This is a note to say goodbye to WeblogsInc and be transparent (at least translucent), about why I am leaving the company.

To provide some background, Jason Calacanis is a long time friend (he's actually quite charming if you get to know him ;-]). He asked me to join him in building weblogsinc shortly after he started the company. He wanted me to be the Publisher and to help him innovate on the business side of this new media format. I was cautious about the idea of working for my friend and I was reluctant to spend my time doing essentially ad sales, something I had done earlier in my career. As Jason and I discussed, this was different. It would be about blazing new trails. I fashion myself as an amateur cultural anthropologist, so the idea of helping advertisers to innovate in this new world of consumer empowerment was an engaging proposition. Figuring out how to credibly insert them in the conversations of influencers was a luxurious problem to solve. I saw it as an amazing opportunity to have an impact and make a difference in this web 2.0 thing. We cut a deal based on me working for 24 months or until we sold the company.

Over the past year and a half, we have got to really mess around with the way things are done. We created new advertising formats, set guidelines for advertiser to be transparent (honest), and created a mechanism for our readers to learn from and share any experiences they have with our advertisers. Then, as many of you know, after about a year of working together, we sold the company to AOL. Jason set expectations of my employment in the deal and I agreed to stay with the company till we had downloaded the information and integrated AOL systems.

So one reason I am leaving is that I have fulfilled my obligation to Jason and to AOL. I find myself in one of the easiest jobs I ever had, and in some ways, it makes me uncomfortable.

So what's next? Well, in my search for vocation nirvana, the first step is getting paid to think about the things I like to think about. As an amateur cultural anthropologist I like to think about social intercourse and was spending a lot of time on MySpace.com. So that's the second reason for leaving WeblogsInc and actually my next job, I have taken a gig as SVP, Head of Marketing & Content for MySpace. It is the perfect solution, now I have a job where I can hang out on MySpace.com all day and not get fired. I can be an amateur cultural anthropologist by helping to define and shape the brand of, arguably, the biggest cultural phenomenon this century.

Another aspect of my search for vocation nirvana is finding the intersection of commerce and virtue—doing well while doing good. In this new position I will be able to use the influence of the MySpace brand to innovate in internet safety and get involved with some great causes--having a positive effect on our culture (corny, but true).

In some ways it is not easy to leave WeblogsInc. Working with my friend Jason was actually great, and the team at weblogsinc are some of the smartest, freakiest, most capable people that I have ever worked with. I will miss WeblogsInc and working with Jason, Peter, Judith, Ryan, Brian, Jade, Steve and the all the bloggers. But they have become friends and even though I won't be working with them, I still actually get the keep them as friends.

If you made it this far, that’s my story.

Regards,

Shawn