Joining Vimeo

Working on scalable information retrieval systems at the university of Ghent has been very fun: interesting and challenging work, smart team, and an environment that fosters growth and innovation. I could definitely see myself continuing there...
However, Vimeo got in touch and told me about their plans... specifically what's going into the new version and what other stuff they have on their roadmap. I can honestly say vimeo is the most beautiful web property I've ever seen [*], not just that, they also provide a top product/service, and host a great community of passionate people who create some of the most beautiful online videos I've ever seen. (examples: Vietnam travel report, Sabian cymbals taking advertising to a whole new level in this video with my musician hero Mike Portnoy, a city time lapse video)
From what I can tell, they also do product management well: they know what their territory is, and how to cultivate it through stellar community management. They are not a general purpose video site and hence do not compete directly with YouTube or Facebook.

And now, I have the opportunity to be a part of that. After much pondering I decided to go for it. Resigning at the university was hard but smooth, I felt I had to take this chance and they were very supportive.
I'll be working on the infrastructure/backend side of things, I'm actually working on transcoding infrastructure right now. Working from my place in Ghent, a move to NYC at some point in the future might happen, but we'll see...

[*] When they told me the new version would be more appealing than the old, I couldn't believe that's possible. but to my own surprise they succeeded.