Zynga CTO Of Infrastructure Walks Out As Executives Continue To Flee

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Talk about an executive exodus; Zynga Inc (NASDAQ:ZNGA) is currently neck deep in unfamiliar waters after it recently embarked on a bearish journey that was marked by several executives walking out it.

Adding to the list of top executives who have walked away from the company is Chief Technology Officer Allan Leinwand. The CTO follows the Chief Operating Officer Schappert and Creative Officer Mike Verdu among other executives.

The talented CTO, who is credited for his contribution towards maintaining Zynga’s server infrastructure, has left Zynga for ServiceNow. This is a fatal blow especially after considering the innovation and ideas that Leinwand brought to the table. The now former Zynga CTO steered Zynga Inc (NASDAQ:ZNGA)’s move from Amazon’s cloud to its own independent server infrastructure dubbed zCloud.

Interestingly, Leinwand is not the only executive who has walked away into the open arms of new employers. Cityville general manager Allan Patmore has also left for Kixeye, a “hard core” game developer targeting competitive male gamers.

This quick transition underscores the brimming talent that Zynga Inc (NASDAQ:ZNGA) has lost. On the flip side, it suggests that Zynga’s competitors are closely following Zynga’s movements, looking out for any prospective executives who can add to the success of their operations.

Zynga’s initial strategy was typical of any startup and has perhaps led to this untimely yet predictable exodus. Like most startups, the company filtered through the competition for talented executives by enticing employees with valuable stock options in exchange for toilsome hours.

Things however went haywire when the stock started plunging. The obvious monetary gains of working at Zynga soon faded off and employees started feeling the pain of working for long hours. In addition to that, the suppressing work culture coupled with the dwindling prospects aggravated the situation and pushed employees to the curb.

All the same, Zynga Inc (NASDAQ:ZNGA) CEO Mark Pincus does not seem shaken by the exodus. After all, he still has his inner circle, including two of his co-founders. It is believed that Pincus, alongside his trusted close colleagues, are working on a secretive high priority internal project.

While a section of critics may argue that prospects at Zynga Inc (NASDAQ:ZNGA) are bleak, this many not be the case. Zynga is involuntarily going through an inevitable transition as it tries to establish a footing in the fast changing social gaming niche.

In fact, if employees continue with the Exodus during this hard period, the company may actually be left with employees who are genuinely interested in making breakthroughs in the social gaming frontier.

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