NEWS

Facebook Executive Leaves To Join Venture Capital Firm

Wall Street Journal
June 19, 2008
By Rebecca Buckman

One of Facebook Inc.'s top executives, Matt Cohler, is leaving the company, the latest departure at the high-profile Web start-up as it works to translate its popularity into profits.

Mr. Cohler, 31 years old, was one of Facebook's first five employees and now serves as its vice-president of product management. He is also a key lieutenant to Facebook Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg and widely admired by employees for his efficiency. But this fall, Mr. Cohler will become a venture capitalist at Benchmark Capital, he and Benchmark said Thursday. Mr. Cohler will continue to serve as a special advisor to the company and to Mr. Zuckerberg, however.

"It was just the right thing for me," Mr. Cohler said of his move. In an interview, he said he has always been interested in "working with great entrepreneurs to build lasting companies, and that's basically what you do as a venture capitalist." Prior to joining Facebook, Mr. Cohler was a founding employee at LinkedIn Corp., another well-known Internet start-up that specializes in professional networking.

"I love Facebook," Mr. Cohler added, saying it was difficult for him to leave—particularly after Facebook in March hired Sheryl Sandberg, a former Google Inc. executive, as its new chief operating officer. Mr. Cohler helped recruit Ms. Sandberg to the new position.

But Benchmark's offer to allow him to remain an advisor to the company "made [leaving] a little easier for me," he said. Mr. Cohler will be a general partner at Benchmark, the firm's ninth.

Facebook issued a statement from Mr. Zuckerberg. "Matt is a valuable member of our team and one of our earliest executives," he said. "He has been an important contributor to Facebook's growth and success and we are pleased he will continue working with us in a formal role -- as a special advisor to me and the Facebook management team."

Talks to lure Mr. Cohler away from the start-up began about a month ago, he and Benchmark Partner Peter Fenton said, though Messrs. Fenton and Cohler have known each other for several years and have kept in close touch. Mr. Fenton said he has long wanted to recruit Mr. Cohler to Benchmark, the Menlo Park, Calif., firm that has backed tech stars such as eBay Inc., Juniper Networks Inc. and MySQL AB.

Mr. Cohler's departure comes at a shaky time for Facebook, the pioneering "social-networking" Web site that is currently valued at $15 billion by investors. The four-year old company—founded by Mr. Zuckerberg when he was an undergraduate at Harvard University--is trying to professionalize its management and morph from a youth-oriented chat site into a profitable Internet company.

Ms. Sandberg, for instance, has been rolling out new management and operations procedures, such as guidelines for employee performance reviews, training programs and new recruiting processes. But the company has lost some key executives recently, including Adam D'Angelo, the company's former chief technology officer, and Owen Van Natta, who served as chief revenue officer and chief operating officer.