As the subject line says, I'm leaving Google. Or really, I've left Google.
There are a few reasons why I left, but a lot of it boils down to opportunity. At Google, I could work hard and do pretty well. I could get promotions, raises, see a lot of really cool stuff long before anyone else, ... But I didn't see any opportunities to apply what I know, to prove to people what I could do. That wore on me for a long time. Throw in some stupid politics (which I am at fault for as much as anyone else), and you have a recipe for something that needed to change.
I'm moving on to
http://ad.ly/ . You can learn more about it on their web page. Initially, I was just going to do some contract work for them on the side, in an attempt to help a friend who works there. But then their CEO made his pitch, and for the first time in a long time I saw an opportunity to make a difference. So I'm seizing that opportunity.
I don't know if we will succeed as we hope, but we will sure as hell give it our best.
Hilariously enough, two people that I tried to recruit to Google 6 months ago are finally going through the system and may be on their way towards actually joining (they started the process after I submitted my resignation). If I'd have stayed on another few weeks, that might have been an extra month's salary in referral bonus :P That's life :)