jatiN mahindrA doT coM

Yahoo’s Chief Technologist Starts New Gig

It may sound painfully dumb to point out that Yahoo’s technology is important to the company, but there you have it.  Unfortunately for the organization, that connection also makes it seem somewhat problematic that Yahoo’s Chief Technologist has moved on. Benchmark Capital announced today that Sam Pullara, who was Yahoo’s Chief Technologist, has joined it as an Entrepreneur in...

Confirmed: Yahoo’s SVP Of Revenue To Quit

Joanne Bradford started at Yahoo about a year and a half ago, assuming the title "Senior Vice President, U.S. Revenue and Market Development."  Now, a fresh report’s indicated that the high-ranking exec is on her way out again, ready to take a position at Demand Media. Kara Swisher wrote earlier, "According to several sources . . . Bradford is planning on leaving the Internet...

Google Hires XML Co-Inventor

Today, Tim Bray started working for Google, and had the search giant just put out a one-sentence press release stating this fact, the development would be worth reporting.  But what makes this move especially noteworthy is that Bray announced it in a 1,260-word blog post mentioning an absolute hatred of the iPhone. Bray is a rather important person in a lot of tech circles.  Two interesting...

Facebook To Position Public Policy Experts In D.C.

It looks like Facebook will soon begin trying harder to bend the ears of our nation’s leaders.  Listings for a public policy manager and public policy associate have both been posted on the social network’s "Open Positions" page, and Facebook’s decided that these people will work in Washington, D.C. This isn’t a simple matter of having a couple of folks sit around,...

Yahoo Mobile Europe Manager Quits

Almost exactly one month ago, the Yahoo Mobile Blog launched, and nine new posts have been made since, signaling that the company really is interested in mobile tech.  Unfortunately, one of Yahoo’s mobile execs has decided to part ways with it at this juncture. Mitch Lazar, Managing Director and General Manager of Yahoo Mobile Europe, is leaving Yahoo after about five years.  According...

Twitter Reaches 140-Employee Milestone

Twitter’s long been associated with the number 140; it is, of course, this number that defines how the site’s users communicate with each other.  And the number now represents the size of the company’s payroll, too, as Twitter’s hired its 140th employee. Biz Stone announced the milestone late yesterday by simply tweeting, "Today we are celebrating our 140th employee...

Twitter Puts Pixar’s CFO On Payroll

Twitter’s at last found someone to be its chief financial officer, and the man appears to be more than qualified for the position.  Ali Rowghani actually comes to Twitter from Pixar, where he also held the title of CFO. Pixar is, of course, the popular animation studio responsible for movies like Toy Story, The Incredibles, and WALL-E.  Disney bought it in 2006 for $7.4 billion, and...

MySpace’s CEO Out

Owen Van Natta, who only joined MySpace in April of last year, will no longer serve as its CEO.  Reports indicate that he’s in fact been fired, and MySpace has at least confirmed that Jason Hirschhorn and Mike Jones, who reported to Van Natta, are becoming co-presidents. This series of developments comes as a big surprise.  Just one week ago, rumor had it that Hirschhorn might leave...

Yahoo Music Gets Former Universal Exec As New Chief

The music industry is a big business; there must be hundreds of thousands of performers and managers in the world.  But there are just four major labels – Warner, EMI, Sony, and Universal – and so Yahoo seems to have made a rather significant hire by securing a former Universal exec as the head of Yahoo Music. Jeff Bronikowski worked at Universal for almost 12 years, most recently...

MySpace, Chief Product Officer May Part Ways

A high-ranking MySpace executive might be ready to depart, according to a new report.  Rumor has it that Chief Product Officer Jason Hirschhorn, who’s been with the company for less than a year, is making his way towards the exit. This story appears to deserve some heavy disclaimers; since it began to spread, Hirschhorn wrote on his MySpace page, "i love fiction," and classified...

Yahoo Halts Search For International Boss

Most estimates agree that there are almost 7 billion human beings on this planet, and even the biggest misanthropes must admit that a few of them are smart and capable.  Yahoo apparently wasn’t able to encounter any keepers, however, as it’s stopped searching for someone to lead the company’s international division. This position opened up in February of 2009 as Carol Bartz really...

AOL Hires Google, Microsoft Veteran As Head Of Tech

The Google-ization of AOL continued today as Jeff Reynar, who used to work for the search giant as an engineering manager, joined the company.  AOL’s appointed Reynar Head of Technology for Engineering and Products in New York. We should note that Reynar didn’t head to AOL straight from Google; he spent the last 18 or so months as the CTO of DBT Labs.  So it’s not like AOL...

Baidu CTO’s Resignation Announced

It appears that not all is well (or at least normal) at Baidu.  Last week, the company’s COO abruptly resigned, and today, its CTO followed suit.  Both men cited "personal reasons" for their departures, and Baidu’s made little other information available. Either exit might have been considered unremarkable on its own.  The COO, Peng Ye, left before Google made its...

Yahoo Adds Ernst & Young Veteran To Board

Yahoo’s board of directors has gained another member.  Sue James, who’s spent most of the past 35 years working for and with Ernst & Young, joined it earlier this week, and became Chair of the Board’s Audit Committee at the same time. James’s resume is rather impressive, indicating a deep understanding of tech organizations’ finances.  Yahoo announced in...

Baidu’s COO Resigns

Several changes in Baidu’s executive lineup occurred today, and fans can take heart in the fact that two of them came about as the result of promotions.  The third is a little more troubling, insofar as Baidu’s chief operating officer resigned "for personal reasons." The term "personal reasons" has represented any number of realities, of course. A person may be...