – as have reasons for the company not going in that direction. But times are changing. Kapor et al like to have Things That Do Things – and push-come-to-shove, in the real business world, SL actually does very little in the scheme of things. Perhaps the only thing mitigating against an IPO at the moment is the general state of the global economy, and you can be sure Kapor et al will want their pound of flesh arising from any offering. Which is why a technology sell-off might be more the thing…

But back to staff. As both Tateru and Prokofy Neva note, Kathleen Craig (Katt Linden) has now gone from the Lab, having departed last week. While Linden Lab rarely – if ever – discuss specifics of staff moves, that Katt went without mention, and no apparent move has been made to replace her in the role of “Resident Communications Manager” again tends to confirm the importance (or lack thereof) The Management accorded her position, as I reported on her appointment. It will be interesting to see if we ever hear anything about the position she filled, or whether it’ll be carefully packed into a box and filed in the Lab’s basement….

Peter Gray’s role seems somewhat nebulous based on the reports filed so far, and one awaits the official Linden Lab announcement with interest. However, he comes from Lewis PR, the firm used by Linden Lab for its PR and media communications. This suggests that he is somewhat familiar with Second Life…and also begs the question, whither Catherine Smith (Catherine Linden), the Lab’s Senior Marketing Manager? Is she indeed consigned to the Lab’s car park, as Prokofy Neva suggests?