Cyanogen, the corporate arm of the popular CyanogenMod custom ROM, is on a roll. After a few high-profile hires from the world of aftermarket Android ROMs earlier this year, the company is after some more conventional hires for its leadership team, dipping their toes into the pool of corporate technology. This week they welcome Tyler Carper, formerly of HTC, Vikram Natarajan, formerly of OEM parts manufacturer MediaTek, and Dave Herman, formerly of Microsoft, Amazon, and Hulu, as new vice presidents.

From left: Tyler Carper, formerly of HTC and Microsoft, Vikram Natarajan, formerly of MediaTek and Broadcom, and Dave Herman, formerly of Amazon and Microsoft. Photo sources: LinkedIn

Tyler Carper is probably the most notable hire. He'll be Cyanogen's new Vice President of Engineering, a post he held at HTC. According to his LinkedIn profile, he worked on the HTC Touch Diamond, One X, and One (M7 2013) phone for HTC, as well as the original Xbox, Xbox 360, and Xbox Live platform for Microsoft. It's not clear exactly what he'll be doing for Cyanogen, since the company doesn't manufacture any hardware on its own - it's possible he'll be focusing on enhancing the ROM for branded phones like the Oppo N1 and the OnePlus One.

Vikram "Vik" Natarajan has worked at MediaTek and Broadcom, both of which manufacture processors, radios, and other integrated hardware for OEMs. His former duties included corporate marketing and business development. He'll be Cyanogen's Vice President of Global Partnerships and Distribution. His contacts with major manufacturers could be very useful for the young company.

Finally, Dave Herman gets the most high-profile title as Cyanogen's Vice President of Product. Herman previously worked on high-profile products for Amazon and Microsoft, though his LinkedIn profile doesn't go into much detail. His experience at Hulu could be useful considering the integrated services that Cyanogen has been slowly adding to the ROM.

These kinds of management-level acquisitions typically come with big salaries, if not big commitments, so it's clear that Cyanogen Inc. is in for the long haul. Or at least they think they are at the moment - the status of startups is always a bit tentative, even years after their founding. That said, Cyanogen should be riding high after positive reviews and intense demand for the OnePlus One, which runs a consumer version of the CyanogenMod ROM out of the box.

Source: Cyanogen Blog