It’s hard to believe, but today is my last day working at Yahoo. I started on Oct 1, 2001 when the LAUNCH acquisition was completed. I started at LAUNCH in April of 1999, so that’s over a decade with the same company or over three quarters of my working life.

It would be impossible for me to summarize all the things I’ve learned in that time, but it’s been a wonderful experience. I’m most proud of the teams I built, making Yahoo! News the world’s most visited news site, launching Yahoo! Tech in 2006 (may it rest in peace) and some of the fun side projects I worked on.

Leaving Yahoo! was a very difficult decision and I barely slept for a week while I mulled my options. But next week, I will join a little startup, still in stealth mode, here in Cambridge. It will be a refreshing change and fun to work in a small environment again.

As I’ve spread the word of my departure, I’ve gotten many nice notes back and they’ve been great to read. That said, I don’t think you should wait until someone is leaving to tell them how much you appreciate them.

So my challenge to you, whether you work at Yahoo! or elsewhere, is to reach out to just one person you like working with and tell them that. You can send them an email, an instant message, call, text or tell them in person, but just do it, RIGHT NOW.

Thanks, Yahoos. I’ll be watching with much interest to see what what the future brings to a company that gave me so much.

Bye!