Linden Labs search for CEO ends with Organic exec

Organic CEO Mark Kingdon will take the reigns of Linden Labs on May 15, when chief Philip Rosedale steps down to become chairman of the board.

Rosedale had said that the company needed a chief executive with more operational experience when he first announced his intent to resign in mid-March. Although Kingdon may have not been the person many were expecting, he does seem to fit those qualities.

Most recently, Kingdon served as CEO of Organic, a digital communications company. He has worked with idealab! and PricewaterhouseCoopers, in both cases providing operational guidance and consulting work.

Second Life, Linden's premiere product, will benefit from someone better prepared to review the day-to-day operations of the service. After boom period lasting until about 18 months ago, userbase growth has essentially stalled for the game.

With a majority of its registered users inactive, and overall troubles with the service itself, Kingdon joins a company at a crossroads. He may also find himself struggling with the vastly different corporate culture, much more decentralized than usual.

That doesn't seem to be holding him back, however. "Until Second Life, we experienced the digital world passively in two dimensions. By enabling users to create a rich and immersive virtual world, Second Life is transforming the way we connect, collaborate, learn and transact online," he said. "I am thrilled to be part of this epic transformation."

In the world, Kingdon will be known as M Linden. Rosedale said on the Second Life blog that he planned to introduce the new CEO to users through in-world meetings.

Transformation may be indeed what the company needs. The question remains, however, is if Kingdon is the right person to bring it.