Final Day at Meta: Four Years Complete

Today is my last day at Meta. Four years and two months since I joined to build something that didn't exist.

By the Numbers

Team: 5 → 75 people Locations mapped: 0 → 10,000+ Daily queries: 0 → millions Products shipped: Quest Pro, Quest 3, developer platform Patents filed: 2 (one already granted)

Numbers don't capture the full story, but they're one measure.

What I'll Miss

The team: Brilliant, dedicated people who became friends.

The resources: Ability to try things at scale.

The mission: Spatial computing matters, and we moved it forward.

The community: Reality Labs has remarkable talent density.

What I Won't Miss

The politics: Alignment across organizations was exhausting.

The meetings: So many meetings about meetings.

The pace of decision-making: Large organizations are slow.

The distance from users: Layers between me and the people using what we built.

Lessons That Travel

Data is strategy: Whoever controls training data controls ML outcomes.

Privacy is design: Build it in, don't bolt it on.

Platforms are different: Developer experience is as important as end-user experience.

Teams > Individuals: Strong teams outlast strong individuals.

Shipping teaches: You learn more from launching than from planning.

Gratitude List

• The team members who trusted me to lead
• The managers who gave me space to build
• The partners who collaborated across orgs
• The users who gave feedback
• My family who supported late nights and work trips

What's Next

Taking Q4 2024 to:

• Reset and recover
• Explore opportunities
• Build some things myself
• Decide where to focus

Not joining another company immediately. Want to be intentional about what's next.

Closing Thoughts

Meta gave me the platform to build something significant. VPS exists because of what we did together. That's permanent, regardless of what I do next.

To everyone at Meta Reality Labs: thank you. The work continues. I'll be cheering from the outside.

Now, into the unknown.