Ryan Sarver, who joined Twitter four years ago and is currently its director of platform, announced today he’ll be leaving the company on June 28th, and has “no plans but rest.” Fittingly, he announced his departure in a series of tweets seen below.
Sarver’s work over the last four years, when it comes to focusing on developers, can’t be ignored. During the times when there was confusion as to how Twitter would be dealing with third parties in the future, Sarver’s team marched through it. While not every developer has been happy with the changes that the company has made, specifically how it throttles its API, the messaging has been transparent and with complete warning, before things changed.
One of the most important things during his time at Twitter was its integration into Apple’s iOS. This key integration gave Twitter access to more users and more engagement than ever. At the time, Sarver told our own MG Siegler: “I think this integration has the potential to be the second biggest referral for app growth behind the App Store.” He was right.
As with most high-profile Twitter departures, a tweet was the way to announce it:
The timing is a bit curious, since it’s well known that Twitter will be heading toward IPOville sometime next year. Perhaps, Sarver saw this as an opportunity to pass on his responsibilities to folks he’s hired and groomed over the years, and just take it easy like he says. Having said that, we would be surprised if Sarver didn’t come back with his own startup sometime soon.
Twitter’s platform has branched out over the last few years, launching its own photo-sharing functionality, launching interactive Twitter cards and acquiring and integrating video app Vine.