Zynga manager moves to social networking start-up

A Zynga Inc executive overseeing one of the social gaming company's most successful games has left to join Identified, a startup social network for young professionals.

Brian Chu, formerly the lead project manager of Zynga's hit CityVille, said Friday he will be vice president of product at the San Francisco-based startup.

Going into the social networking game now

In recent months, several notable mid-level executives have left Zynga, which went public in December but has suffered a steep fall in its stock price. In March Groupon Inc, which runs the daily deals website, poached Curtis Lee, a Zynga director of product management.

Chu said he left Zynga amicably and with "the door open."

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"It was an intense time and very stressful," Chu said. "But I wanted the opportunity to take on the challenge of something as big as professional identity and companies like LinkedIn."

Identified, which raised $21 million in its second-round venture capital financing, claims a registered user base of 10 million. The startup provides a resume-building and networking service for young professionals under 30 - similar to LinkedIn, but with "gamified" features.

Reuters