Peter Wilson, who helped oversee Google's rapid growth in the Seattle region, is leaving the company next week -- aiming to launch his own venture toward the end of the year.
Wilson, engineering and site director for Google's Kirkland operations, confirmed the move today but declined to go into detail about his plans. His focus has been on cloud computing, social media and online advertising, and he acknowledged that his new company could involve one or more of those areas.
A native of the U.K., he's planning to remain in the Seattle region and base the new company here.
"There's a very good series of opportunities coming as we make the shift from client-server to cloud computing," Wilson said. "Given the talent and the research and funding in this particular area, I think there's a lot of people here who are well-placed to take advantage of that."
He said he plans to take a break and spend time pulling together a team, with the goal of being up and running in the September-October timeframe.
Wilson joined Google from Microsoft in 2005, one of a series of engineers who left the Redmond software company for the Mountain View, Calif.-based search company as it ramped up its operations in Microsoft's backyard. Monday will be his last day at Google.
His decision to leave wasn't a reflection on Google, Wilson said. In his resignation email, he told others at the company that there's nowhere else he'd rather work if he weren't striking out on his own.
Wilson wouldn't say whether he plans to partner with anyone else in the new business, or specifically how he plans to fund it. He acknowledged that the economy is tough but said he wants the new company be in a position to take advantage of the recovery.
"There are some areas of the economy -- if you project out nine, 12 or 18 months and you see things turning around -- where there are going to be opportunities that the turnaround will create that people who start building products now might be able to capitalize on," Wilson said.
We're waiting to hear back from Google about the company's plans to replace Wilson in the Kirkland office. Brian Bershad, a former University of Washington professor, is the director of the company's engineering office in Seattle's Fremont neighborhood.
(Post updated at 2:45 p.m. with more details)
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