"Next Chapter" for Philip Linden

I'm starting a new company, and wanted to let you know. It's a big idea - something that actually depends on Second Life existing to get started, and that I have been thinking about almost as long as I've been thinking about Second Life. I don't want to try to explain the idea here, because it is a decision I've just made and honestly I don't think I can do a good job describing it yet. But I did want to tell the whole SL community, because I don't want you to worry that anything is wrong:

I will still be chairman, as I have been since leaving the job as CEO. The change is that I'm not going to be working full-time at Linden Lab anymore (some of you might have thought I wasn't still there, but actually I have been!). I'll still be doing the same outbound and media type things as before - talking about Second Life, etc.

For the last year and a half since M started as CEO, we've been working very closely together. Much of my actual Linden work has been time spent with M. We have literally sat at the same pod, 5 feet away from each other, and have met multiple times a week. We're now at a place where I feel really comfortable that Second Life and Linden Lab are OK without me being here day to day anymore. M (and others) have also managed to hire a bunch of diverse, smart, passionate people who I feel can very capably lead the company. Do I always agree with everything they are doing? Of course not! What founder would? It's like when your teenagers leave home - of course you still worry and wish they would listen to you more! But at some point you believe that they are safe enough to live on their own. I believe that the mission of building the digital world is safe in the hands of the Lindens, which means that I can start working again at full intensity on this new project. It's very exciting.

Also, I've got a new island in-world - it's called 'P Squared'. I'm thinking it can become a sort of extended space for my new work life. Please come and visit, and don't be surprised if I give you something to do. :-) And as for all of you - the people all over the world who have built Second Life - you all feel very near and dear to me, and I want you to be a part of this next adventure. I can't say enough, or say thank you enough, about the experience that has been watching Second Life come to life. On a personal level, it has deeply changed me. I am a different and better person, in part through the experience of being in Second Life with all of you. So anyway... I'll keep you posted, as I get things more sorted out.

Philip Linden

Source: The Second Life Blog