Leap, and a net will appear*

So it’s time for another chapter in my career to open. Two years and five months after starting, it’s time to gracefully exit, stage left from Microsoft.

It’s been a fascinating time. Remarkably, when I joined in March 2011, only the first inklings of the company’s future product set were public (or even private internal) knowledge. In the time since, just about every major product line has been significantly updated, not to mention the strategic move from software to being a devices and services company.

I’ve learned a lot. The first experience of working on the supplier side of the industry has made me better understand how the world of tech works as a whole – some good, some bad. The past 18 months have also given me an opportunity to gain much greater understanding of the marketing industry, both as having been a practitioner (in a talented amateur kind of way), but also through working with people in agencies across the UK.

So what happens next? Well, having spent the past ten years wondering about what sort of business I would build myself, I’ve decided to take this opportunity to find out. I finish up on August 12th, and then after a few weeks with the kids over the rest of the month I will be putting my energies into Stamp – as the side project becomes the main project. You’ll no doubt hear a lot more about it on these pages – I’ll be able to tell stories about the lot of a startup business now alongside the tech/management/marketing ramblings that you are used to.

* I’m indebted to my wonderful colleague Tim Cozze-Young who has given me this mantra…