Niall Kennedy is leaving Microsoft

I’m about 12 hours late on this entry, but it’s been a busy day. Unfortunately, Niall is leaving Microsoft:

Leaving Microsoft

I am leaving Microsoft to start my own company. My last day at Microsoft is next Friday, August 18. It’s uncertain whether Microsoft will continue the feed platform work I started, but it’s some good stuff so I hope they do.

I actually had a chance to catch up with Niall at the Google Dance tonight, and we talked about the situation and factors that led up to this decision. Simply put: it’s unfortunate.

Somehow we also ended up discussing places like Paragraph in NY (shared workspaces for a fee to help foster creativity and productivity) and the pros and cons of such environments (mostly pros, except for the obvious money suck). We also talked about the startup scene and the recurring meme that there is too much VC money chasing after money. I’m curious to see what his startup turns out to be - although I don’t know the details it sounds like he has some votes of confidence already.

Best of luck, Niall!