Facebook is Raiding Executive Ranks

It’s actually fun to watch. Google, the number one company in the world with excess cash, is being raided by Facebook- all in a bid to catch the best and brightest stars in business. But Facebook isn’t just hitting on Google- they’re poaching Microsoft and others too. Whatever happened to non-compete clauses? Thou shall not steal/ covet my best executives- oh, well, what a little money can do.

In the frenzy of competitive jumps to Facebook, here’s a quick snapshot:

· For top talent, it started in 2008 when Zuckerberg hired Sheryl Sandberg, a Google executive, as chief operating officer.

· Also in 2008, Facebook hired from Google Elliot Schrage to be Vice President of Global Communications, Marketing and Public Policy.

· In 2009, Facebook jumped over to eBay and hired Lori Goler as Vice President of Human Resources and Recruiting, responsible for all aspects of Facebook’s people strategy. · Facebook then grabbed two more from Google to new positions- Vice President of Advertising and Global Operations David Fischer and mobile head Erick Tseng.

· It may seem like Bret Taylor, Chief Technology Officer of Facebook, has been there forever. Previously, he was the co-founder and CEO of FriendFeed, which was acquired by Facebook in August 2009. Before that, Bret worked at Google, where he co-created Google Maps before leaving in 2007 for FriendFeed.

· In a TechCrunch article last fall, Michael Arrington wrote that LinkedIn tracked 118 ‘Googlers’ going to Facebook. For some Googlers, it’s paying off just to go get an offer from Facebook and then tell their boss – a counter offer is almost sure to come.

· Earlier this month, Mr. Zoufonoun from Google announced he will join Facebook as director, corporate development, but declined to provide further comment. Google had no immediate comment.

· Microsoft raids- in Febraury, global ad sales head Carolyn Everson left for Facebook to be its VP of global sales. A few weeks before, Facebook hired Chris Daniels, GM of Bing Mobile Product Management, to be director of business development. The story goes that Facebook and Microsoft are friends, with investment and all that. Don’t think so now.

To be fair, having a winning product like Facebook in today’s competitive environment and being invited to play in the sandbox is like hitting a lottery- people wait a lifetime to join this kind of ride. I’m being smug, but it’s a pretty good ride here at hereiam, except we don’t get paid the big bucks!!