Flickr’s New Head Used to Be a National Geographic Wildlife Photographer

Yahoo made some management moves a couple of weeks ago, with VP Adam Cahan becoming head of the company’s mobile endeavors and its photo-sharing service, Flickr. Cahan was previously the founder and CEO of IntoNow, a 12-week-old company that Yahoo acquired last year for $20 to $30 million.

Cahan’s new title is “SVP of Emerging Products and Technology”, and he’ll be reporting directly to new CEO Marissa Mayer. In an internal Yahoo memo sent out on October 25th, Mayer writes,

To aid our efforts, I’m promoting Adam Cahan to lead this effort as Senior Vice President of Emerging Products and Technology. Adam will be a member of e-staff and report directly to me. He will oversee our mobile efforts, enabled screens (CTV+IntoNow), and Flickr. Adam will be responsible for building a world-class team focused on creating innovative products and experiences that inspire and delight our users worldwide. [#]

A good thing about Cahan leading Flickr is that he’s quite familiar with the world of photography. The San Jose Business Journal writes that before entering the corporate world, Cahan was a National Geographic wildlife photographer who had “contributed to Emmy award-winning television documentaries about Africa.”

Mayer seems to be serious about her plan to give Flickr more attention than it has been receiving in recent years. Putting an actual photographer at the helm of the service is a good first step.


P.S. Hopefully Cahan starts using Flickr himself.


Image credit: Blake Irving, Mike Kerns, Adam Cahan and Tim Parsey on stage during the Yahoo! Product Runway event by Yodel Anecdotal

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