Alex Garden's Email Addresses & Phone Numbers

"Everything is theoretically impossible, until it is done. One could write a history of science in reverse by assembling the solemn pronouncements of highest authority about what could not be done and could never happen." -- Robert A.Heinlein (The Rolling Stones) As an entrepreneur I've founded, sold or flamed out of start-up companies in the Industrial Robotics,...

"Everything is theoretically impossible, until it is done. One could write a history of science in reverse by assembling the solemn pronouncements of highest authority about what could not be done and could never happen." -- Robert A.Heinlein (The Rolling Stones) As an entrepreneur I've founded, sold or flamed out of start-up companies in the Industrial Robotics, Medical Imaging, Packaged Goods Video Game, Online Video Game, Parking Management Systems, Linear Media and Advertising industries. As an Executive I have had a variety of senior and C-level positions in industries ranging from video-games to digital media. Through all of these adventures big and small, the thing I value the most are the amazing individuals and teams I've had the privilege to work with. Changing the world is a team sport!Executive Advisor @ At Airware I work with the CEO, Engineering teams and Product teams on a wide range of projects. From August 2015 to Present (3 months) San Francisco Bay AreaExecutive Chairman @ From June 2015 to Present (5 months) San Francisco Bay AreaPresident, Zynga Studios @ As the President of Zynga, my responsibilities include leadership of 1,400 amazing employees across our global operations excepting Natural Motion in the UK. Additionally, I lead the CIO, CTO and Data Science organizations. In this role, I am responsible for: - Product Design across all of our major live franchises - Slate Planning for the Studios Organization - Direction of our high-level strategic technical roadmap - Data strategy for the company - P&L ownership for the majority of the company's business From April 2014 to March 2015 (1 year) San Francisco Bay AreaGeneral Manager, Xbox Music, Video and Reading @ As the General Manager of Microsoft's first-party Music, Video and Reading businesses, I am responsible for a 700 person multinational organization driving the strategic direction and product direction of our first party content storefronts including: - Product Design - Strategic Roadmap - Engineering of all back-end services and customer facing clients - Factory ingestion of Music, Video and Reading content - P&L ownership - Executive sponsorship of our relationships with the major Music Labels, Movie and TV Studios and Barnes and Noble From September 2013 to March 2014 (7 months) Greater Seattle AreaGeneral Manager, Xbox Music, Video and Advertising @ As the General Manager of Microsoft's first-party Music, Video and Entertainment Advertising businesses, I am responsible a multinational organization driving the strategic direction and product direction of our efforts including: - Product Design - Strategic Roadmap - Engineering of all back-end services and customer facing clients - Factory ingestion of Music and Video - P&L ownership From January 2013 to September 2013 (9 months) Redmond, WAGeneral Manager, Xbox LIVE @ As GM of Xbox LIVE, I am responsible a multi-billion dollar P&L and the engineering of the service. In more detail: 1) The Program Management or "what we do" for the services engineering back-end of Microsoft's entertainment business. 2) The worldwide P&L including our main lines of business, Subscriptions (including customer attraction and retention programs), Transactions (including our various digital enterainment marketplace businesses) and our Entertainment Advertising (including our linear, nuAds, display and integrated Advertising businesses). 3) Two of our three categories of content, Xbox Music and Xbox Video which includes our 1st party video business as well as our 3rd party video applications business. 4) Our global go-to-market motions, including our North American, Latin American and European markets. More broadly, my responsibility is to build a world-class leadership team and to evolve the culture of LIVE, bringing Engineering and the LIVE business closer together and working from the same Strategic set of goals. From November 2011 to January 2013 (1 year 3 months) Greater Seattle AreaFounder and CEO @ After joining the advisory board of Nexon Corporation in early 2000 I had the good fortune of seeing the growth of the free-to-play video game industry first hand. In early 2006, Nexon's then CEO, David Lee recruited me to lead the development expansion of Nexon's first North American game development studio. Nexon Publishing North America was founded in October of 2006. As CEO, I