Comments on: Xing CEO quits, replaced by former eBay drone

By: Mike Butcher

Mike Butcher — Wed, 26 Nov 2008 16:15:19 +0000

Ah well there goes the interview with the new CEO huh. Hey ho.

By: Tom

Tom — Wed, 26 Nov 2008 10:31:36 +0000

Also a bit of an eats shoots and leaves problem, is he no longer a drone having now left the hive? Or does his drone-ness remain? Either way it’s seems a bit harsh to slam the guy in the title, especially as the body points out that xing is now a public entity, thus making a corporate hire a somewhat sensible move.

Also, Mike’s comment that it has a lot problems seems pretty tangential, what has skype got to do with Stefan’s droneyness?

By: Doug Monro

Doug Monro — Mon, 24 Nov 2008 21:45:37 +0000

Isn’t a drone an unmanned aircraft in the Pakistan/Afghanistan border area?

Not sure that’s entirely fair on Stefan, not long ago Germany (remember Alando?) was eBay’s most successful market but I guess you get tarred with the corporate giant / slowdown brush pretty quick these days.

By: Mike Butcher

Mike Butcher — Mon, 24 Nov 2008 19:41:31 +0000

@liam – I’ll live.

By: liam

liam — Mon, 24 Nov 2008 19:39:38 +0000

Jeez Mike, don’t think you’ll be getting many Christmas cards from Germany or 2145 Hamilton Avenue….

By: Mike Butcher

Mike Butcher — Mon, 24 Nov 2008 17:12:54 +0000

Ebay is no longer a startup, it’s an established business with, as it happens, a tonne of problems and challenges, not least of which what to do with Skype. Actually, I’m sure Gross-Selbeck is a great guy – but eBay does tend to pick’em… But that’s the beauty of comments, right? Now I know he has people out there who think he ain’t a drone…

By: liam

liam — Mon, 24 Nov 2008 13:48:29 +0000

And pray tell has Dr Stefan Gross-Selbeck done to deserve the “drone” moniker?

By: Thomas Power

Thomas Power — Mon, 24 Nov 2008 12:28:23 +0000

this is a real surprise Lars’ work is far from finished after just 5 years, I’ve been doing Ecademy for 11 years in 2009 and I know the job is never finished. Social Networks do not have an end they are permanent live R&D.

By: Ian Hendry

Ian Hendry — Mon, 24 Nov 2008 11:18:32 +0000

Nice work Mike. The fact that a replacement is already announced suggests this has been in the offing for some time and that DPA-AFX latched on early.

Although he may well have “an exit of sorts” Xing still has a lot to do to create a truly dominant position in Europe or realise a position in Asia. It is also under-represented in the US, where it could be offering strong opposition to LinkedIn. I would suggest Hinrichs’ work is far from done.

So what else can we read into this…?

Ian Hendry
CEO, WeCanDo.BIZ
http://www.wecando.biz

By: Danvers Baillieu

Danvers Baillieu — Mon, 24 Nov 2008 11:00:54 +0000

Why is Dr Stefan Gross-Selbeck a drone? Maybe he’s a very lively and interesting person.