Au revoir
So long, and thanks for all the the bird named projects.
“What is that feeling when you’re driving away from people and they recede on the plain till you see their specks dispersing? — it’s the too-huge world vaulting us, and it’s good-bye. But we lean forward to the next crazy venture beneath the skies.” — Jack Kerouac
I will soon start a new chapter of my professional life. I have had an amazing time at Twitter. I am really proud of where have been, where we are now and where we are going. When I moved to San Francisco 2 years ago, I knew it was for only for a time. I did not know how long. I was thrilled to join Twitter, and still am bullish on this company. But my roots back home, to Montréal, are deep and strong. I have always described myself as a Montrealer in SF (or as I have been known for 15 years now, a frog in the valley).
Home called. I was offered an incredible opportunity to join Real Ventures as a partner and to manage and re-invent their accelerator program, FounderFuel. This is a fantastic opportunity for me to continue working with ecosystems, support innovation, crazy creativity, brilliant hackers… I will be joining what I consider to be one of the most founder friendly funds in North America, with big ambitions.
Just before joining Twitter, after quitting my own startup and writing an email to @rsarver telling him I would be in San Francisco the week after and that we should go for a beer or a coffee, he replied with a challenge: “after being the startup guy working with Twitter, would you like becoming the Twitter guy working with startups” (and developers, partners, the ecosystem)? You know my answer. Hindsight is 100%.
I want to thank all my fantastic colleagues at Twitter. These 2 years have been a crazy ride. Rocket ship, world class, awesome, excellent are just a few words to describe these years (also winning hackweek twice, eh). I felt like the nerdy kid joining the computer club or being selected to the chess tournament. Thanks!
As much as I have been a Montréaler at Twitter, I will always be a Twitter Developer Advocate, wherever I go. This is not something I got from a paycheck, it’s a conviction and a dedication to this company and it’s legacy. Twitter has changed, is changing, and will change the world. I am proud and humbled to have been able to contribute a little bit to this great company.
There’s so many people I have enjoyed working with here, so many great teams: the original team of developer advocates in fearless platform relations (@rsarver, @episod, @kurrik, @jasoncosta, @theseancook, @rno, @themattharris), the innovative BD team, the passionate Syndication and Cards launch teams, the diverse #AppyHour Hack Week team, the shipping Ads API team (and their ship it whisky), the reaching out KindSource Hack Week team, the rigorous API Service (REST) and Hosebird (Streaming) teams, and finally (last but not least!) the proud and growing Developer and Platform Relations team @TwitterDev. It was an honor and a privilege to work with all of you.
I will be sharing my expertise and hard earned Twitter knowledge (scars?) before leaving, as much as possible, from now to the end of July. Feel free to ask me any question, about a weird OAuth edge case, about where to search to find what you are looking for, or the legend of the firehorse…
In French we don’t say goodbye, we say au revoir. It means literally “until seeing again”. See you in SF, in New York, in London, in Montréal. And on the network: @froginthevalley, @sylvain (in French), sylvaincarle@gmail.com or http://afroginthevalley.com.
