Facebook announced two
big team changes yesterday that signal the social media giant’s growing focus
on how to convert its skyrocketing popularity into skyrocketing revenue.
First came the
appointment of new Chief Financial Officer David Ebersman, a veteran of the
well-known biotechnology company Genentech. Of his fifteen years at Genentech,
Ebersman’s last four saw him working as CFO for the thriving company, up until
its $40+ billion dollar sale to foreign drug company Roche Holding.
Next, Facebook hired Prashant
Fuloria, accoding to Inside Facebook, as the new Director of Product Management, in charge of overseeing
payment processes through the website. Previously, Fuloria served Google for
six years as the Director of Product Management, where he had the chance to
work on a variety of projects, including Google Checkout.
Both of these changes
demonstrate that Facebook is increasingly looking to monetize its popular
website. And while the hiring of Ebersman as CFO may benefit the company
greatly, the appointment of Fuloria should have more direct effects on actual
user experience. Fuloria, with his experience working on Google Checkout, may try to implement successful elements of that application into Facebook’s own online payment platform.
Though various startups
and companies have tried their hand at providing, Facebook has yet to employ
any sort of universal payment platform.
Mobile monetization
company Echovox, established in 2000, has developed a mobile payment system
called Zong, which Facebook
developers can use to charge users for various services. Further, Slide, one of the leading
developers on Facebook with over 80 million applications installed, is
currently working on a platform for monetizing the popularity of those applications.
How quickly and
efficiently Facebook can, with these new staff changes, roll out a new payment
system that will expand its revenue to meet current projections will ultimately
show how successful the company will be in the long-term.
