New World Newsfeed: Ex-Lindens on Cory Linden's Leaving; Philip Linden Responds

Melancholy robot (and ex-Linden) Iridium among friends

Several people have asked me if I had any inside insights on Cory Linden's departure from the company last week, giving up his role as Chief Technology Officer; in all honesty, Linden Lab has changed so much since my own exit in February 2006, it's difficult (and irresponsible) of me to offer anything but wild speculation.  I do know many Lindens socially, and by and large, they remain excited if exhausted about the developments ahead.  At the same time, I also know several Lindens who've left in the last few months, and since they have a closer perspective than me, I asked a couple for their personal opinion-- then sought Philip Linden's reply.   

"If the proverbial dominoes have begun to fall at Linden," the ex-Chadrick Linden tells me, "then it started many months ago, and Cory is the largest one to fall yet." Chadrick (left) was a member of the company's community team since 2005, and moved on in recent weeks. "It makes me worry about the companies future, no matter how much I respect it."

"Despite the fact that Linden Lab is comprised of an extraordinary group of people," the ex-Iridium Linden tells me, "I can't help but think Cory's departure is a terrible loss."  Also a former member of the company's community staff, Iridium remains optimistic for his future in the metaverse industry.  "I think we're all expecting nothing short of spectacular from Cory's forthcoming ventures. Here's to hoping that he continues to build virtual worlds."

I relayed the gist of these  downbeat assessments to Philip Linden.  What did he say to the opinion that Cory's departure was a bad sign for the company's future? 

Iridium's de-Lindened Second Life avatar and her human owner

"Cory is an amazing and talented guy who has been a big part of both product and vision, and he'll be greatly missed by us all," Philip tells me through a Linden PR rep. "However, our internal organizational strategy has been to create highly skilled generalists with overlapping responsibilities, at both the management and individual level. This structure makes us very durable to the loss of an individual.  We will be able to continue forward with the same vision for Second Life that Cory, myself, and the whole team share."

Shortly after Cory's leaving became news last week, Philip gave an extensive interview on the subject to the BBC, but nothing about it has been said to Second Life users. Did they plan to make any announcements about Cory's departure on the official blog or any other Linden-to-community channels?

Philip with the author during his Linden days

Philip's reply: "There are no plans to make an announcement at this time. While there’s understandably some interest in this news, ultimately, this is an internal Linden Lab matter. We do plan on updating the community from a technical standpoint early in the new year."

In Cory's leaked internal e-mail, he states that "Philip and my visions for the future of Linden Lab are divergent enough that he decided to lead in his own way." Considering all the people who now have a livelihood that depends on Second Life, what assurances can the Lindens give them that Philip's path is the correct one? Or to put it another way, what if Cory was right?

Philip again: "Cory and I share a common vision for Second Life; we don’t disagree on the strategic direction of the platform or the company. Our differences were unrelated to product or company strategy.  While we’ll certainly miss him, his departure will not cause a shift in the direction of Second Life or Linden Lab."

 

Comments

[Laetizia Coronet]

I am falling off of my new Italian seat here. On the verge of returning to SL (some tech difficulty in my laptop holds me back) I discover that Iridium is gone, Chad is gone and Cory is gone?
Oy gevalt... I wonder what's lft of the world I knew just three months ago when I do step back in.

[subatomicdog]

Typical Philip double speak and a wee bit of softball questioning. If Cory leaving was an "Internal LL matter" and thats why they didn't tell the user base then why did they give an interview to the BBC. Makes NO sense. You really should have caught that and followed up with Philip.

As usual, we get no real answers from him....

[Luce Imaginary]

As usual, we get no real answers from him....

Why should we? I've never seen a company run differently.

[SDC]

Yeah, if your tech guy leaves, and the guy spouting a lot of BS about 'our internal organizational strategy has been to create highly skilled generalists with overlapping responsibilities' is the one still there, it doesn't really bode well. It's probably easy to replace the individual slapping together the corporate politically correct slop (a bit of Googling and most anybody could repurpose old press releases), but dealing with the thorny tech problems is maybe not so 'overlappable'.

[Viajero Pugilist]

It's kabuki. The real story is not going to emerge "through a Linden PR rep".

[jon himoff]

James:

Interesting data from LL just posted. I am working on our business plan and made some analysis. In general looks like end of growth for SL... take a look http://www.rezzable.com/blog

[jon himoff]

James:

Interesting data from LL just posted. I am working on our business plan and made some analysis. In general looks like end of growth for SL... take a look http://www.rezzable.com/blog