Megan Quinn has become the new chief operating officer, John Hanke, CEO and founder, said in a blog post. She will be leading business operations and international development for the company. It was also added in the post that Megan has been the number one supporter of the company since its beginnings in Google.
It is interesting to know that back then, she was working for Hanke in Google for seven years before Niantic got a green light. It is a true milestone, because it is rare to see women in game companies since only 20% of the game industry are women.
When it began, Niantic has seen huge success accompanied with an even greater number of downloads and billions of dollars in revenues.
“Megan was the product lead for our internal map building efforts at Google and was one of the first to join Niantic when it was created as an experimental lab within Google. Megan went on to lead product at Square before turning to venture capital, first at Kleiner Perkins and then at Spark where she led investments in a series of highly successful and prominent late-stage technology companies, including Niantic. She has been a member of the Niantic board since 2017.” – Said Hanke.
The CEO did not forget to mention that right now, the company is putting investments in Augmented Reality, known as AR, and mapping also.
Prior to accepting this offer, Megan said that Hanke offered her this role last fall, which made her reflect on her best career moments.
“My time with the Niantic team over the past decade – first as a team member, later as an advisor, and more recently as an investor and active board director – has been the constant,” she wrote. “I believe very deeply in our founding mission: that at its best, technology can make us better versions of ourselves as more active, engaged, and curious members of our communities – something I believe people value now more than ever. I believe that augmented reality combined with a sense of place is the next transformative platform for consumer discovery and exploration. And, I believe the opportunity for Niantic is much bigger now than we imagined then.”
