Zynga's product head can't resist a good deal, joins Groupon

Have you seen the deals on Groupon? We can't blame the guy, really. Oh, this is a different kind of deal, isn't it? TechCrunch reports that Curtis Lee, Zynga's director of product management, has left the company for daily deals service Groupon. Now, Lee is Groupon's VP of consumer products, overseeing everything that is consumer-facing about Groupon.

Considering Groupon is all about consumers saving money, isn't that kind of everything? Anyway, TechCrunch suggests that this is a rather large talent loss for Zynga, which we'd have a hard time disagreeing with. According to the website, Lee was a "monetization guru" at the developer, and laid the blueprint for the company's clearly effective money-making schemes.

Citing unnamed sources, TechCrunch also reports that Lee was working with FarmVille designer Mark Skaggs on his super secret project at Zynga. But what's worse about the situation is the rate at which the CityVille creator has lost high-level talent recently. Just this past month alone, Zynga has lost a lead designer and its brand advertising head.

That said, it's not as if Zynga hasn't been on a hiring spree either. Most recently, the developer snapped up EA Interactive's Barry Cottle as its EVP of business development. And given the advent of Zynga.com, we doubt this is the last new face we'll see at the developer in 2012.

Do you expect Zynga to suffer at all from this loss? Will Zynga see any new direct competitors in 2012? Sound off in the comments. Add Comment.