Google shutters Slide, founder Max Levchin moves to greener pastures

It’s been barely a year since Google acquired Slide for a cool $200 million, but today comes news that the Mountain View crew has decided to dissolve its social apps unit, and that renowned entrepreneur Max Levchin will be leaving the company to “pursue other opportunities.” Sources close to the matter told All Things D that the decision was announced at an internal staff meeting yesterday afternoon, and that most of Slide’s 100 employees will likely shift over to YouTube. A Google spokesperson later confirmed that the unit will in fact be shuttered, but didn’t reveal further details of where the displaced employees will land, saying only that the majority will remain onboard. Google didn’t offer a concrete explanation for the decision, though Slide had been acting as a largely autonomous and peripheral branch, and was never fully integrated into the company’s larger social team. Its apps, moreover, never really took off, and are due to be phased out over the course of the next few months — including tools like SuperPoke Pets, Disco and Photovine . And then, of course, there’s Levchin — the man who founded the company just a few years after co-founding PayPal, and who currently serves as Yelp’s chairman of the board. His immediate plans remain unclear, though we and the rest of the tech world will certainly be keeping a close eye on him, wherever he lands next. Google shutters Slide, founder Max Levchin moves to greener pastures originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 26 Aug 2011 03:27:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink

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