As a high school senior in 1999, I started a journey that would carry me forward and through the next 19 years of my life, shaping it in ways I could not possibly understand at the time. What began as a website dedicated to the first AMD Athlon motherboard (K7M.com!) and progressed to one of the biggest hardware review websites in the US, brought me access to amazing technology and conversations with luminaries in the PC field.

I wrote hundreds of reviews, recorded weeks of video, and made many of you sit through more than 500 episodes of a weekly podcast! I was able to co-host This Week in Computer Hardware on the TWiT network for nearly as long. Just thinking about the amount of content that I typed or spoke is kind of mind-boggling.

Today marks the beginning of a second journey, one that I didn’t know would ever come. I have accepted a role at Intel as the company’s Chief Performance Strategist. In this capacity, I will help influence and drive performance leadership across Intel’s product portfolio. My first day will be in mid to late November. It is a challenge that I am looking forward to pursuing and an opportunity to catalyze Intel’s leadership even further.

As with others in my position that followed a similar path, this was not a simple decision. PC Perspective was my life, my passion, and my pride for these past 19 years. I took joy in the fact that I was able to build this up from nothing, with the help of a dedicated and intelligent team of hard-working reviewers and writers. Those of you that have paid attention will already know that my writing for PC Perspective has dwindled as my time was spent on other pursuits like Shrout Research. In my place, Ken took over the role of primary reviewer and has done an amazing job in the process.

Starting today, I will no longer be involved with PC Perspective or the content that will be posted. In reality, Ken has been managing that already with the help of Allyn, Josh, Jeremy, and the other team members. I am fully relinquishing ownership of the site to the team, removing myself from all aspects of finances and content prior to my Intel start date.

Shrout Research is another venture that closes as this opportunity opens. I am extremely proud of what I was able to create there in a short period, working with some of the largest technology companies in the world on product design, go-to-market planning, message testing, and much more. Contracts and projects have been finalized.

Many of you might want to know the why of my decision to leave behind the independent contracting and self-employment world and shift to working for Intel. For me, this isn’t a move dictated by finances (PC Perspective and Shrout Research were doing well). Nor is it one of external, negative pressure. Our team has weathered worse in both areas, and we would have done so again.

This move represents a new challenge and the chance to influence the direction of a major player in the technology field from within. The opportunity to work at a company with the legacy of Intel and be trusted with the scope of this role is humbling. It’s not often that this is presented, and after 19 years, I found the opportunity seemed like the right one, at the right time.

Not only does this career path provide a new challenge, but it also offers me the chance to create professional progress while allowing for more nights and mornings with my daughter – a significant personal plus for me.

I have dozens of people that I could and should thank for the success and opportunity provided to PC Perspective and Shrout Research over these many years. All of the writers and reviewers that dedicated time and energy to the site, the advertisers that continued to support it through the violent swings of the PC market, and the companies that were willing to take a chance on a young (relatively, at least) analyst trying to shift into a new space; I wouldn’t be where I am or have the life I do without you. Special thanks go to friends like Kyle, Tom, Jon, Bernie, Patrick, and so many others. You have been a sounding-board for more than half of my life, and I can never show my appreciation enough.

As for PC Perspective, I am confident it will continue doing reviews, news, and analysis of the hardware you love for as long as you, the reader, support them. As I said earlier; they have already been running the show without me for some time, and they will continue doing the excellent job that has brought PCPer.com to where it stands today.

As for me, you’ll be able to find my ramblings on Twitter (@RyanShrout), or if you need to reach me through email, you can do so at rshrout@gmail.com.

Finally, I want to thank all of YOU for reading my reviews, listening to the podcasts, supporting PC Perspective on Patreon, and offering valuable feedback that helped to make this place, and me personally, better.