I’ve resigned from Yahoo!. Those that follow my blog knew this was coming, given
how outspoken I’ve been about not working for Microsoft. To make it very clear — Yes, absolutely, positively, my only reason for leaving was the upcoming Microsoft takeover. Otherwise I would have stayed at Yahoo! for many years to come.

I’ll miss Yahoo!, they are a great company, with a very smart, passionate group of people. I hope that everything goes well for my fellow Yahoos!. I’m sad to miss the people, the great culture, and the company perks. Gone are the days of free coffee, shuttles to work, tech talks, hack days, and a tremendous amount of community support. :(

But — what if I’m wrong and the deal doesn’t go through? Yep, I am willing to accept that risk. By my estimations, there is a small (less than 10%) chance that Yahoo! will avoid a Microsoft takeover. There may be a white knight or a wild card savior, and there are anti-trust issues still to be cleared — the deal may never go through.

Everyone chooses their own path through life. Personally, I don’t play "wait and see" with my career. Based on my research, I think the Microsoft takeover is all-but-inevitable. And even if they aren’t going to radically change things right away, the company will move in a direction that I’m not in agreement with.

It’s importantly for me to be passionately engaged with my work, and I’m excited to do that for a company whose values I believe in. Where am I going next? More on that soon. :)