was responsible for the start-up of the division entirely from scratch; starting with an empty warehouse, I built a hand-picked executive team of some of the top professionals in the world. In under two years, NPNA grew agressively to over 100 employees spanning two floors of premium development space in Vancouver. With four casual, free-to-play products in development slated for release after only two years of production and a nomination for one of Canada's best technology companies to work for we were on a solid growth path. Unfortunately, Nexon made the decision to cut all non-core investments in the wake of the 2006 economic downturn in North Amercia which brought the North American studio efforts to an abrupt halt. During this time, I was responsible for overseeing the settlement of all employment contracts, disposition of the company assets and closure of all outstanding accounts. From October 2006 to January 2009 (2 years 4 months) Vancouver, Canada AreaFounder and CEO @ iValet Systems was a self-funded startup focused on Parking Administration Systems. The iValet System introduced two economic concepts to covered parking structures: 1) Price Segmentation - Pay more for better parking and less for standard parking. 2) Rate Variability based on Occupancy - Empty lots are inexpensive, nearly full lots are more expensive. These two concepts were enabled through an 802.15 self-healing wireless mesh network of ceramic, pizoelectric sensors we developed in partnership with Schneider Electric. As CEO of iValet, I directly oversaw 100% of the software, hardware and systems design, programmed some of our core systems, led our 4 person engineering team and drove our front-line strategy and sales. iValet was shuttered when I accepted the agreed to move from Nexon's advisory board to CEO of Nexon Publishing North America. From October 2004 to August 2006 (1 year 11 months) Vancouver, Canada AreaFounder and CEO @ In 1997, I founded Relic Entertainment to develop a specific video game, which would later be called "Homeworld". Developed in partnership with Sierra On-Line Homeworld was the first step in Relic's journey to become the world's best RTS studio. Voted "Game of the Show" at the 1998 E3 show in Atlanta, Homeworld went on to win over 100 awards globally including the coveted "Game of the Year" award from several North American gaming publications in 1999. As the Director and Executive Producer of Homeworld I oversaw all aspects of the production from technology to Design and had the opportunity to work with some of the most talented developers in the PC Real-Time-Strategy genre. In addition to my creative duties, I was the founder and CEO of Relic for over seven years. During this time, we produced ten titles which generated hundreds of millions in revenue for Relic and our publishing partners. We grew studio operations in Vancouver to nearly 200 employees in a world-class facility and produced some of the highest rated PC video games in history. One of our franchises, "Company of Heroes" is still the 18th highest rated PC game of all time according to MetaCritic.com. In 2004 I oversaw the sale of Relic to THQ for an undisclosed sum in the 8 figure range. During my seven years as CEO at Relic, my proudest accomplishments were: * The foundation of the company taking no outside investment capital, organically growing to tens of millions in annual revenue with healthy profits and no material debt. * The creation of some of the game industry's top PC titles including several titles in the top 100. * A career spanning engineering, creative, design, production, and executive roles. * Seeing nearly every Relic employee buy thier homes. * Inorganic turnover under 5% despite heavy recruiting competition in the Vancouver market. * Seeing the average weight of our employees drop by 10 pounds - one of my work-life balance KPI's. From April 1997 to August 2004 (7 years 5 months) Vancouver, Canada AreaSoftware Engineer 1 @ Software engineer responsible for the rendering engine on Triple Play Baseball '98. From February 1995 to April 1997 (2 years 3 months) Vancouver, Canada AreaProgrammer @ Software Engineer on, "The Divide, Enemies Within" From January 1993 to February 1995 (2 years 2 months) Vancouver, Canada AreaHigh School Diploma, n/a @ Kelvin High School From 1993 to 1993 Alex Garden is skilled in: Creative Development, Video Games, Start-ups, Entertainment, Team Building, Software Project..., Hardware Development, Creative Direction, Social Games, Game Development, Leadership Development, Entrepreneurship, Strategy, Digital Media, Advertising, Program Management, Strategic Planning, Strategic Partnerships, Monetization, Go-to-market Strategy, Product Design, Start-up, Product Management, Leadership, Management