Gowalla co-founder checks out of Facebook

Josh Williams, Facebook's product manager of location and events, is checking out of the company after just 18 months on the job, Facebook confirmed to CNET. The news was first reported by AllThingsD.

"Joshua has been a valuable member of Facebook," a spokesperson said. "We wish him the best of luck with his future endeavors."

Williams has served as the social network's lead on local initiatives, a top priority in recent months, ever since Facebook subsumed his struggling startup Gowalla, which, like still-alive-and-kicking Foursquare, specialized in venue check-ins. Williams has been helping Facebook act more like Yelp by tweaking mobile business Pages and developing a mobile map-based Nearby Places feature for exploring surrounding venues.

Williams, whose last day with Facebook is Friday, told Business Insider that he plans to "work on something new" but did not specify what that would be.

The loss seems like a blow, particularly considering that Facebook shelled out a reported $3 million in shares just for Gowalla's talent -- not its technology. Williams exit also closely trails that of advertising executive Gokul Rajaram, engineering director Josh Wiseman, and general counsel Ted Ullyot.

Williams did not immediately respond to a request for comment.