Michael Sippey, Twitter’s Vice President of Product, made an announcement on Friday that he would step down to an advisory role at the company from his Product Chief post with effect from the announcement day itself.
Sippey’s departure will be the first high-level departure from the company since it turned into a public company in November.
In an email sent to the company’s staff, which he also posted on his personal Tumblr page, Sippey said that after weeks of discussion with Twitter CEO Dick Costolo and COO Ali Rowghani he has realized it was time for him to move on. He said he is transitioning to an advisory role helping Twitter with its product strategy and helping Ali find a suitable replacement for him.
“I’m transitioning to an advisory role. I’ll be helping with product strategy, providing input on the great work the team has lined up for 2014, and helping Ali find a new head of product”, Sippey said.
In the letter Sippey also expressed his excitement of waiting for what would come next for him saying “I’m excited to go figure out what’s next. I hear this Internet thing has legs”.
Sippey was previously working at a blog platform Six Apart and then at Say Media before he joined Twitter in 2012.
