Many people use the flipping of a calendar to set themselves new goals or a way to try something new and different. This makes it a bit easier to understand why Matthew Rosenfeld, better known as Moxie Marlinspike (and the name we will be using), is stepping down as chief executive officer of Signal.

The leader of the privacy-focused instant messaging app announced his departure as CEO in a blog post. That blog post showcases how Marlinspike worked himself to the bone to make Signal a reality and grow his vision.

“I couldn’t ever leave cell service, had to take my laptop with me everywhere in case of emergencies, and occasionally found myself sitting alone on the sidewalk in the rain late at night trying to diagnose a service degradation,” Marlinspike wrote.

The team at Signal is now comprised of 30 people, which is still incredibly low when you consider 40 million people use Signal every month.

However, while it’s clear Marlinspike loves working on Signal and with his team, it’s also clear to him that in order to expand the platform, he needs to step down as CEO. As a result, Marlinspike has been searching for a replacement over the last few months. That search is ongoing and the out-going CEO hopes the announcement of his departure will spur that search along.

In the meantime, Brian Acton who currently serves on the Signal Foundation board will take over as interim CEO while a permanent replacement has been found.

“We already have so much exciting work that’s coming soon in the pipeline right now, and I’m optimistic about all the potential for Signal over the next decade,” concluded Marlinspike.