UPDATED: YouTube’s George Strompolos, who handled strategic partner development for the site, announced on Twitter today that this is his last day at YouTube/Google, as he’s leaving the company to found a “digital media start-up” in Los Angeles.
“Helping to found the @youtube Partner Program and working with so many brilliant creators has been the highlight of my career,” Strompolos added via a follow-up message. “We changed the rules of media and empowered a new creative class. I am very proud of that.” We’ve reached out to YouTube for further comment.
UPDATE: Via email, Strompolos added that “Aside from the tweets I already posted today, I can tell you that my startup will focus on distribution through people.”
Strompolos was a popular figure in the YouTube community, especially among content partners. Just one example: Michael “What the Buck” Buckley serenading Strompolos’s departure before singing his praises.
Enigmatically, as part of his Twitter farewell, Strompolos linked to an This Week in Start-ups interview with Mahalo founder Jason Calacanis at specifically the time code 21:39, when Calacanis talks about slicing obstacles in half with (what one presumes to be) a metaphorical sword.
“That’s when you’re free,” Calacanis says, ostensibly about the experience of the start-up world. “You’re not a battery in some big effing system that’s run by the man. You’ve unplugged from the Matrix, you’re your own person.”
Related GigaOm Pro Content (subscription required):

{"source":"https:\/\/gigaom.com\/2010\/09\/30\/george-strompolos-leaves-youtube-to-found-start-up\/wijax\/49e8740702c6da9341d50357217fb629","varname":"wijax_8beae1de22dda45aeea39535aa7eeb88","title_element":"header","title_class":"widget-title","title_before":"%3Cheader%20class%3D%22widget-title%22%3E","title_after":"%3C%2Fheader%3E"}