📺 Stream EntrepreneurTV for Free 📺

Gowalla Co-Founder Leaving Facebook, Has Plans for a New Project After a year and a half at Facebook, Josh Williams says he plans to stay in San Francisco and 'work on something new.'

By Alyson Shontell

entrepreneur daily

This story originally appeared on Business Insider

In December 2011, the talent behind location-check-in app Gowalla was acquired by Facebook. The app itself was wound down over the next few months.

Now, a year and a half after joining Facebook, Gowalla's co-founder and former CEO Josh Williams is leaving.

Williams joined Facebook as a product manager where he worked on Pages, Location and Events. Gowalla launched before Foursquare in 2007 but only ever reached a few million downloads. Foursquare now has more than 30 million downloads and billions of check-ins, although it hasn't had a smooth ride either.

Williams, who moved from Austin, Texas to join Facebook in Palo Alto, says he'll remain in San Francisco to pursue a new project.

"No comment on my next steps at this point -- beyond that I plan to stay in SF and work on something new," Williams told Business Insider. His last day is this Friday.

Williams and his co-founder were moved to join Facebook after attending the F8 conference in 2011. "We were blown away by Facebook's new developments. A few weeks later Facebook called, and it became clear that the way for our team to have the biggest impact was to work together," Williams wrote when he announced the acquisition.

We reached out to Facebook about Williams' departure and are awaiting official comment.

Alyson is a Senior Reporter at Business Insider.

Want to be an Entrepreneur Leadership Network contributor? Apply now to join.

Editor's Pick

Marketing

5 Trends Shaping the Next Generation of Digital Marketing

These IT platforms offer a unique opportunity for brands to connect organically with their demographic by partnering with influencers who boast a loyal following.

Leadership

How to Turn Workplace Conflict into a Strategic Advantage

Conflict is present in all organizations and takes numerous forms. Here's how organizations can harness conflict to create better outcomes and healthy conflict management cultures.

Management

7 Ways You Can Use AI to 10x Your Leadership Skills

While technology can boost individual efficiency and effectiveness, it's essential to balance their use with human intuition and creativity to avoid losing personal connection and to optimize workplace satisfaction.

Leadership

We've Normalized Testing Our Employees. But Why Don't We Test Our Leaders?

Here's how leaders can grow and improve their leadership and management skills.

Leadership

There Are 4 Types of Managers. Take This Quiz to Find Out Which You Are, and If You're In the Right Line of Work.

Knowing your leadership style, and whether it suits the work you're doing and the team you have, is the first step in living up to your leadership potential.

Thought Leaders

The Most Innovative Leaders Use These 3 Mental Models to Unlock Their Best Ideas

Mental models help us to understand things more fully and come up with smarter, more groundbreaking solutions. Here are three mental models you can use to grow, innovate and think differently.