Peering Inside: Philip Rosedale regains his Second Life
Filed under: Culture, MMO industry, Opinion, Second Life, Virtual worlds, Peering Inside
With Friday's announcement of Rosedale stepping down from CEO of Linden Lab and stepping up as board chairman, things certainly start to look interesting for Second Life. You see, Rosedale was the one who really kicked off this latest generation of virtual worlds, much of it by imagination and force of will.
Unfortunately, for some years he's barely been involved. But wait -- he's CEO of Linden Lab, right? Yes, that's right; which means he's probably had about as much focus on the world itself as the person who orders the beef jerky and pencils. Maybe less.
In many companies like Linden Lab, usually all the really important strategic decisions get made by the board, and all the important tactical decisions by the vice-presidents. The CEO acts as a valve and buffer, reporting the company status and operations to the board and relaying their decisions and wishes to the company. The CEO is both a reporting conduit and a safety valve. They're also the ones who generally do media appearances, travel, and act as a human image/icon for the business. (Whether Linden Lab follows this particular model or not, however, doesn't matter so much in this case, as we'll see)
Much of this doesn't seem to be in Rosedale's nature, and it is a role that doesn't actually leave much time for using or thinking about Second Life, itself. Rosedale's also been a company director, where the key decisions are likely actually made, but without the time to spend directly with the product, it seems hard to see just how much genuine input into the virtual world Rosedale has had over the last few years.
We're going to suggest probably very, very little.
Once a replacement CEO is on-deck that changes. The daily grind of CEO activities is then off Rosedale's plate. His attention can be on Second Life itself nearly full-time (something which we believe is rare in Linden Lab, where the work behind the virtual world drastically limits the amount of time spent observing and interacting with the virtual world).
If you choose to analogize Rosedale as the god of Second Life, well god's been away for a long time and the world has been running largely without him. Soon, by all the signs, he will be returning. To observe, consider and make decisions for his creation.
We're fascinated by the possibilities, yet also a little nervous. Linden Lab has, for years, seen Second Life through a very narrow aperture, unable to devote the resources to really getting a solid feel for what goes on in the virtual world, and how people are interacting with it. As different employees spent a bit of time here and there, it has been a bit like the blind men and the elephant - or a bit like us figuring out what's going on inside Linden Lab by observation, if you prefer.
In the new role, Rosedale will be able to really sit down with Second Life and interact and observe and then sit down with the board and communicate all of that, along with his vision, for decision-making.
It doesn't actually matter so much at what level the decision-making in Linden Lab is taking place, and whether Linden Lab is a representative company of its class or not. We think that will be a more direct and responsive decision-making role with respect to Second Life than Rosedale's had for years, and Rosedale will probably have more impact on Second Life and its users after the appointment of his successor than he ever has before.
Whether that pleases or frightens you depends a lot on the sorts of observations and decisions you think Rosedale might make, when the time comes and whether you think his vision truly aligns with the vision of the people who use Second Life on an every-day basis.
-- Next week, we'll be examining what an IPO would mean to Linden Lab.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
3-17-2008 @ 11:30AM
Samantha Poindexter said...
If you choose to analogize Rosedale as the god of Second Life, well god's been away for a long time and the world has been running largely without him. Soon, by all the signs, he will be returning. To observe, consider and make decisions for his creation.
Speaking as the pastor of the First Church of Rosedale (Immersionist), I feel compelled to say "Hallelujah!" :-)
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3-17-2008 @ 12:24PM
Loki said...
Do you think he would come have an adventure with us kid av's for a day, roast marshmellows, dig for treasure and shoot daleks on the beach? :)
Reply
3-17-2008 @ 12:25PM
Tateru Nino said...
Well, heck. He probably should. I would if I were him.
3-17-2008 @ 2:28PM
Prokofy Neva said...
Tateru, you speak as if you are a veteran of American boards, and you are not. The idea that the venture capitalists on the board are the makers and pacers of strategy is a curious notion, given that the vision and strategy are first laid out by the start-up when it *seeks* VC. And many boards grow decorative with time, or become involved only in strictly business decisions or personnel matters. Unfortunately, we can't know, because it's a privately-held company, but we have had a fascinating glimpse, not only from the faux-leaked emails from Cory's departure, but from Thomas Malaby's fascinating although sadly outdated report of 2005, the basis for his book.
He describes an obsessive compulsive control over every aspect of the company:
http://terranova.blogs.com/terra_nova/2008/03/philip-rosedale.html#comments
Here, the greatly renowned and resourced and connected Mitch Kapor is stepping aside to put this very hands-on, overly-involved CEO as...chairman of the Board. We never saw Mitch Kapor inworld. Ever. In our lives. He came to SLCC 2. He never came in world.
Philip might have seemed less involved with the inworld aspects of Second Life in recent years, but in the earlier years he was absolutely integral to the evolving community, constantly giving town halls and having walkabouts.
And he constantly dives in and gets very wrapped up in certain things that seize him. I was stunned about six months ago when I saw the sun in Second Life was changed to this big, dripping fried egg. This was in preparation for Windlight to come in. Exasperated, I fired off a brief IM to Philip Linden: "Hey, what did you do with the sun! Put it back the way it was!"
*Within seconds* my IM box was blinking. "Philip Linden via Blackberry"> "Why? What happened? How has it changed for you?"
I explained. Then, within minutes: "Can you please send me some before and after photos?"
Philip is not going to need to sit down inside Second Life, or *with* Second Life, Tateru. He's going to have to oversee the orderly transition of his dream. Many people leave so they don't have to watch that painful process.
This idea that companies start up and then murder their CEOs after a few years and then have a bigger company eat them is a pecularly Silicon Valley artifact. Wendy's did not kill Dave. My God, even when Dave died, he didn't die, if you know what I mean.
Philip would always make these sort of brass-balled statements to me, like, if I complained about the corporate handouts and setasides on the Welcome Area APIs, etc. he'd say, "OK, let's take all the welcome areas, corporate and resident-made, and let's see who retains the customers the best, and those that can't will be closed."
So I can only come back with similar, uh, testicularity, frankly. Philip always said he could make more money in Second Life as an SL entrepreneur than he could as CEO of Linden Lab.
OK, do it.
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