It’s official now—I’ll be joining YouTube team in Zürich. It wasn’t an easy decision because it requires significant life changes, but it’s excellent from a professional standpoint. Google has been voted the best place to work once again, YouTube is currently the third most popular website in the world, and there are a lot of smart people working there. The opportunity to learn and grow is enormous.
How the hell did that happen?
I expect this to be the most frequent question from private and business circles in the following days and weeks.
When I announced I was leaving Five Minutes internally, I had no specific plans. A general direction was to continue with my consultancy to work with existing partners and clients and start some personal projects or products. I applied to a few current job openings to gather some experience and insights from the industry—to understand my position in the market.
One of those jobs was for the Interaction Designer role at Google. The process was long, and most of the action was in December, with some waiting over the holidays. I almost forgot about it, making plans more formal here in Zagreb. But two weeks ago, everything picked up, great results came back from Google, and they threw an offer my way a few days ago. After weighing all options and talking with friends and family, a decision was made.
But why?
I get two responses when I tell people about it: excited or sad. Sometimes both. The reasons for sadness are: we won’t be able to see each other anymore, I’ll be missed from the local professional community, Croatia can never get better if good people leave, and similar.
I understand that; I really do. It’s inevitable that some things built over the decades will decline or get lost forever. Although painful to watch, it will create an opportunity for new experiences: learning and personal growth, new business challenges, traveling and exploring the world, testing old and fostering new friendships, starting a family in a healthier environment.
I don’t know where this could take me. I’m sure it won’t be perfect. But I know I will regret it if I don’t try.