Zynga founder Mark Pincus will be stepping down from his current position as Chief Product Officer after another weak quarter for the developer. Pincus, who was previously replaced as CEO by Don Mattrick, will further step down from all operational roles, leaving the day-to-day business of the company altogether. He will still be the Chairman of the Board for Zynga.
Since its IPO in 2011, Zynga seems to have been losing ground as they have failed to further develop their business model, and follow ups to their hits Farmville and Mafia Wars failed to catch on. The company has been cutting jobs in an attempt to be more efficient, but has also been trying to attract talent with more industry experience, which was sorely lacking in its founding team. Earlier this month, Zynga replaced its Chief Financial Officer and Chief Account Officer Mark Vranesh with David Lee, who has a reputation for having a keen strategic mind, and a reputation for helping to turn around failing companies.
In addition, Zynga announced the addition of several new executives as well, the most notable of which is the addition of Alex Garden as president. Garden used to head the Xbox Live, Reading and Music division at Microsoft. Effective May 5th, all of Zynga games studios will report to him. Joining Garden are Academy Award nominated visual artist Henry LaBounta as Chief Visual Officer, and Jennifer Nuckles, who previously served as CMO of Plum District, as Chief Marketing Officer.
Despite weak earnings, investors are confident these changes will help the company, as shares jumped 5.7% in after-hours trading. Personally I am not as optimistic. Zynga has been bleeding users, losing nearly half of its active user base in the past year. While they are no longer hampered by their exclusive deal with Facebook, their plan seems to be entering an already crowded mobile market that is itself ruled by other big, established players. I am also skeptical of CEO’s Don Mattricks’ ability to read the market and understand his target audience. After all, many feel that his move from Microsoft to Zynga was a way to avoid getting fired for this:
