I have a (very delayed) announcement to make. After 5 years, depending on how you count, I have left SAY Media (aka Six Apart aka Apperceptive) to join OKCupid. Also, this happened about 3 months ago. What can I say, I’ve been busy.

I am in their office in Times Square, but not working on the product directly. Instead, I’m working with a small team (about 8 people) to build new social products. You could call it a startup incubator or a research and development lab, but it’s just a few smart people building web products. And so far, I’m having a blast.

For a little catharsis, I’ll share a bit about why I’m making this move. During my last year at SAY, I transitioned completely to a product management role. There was a lot to like about it, as I had almost complete control over my product and there were a ton of really smart people (not to mention the company is doing quite well). I also learned that I’m far more excited and effective when I’ve got my hands in the code or design than when I’m just poring over Gantt charts and JIRA tickets. In fact, I think it’s pretty difficult to effectively lead a product without getting your hands dirty. I didn’t do that nearly enough at SAY, but it’s a part of my daily routine now. When I have an idea, I build it, we play with it, and we move forward. It’s been a great way to work and I’m feeling a lot more productive.

I’ve also confirmed a long-held suspicion — I work best in the early stages of a project. Conceiving, prototyping, building, and shipping a new product is what I do best. It’s why I liked working in client services with Appercetive and it’s why I took this new gig. The ridiculously smart people in this office is just icing on the cake.

While we don’t have any projects ready for the public yet, I can guarantee I’ll write about them here. I’ll also work on improving my event to blog post latency. Either that or I’ll start trumpeting the hot new thing, Slow Blogging.