Time.com's Sonya Penn Decamps for Digital Startup

An interesting dynamic has been playing out between traditional media companies and the digital startups that seek to both partner with them and disrupt their markets. Publishers hire or acquire from the digital world while startups raid publishers for executives with that unique combination of old and new world media experience. The latest example is Time.com's director of business development Sonya Penn leaving to become vice president of business development and strategy for interactive video startup Qwiki.

The tough part for Time Inc.? This is the second high-level executive to leave for a digital operation in less than a month. In mid-July Time publisher Kim Kelleher left to join Say Media as president.

SEE ALSO: Time Worldwide Publisher Kim Kelleher Named Say Media President

During her five-year tenure at Time Inc., Penn was also director of business development for Life.com, and it's this background embedded in a traditional publisher that's making a significant digital push that's a valuable asset for company like Qwiki. The startup, which launched its Qwiki Creator tool with ABC News as its first customer, is looking to bring its services to more media companies.

Qwiki is a web-based video creation tool that allows users to upload and drag and drop video and image elements and also embed sharable features. The company has so far raised about $11 million in financing from Lightbank and other investors including Facebook co-founder Eduardo Saverin and Youtube co-founder Jawed Karim.

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