Pinterest Loses Engineering and HR Execs Ahead of Rumored IPO
*By Alex Heath*
Pinterest is losing two of its senior executives ahead of its rumored initial public offering next year, Cheddar has learned.
The company’s senior vice president of engineering, Li Fan, and senior vice president of people, Kurt Serrano, have both left, according to a spokesperson. The two departures come after former president Tim Kendall stepped down [in November 2017] (https://www.recode.net/2017/11/30/16717432/tim-kendall-pinterest-leaving-departs-ipo-health-care-startup) and its head of ad products, Jon Alferness, [left a few months ago] (https://marketingland.com/pinterests-head-of-ad-products-exits-company-less-than-6-months-after-taking-over-ad-business-237600).
A Pinterest spokesperson told Cheddar that Fan, who previously ran photo search at Google, was leaving to be vice president of engineering at scooter startup Lime. The spokesperson declined to comment on Serrano’s departure.
“As SVP of Engineering, Li made important contributions to Pinterest, including growing the engineering team and leading it through major launches in areas like computer vision and recommendations,” the spokesperson said. “We wish her well as she continues on her path and brings her skills to a start-up. We’re fortunate to have strong technical leaders to oversee the organization as we grow.”
In a statement shared with Cheddar, Fan said she is “proud of what we’ve achieved, and what the team will undoubtedly accomplish as it, the user base, and product continue to grow.”
With more than a decade of experience at tech giants like Google and China-based Baidu, Fan was seen inside Pinterest as a seasoned executive brought in to help shepherd the company’s engineering department through an eventual IPO, a person familiar with the matter told Cheddar. Pinterest [recently hired] (https://www.bizjournals.com/sanjose/news/2018/02/27/pinterest-first-coo-square-google-ipo-brougher.html) Francoise Brougher from Square to be its first chief operating officer.
Pinterest is one of Silicon Valley’s most valuable private startups, estimated to be worth north of $12 billion. The visual discovery service last raised $150 million in June 2017 and is reportedly planning to hold an initial public offering in 2019. CNBC [recently reported] (https://www.cnbc.com/2018/07/20/pinterest-nearing-1-billion-in-ad-revenue-as-it-plans-to-ipo-mid-2019.html) that Pinterest was on track to bring in roughly $1 billion in ad revenue this year.
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