UPDATED: Key members from Gowalla, Instagram teams leave Facebook
The co-founder of location app Gowalla, which Facebook acquired in 2011, as well as an Instagram designer are reportedly leaving Facebook, according to AllThingsD. Gowalla co-founder Josh Williams and Instagram designer Tim Van Damme will pursue other ventures, but the departures are not related, sources told AllThingsD.
When Facebook purchased Gowalla in 2011, Van Damme left the company to join Instagram prior to its acquisition by Facebook.
Van Damme posted on his personal blog Tuesday that he will join Dropbox:
But it’s time to move on, time to solve a different set of problems.
I’ll be taking some time off with my family, and join the amazing Dropbox team early August.
Dropbox is a fascinating company. It provides value to a wide range of people, not just those who build things.
I can’t wait to learn from all the talented people I will soon call colleagues.
Apparently Williams will stay in San Francisco to start a company. With Facebook, Williams was influential in its Nearby feature, and was most recently the company’s Product Manager for Pages, Locations and Events.
Facebook commented on Williams’ departure to AllThingsD:
Joshua has been a valuable member of Facebook. We wish him the best of luck with his future endeavors.
Facebook has experienced several high-profile departures lately. An influential member of the Facebook Exchange team, Antonio Garcia-Martinez, joined Nanigans. The designer who brought stickers to prominence with Facebook, Sophie Xie, moved on to create a local app. Facebook also lost its European and Asian ad and growth directors, to White Star Capital and Spotify, respectively.
