Career vNext

I joined Microsoft in 2002, right out of college. Since then, every few years, I've looked for a new challenge, whether that's a new role (tester, developer, evangelist, program manager, two kinds of "strategist," technical product manager) or a new technology (Windows, static code analysis, ASP.NET AJAX, Windows Azure). For the past almost-decade, I've found all those new challenges within Microsoft. In my opinion, one of the biggest advantages of working at Microsoft is that it's easy to move around the company and find the right role. There's no shortage of interesting work to do and great people to work with.

After more than four years working on Windows Azure, I'm ready to find a new challenge again. This time, however, I'd like to create something all of my own. To that end, I'm cofounding a company with a friend (and former coworker). I won't say what we're going to be working on because we honestly don't know yet!

I'm sad to leave Microsoft and Windows Azure. I think this is going to be an amazing year for Windows Azure, and it's going to be strange for me to watch it from the outside. At the same time, I'm excited for the next stage of my career as an entrepreneur.

On a practical note, this blog isn't going anywhere, though its content will broaden to other topics. I'm still happy to answer questions about blog posts or code I've written over the past few years, so don't hesitate to email me at smarx@smarx.com or ping me on Twitter (@smarx) about anything.