Tariq KRIM steps down as Netvibes'CEO and is replaced by Freddy MINI

Fresh news from TECHCRUNCH blog:

"Tariq Krim is stepping down as CEO of Netvibes to “spend less time day-to-day” at the company and work on a “new project,” he tells me. (More details on that project later). He will remain on the board of the company and as a non-executive strategic adviser. Current Netvibes COO Freddy Mini will take over the helm as CEO."

“My role was to transfer Netvibes from a personal start page into a widget platform,” says Krim. He feels that the technical foundation for that shift has been completed with the recent release Ginger, the latest version of its site. "

Well, that is a big change and probably a necessary one. But Netvibes is losing a charismatic figure.

Pierre CHAPPAZ, former Co-CEO of Netvibes and founder of Kelkoo and Wikio, an actual investor in Netvibes comments on his own blog that:

"I think it's a good decision. Freddy Mini, Chief Operating Officer of Netvibes for 2 years and based in San Fransisco, has incomparable experience: he was CEO of ZDNet Europe. and then Musicme, before agreeing to join us at Netvibes in 2006. "

"When I resigned from my position as co-CEO last year in order to concentrate my efforts on Wikio , I highlighted how the strategy of distribution and monetization at Netvibes seemed to me essential for success . With Freddy's insistence, Netvibes has in the last year taken great strides in this direction and progressed significantly, supplying a number of large media sites with a personal page service that they could take on and redistribute with their own colors. Freddy is without a shadow of a doubt the man for the job, to continue to develop the distribution, and the widget market, for which Tariq was a true visionary. "

What is strange is that the news is not coming out on any of the Netvibes' Official Blogs, Forums or Streams...

A lack of confidence in Netvibes' own captive audience ?
Shoudn't this news been given to Netvibes' users before anyone else ?
I think so!

Anyway, Thanks Tarik ! :)