About Me 0086: Being Right or Making Money

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Coburn wants 67 votes for filibuster
by Brian Darling

No, This Process Is Too Far Along For a 'Third Party' To Solve It
by IJB

That's not all.
by Menlo

Charade is the perfect name for it too...nt
by AceInTX

I've been through Israeli security several times
by wennejunk

Why increase it?
by froster

Do you listen to John King for John King or when Erick is on?
by froster

Turns out that my Sen. Chambliss voted NO because it didn't apply to less than $500K! so conservatives don't even have 25
by Mike gamecock DeVine

ladyimpactohio- That statement is key
by Scope

Gamecock is on hold for Erick...nt
by Mike gamecock DeVine

Although the words "cap and trade" were never mentioned..
by ladyimpactohio

Vassar, "not one of us." "This is the dance of elitist."
by penguin2

Senator Dodd and his farewell speech
by npaul

and call the senators that voted for this thing and warn them
by Mike gamecock DeVine

thx guy - nt
by Mike gamecock DeVine

Ohio can claim all kinds of good things
by npaul

Not so sure about that NYTimes article
by aesthete

Some history of Chanukah in America
by ashland_avenue

Speaking of Sherrod Brown...
by redtillimdead

Put down your pitchforks and think, people...
by thejaykob

You'll have to start one in the diaries
by Erick Erickson

Do your research
by azmar

I beg to differ
by Brian Darling

It could be bait placed by the Obama
by Warrior

Republicans were wrong in 2005
by Brian Darling

I would beg to differ on the election assessment
by ceili_dancer

I am in favor of a 67 vote threshold on the filibuster
by Brian Darling

mirac777- The tactic that I will only listen to those in my district
by Scope

Forum
by BigGator5

But for the filibuster, government would be even bigger.
by Brian Darling

I wasn't going to post in this thread
by Finrod

I said then, and say now
by cwilson

RedState
by Erick Erickson

Pretty AWESOME diary you got there Vassar....
by JadedByPolitics

I opposed the Constitutional Option
by Brian Darling

You can email me.
by Erick Erickson

Conservative Forum?
by BigGator5

Can we send you questions?
by Brian Darling

Abuse of the filibuster
by cwilson

and on to the next userpation of the liberties of Americans...nt
by AceInTX

News broke late yesterday that Lance Tokuda is stepping down from his role as chief executive of social game- and app-maker RockYou. Coming barely more than a month after the company announced substantial layoffs, we started wondering where RockYou is headed. So I got on the phone with chief operating officer Lisa Marino to find out.

Marino emphasized that both Tokuda’s decision (he will remain at RockYou working on “innovation and strategic initiatives”) and the layoffs were part of a larger reorganization at RockYou as it focuses on social games. The company was already making games, such as Zoo World, but Marino said it was doing too many other things — if you asked people in the industry what RockYou did, you’d get “a mixed bag of answers.”

So RockYou laid off part of its workforce (it never said how much), hired new employees with what Marino called “the right DNA to build the good games” (such as former EA executive Jonathan Knight), and in the last month alone, it shut down more than 50 applications. RockYou has become “a really different place,” Marino said.

And we’ll see the fruits of this new focus in the next few months, she added, as RockYou unveils new products that will make it “very relevant” in the social games industry.

When I asked how RockYou hopes to stand out against giants like Zynga, Marino said the company isn’t just a game-maker. Yes, it’s focused on making games, but it’s also “a social entertainment company”. There’s a media and advertising side to RockYou’s business, which it uses to make money from its own games (so it’s not just tied to virtual goods) and to help other developers do the same.

“This was an aggressive move and a proactive move,” Marino said. “We’ve got a lot of money in the bank.”

Revenue is still strong, she added, with RockYou set to make more money in the fourth quarter of 2010 than it did in Q3 or Q2 (but not as much as Q1).

RockYou has raised $127 million in funding, so if its investors (including Sequoia Capital and Lightspeed Venture Partners) want to see a healthy return, they’ll need a bigger exit than rival Slide’s $228 million acquisition by Google.

Tokuda’s departure from the CEO role fit into that restructuring, Marino said, and it also came from his realization that as the company grows, it will need a “been here, done that” CEO with more experience growing organizations. For now, Marino and the rest of the current executive team are managing RockYou while the company searches for a replacement.

“Because the management team is doing well, we have the luxury of being patient to find the right candidate,” she said.

[Photo of Lance Tokuda at the Facebook Developer Garage via Flickr/Niall Kennedy]

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eric seiger do

Wednesday, December 1, 2010

Being Right or Making Money

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