Yesterday, Gene Yoon (AKA Ginsu), Linden Lab's vice-president of Corporate Development surprised us somewhat by announcing his impending departure from the Lab. Yoon is considered one of the last of the "old guard" among Linden Lab executives.
Admittedly, this is something that we should have seen coming, perhaps. Over the last few months Corporate and Business Development and Marketing has changed direction and been almost completely refit with new personnel.
It makes perfect sense that Yoon would look into moving on to other opportunities at this juncture.
Formerly General Counsel for the Lab, Yoon had a strong impact on almost every aspect of the business during his time there, from Human Resources to enterprise products, both before and after moving up to Corporate Development.
Yoon has attracted both fond praise and ire from Second Life users for his businesslike and no-nonsense approach to Second Life as both a business and as a series of products. Of all of the Linden Lab executives to-date, he seems to have been held in the most consistent esteem by the company's customers.
Yoon is the last of the old Linden Lab executives to serve at the company, with the exception of founder and chairman, Philip Rosedale. With this penultimate departure, another stage of the transition from struggling startup to junior corporation seems to be complete.
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