• Skype Recruits Yahoo Engineering Exec For Key Technology Role

    Leena Rao

    Leena Rao is currently a Senior Editor for TechCrunch. She recently finished graduate school at the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University, where she studied business journalism and videography. From 2004 to 2007, she helped lead Congresswoman Carloyn Maloney’s community outreach and relations efforts in New York City. She graduated from Columbia University in 2003, where she was... → Learn More

    Tuesday, July 6th, 2010

    The exodus of talent from Yahoo continues. Skype has just announced that Madhu Yarlagadda, Yahoo’s VP of Engineering, has joined the company has as the new Chief Development Officer. Yarlagadda will report to Skype CEO Josh Silverman and will oversee Skype’s engineering and development initiatives. The company’s current CTO Dan Berg will be leaving the company following Yarlgadda’s transition to the role

    Yarlgadda joins Skype from Yahoo where he was VP of Engineering for ICE (Integrated Consumer Experiences), leading engineering efforts for Yahoo’s Home Page, MyYahoo, Buzz, Profiles, ToolBar, Mobile, Maps and Local. Most recentlyhelped unite 35 plys different code bases of Yahoo home page for each of the different countries around the world into a single manageable code base.

    Yarlagadda, who spent more than 11 years at Yahoo, was also previously VP of Engineering for Yahoo Communities, which includes Messenger, Voice (VoIP), Video, Flickr and Yahoo Groups. He joined Yahoo in 1999 after his realtime messaging company MyQuest was acquired by Yahoo.

    Other Yahoo execs who have recently departed the company include EVP Arsh Patel, CTO Ari Balogh, and Search VP Larry Cornett.

    As for Skype, the company may be looking to add new ideas and leadership to its engineering platform. And Yarlagadda seems to be a seasoned exec, especially on mobile initiatives. And this could be a big year for Skype if the company goes public.

    Company: Skype
    Website: skype.com
    Launch Date: August 2003
    Funding: $69.1M

    Skype is a software application that allows users to make voice and video calls and chats over the Internet. Calls to other users within the Skype service are free, while calls to both traditional landline telephones and mobile phones can be made for a fee using a debit-based user account system. Skype was founded by Niklas Zennstrom and Janus Friis who were also the founders of the file sharing application Kazaa. Skype has also become popular for its additional...

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