NICK DOUGLAS — Google's the best place to work in the world. Yahoo's not too far off. But eventually people get frustrated with office politics, bored with a directionless department, or just feel done now that their stock has vested. So where do they go after leaving the top of the industry? I asked friends from the two companies, including project managers, engineers, designers, and the founder of a Yahoo-acquired site. Where had their colleagues gone? According to their answers, there are four paths out of Google or Yahoo:

Move to South Park
Yahoo and Google are at the top of their fields. A former Yahoo web developer told me, "Yahoo Mobile is absolutely the industry leader so there literally isn't any place to go." A Google search engineer would have the same problem — they're already at the top of the ladder. Of course, in their startup stages, Google and Yahoo took much of their staff from "top of the ladder" companies like Microsoft. That's one reason why the most common destination for a former Googler or Yahoo is a startup.

Going small also provides a break from the problems of working for a giant. The developer told me, "It's just tiring having to make everything work for everyone. Going startup is fun because you target smaller groups."

Attractive startups for exiters are scattered around Silicon Valley. Several Yahoos have left for Palo-Alto-based avatar-chat company IMVU. But the favorite new destination is Yelp, a venue-review site run from San Francisco's South Park district. South Park is home to some of tech's maturest startups, including blog search firm Technorati, blog platform builders Six Apart, and Wired Magazine. It's also the home of Obvious Corp., maker of the Twitter messaging service. Founders Evan Williams and Biz Stone both left Google for the startup world.

Stick around
Of course, someone may just need a change of department. Some Yahoo employees have moved to its Flickr photo sharing site, an acquired startup which seems to maintain a looser style than Yahoo's internally built properties.

The same often goes for Google; there are plenty of ways to move within the company, and project managers can enjoy hiring workers who already passed Google's grueling application process. Of course, Google and Yahoo buy many startups just to bring their founders into the company, then move them onto other projects.

Switch teams
Several people told me they hadn't noticed anyone leave Yahoo for Google or vice versa. But most who reported this found it odd. Engineers could theoretically switch; but web developers, said one person, would have little reason to leave Yahoo's sophisticated teams for Google.

Of course, there are other players to choose. But what would anyone want with them? Well, Ask.com's smaller marketing team could attract someone much like startup culture could. But an Ask.com marketer hadn't noticed anyone moving in from the two giants. Microsoft claimed one Yahoo among those polled, and had been an option for a few others.

Live fast, retire young
I asked a friend who recently joined Google where any of her exiting colleagues had gone. "I thought they went to the desert island they just purchased when they cashed out their stock." In fact, she said, she's only seen one person leave, and he retired. "At the age of 30 or whatever," she said.

Et cetera
Of course, the world's more complicated than that. Some former Yahoos went into media (CBS, CNET, and JPG Magazine); two went to different food startups outside the Valley. Several went back to school. A lot of these people have entire careers ahead of them.

And where would you go if you left today?
Sources' names omitted; current employer included.

• Yahoo: "I'd probably blog full-time."
• Google: "I'd go do something completely different. Any other tech job would just be a downgrade from Google. So I'd go write a screenplay or draw comics or something like that."
• Yahoo, recently changed departments: "I actually was debating between this and a handful of startups talking to me."
• Apple: "IDEO, if they'd have me. Omit that last part," she jokes. "Just 'IDEO.' Because they better damn well have me!"

Photo: Irony.com. Nick Douglas writes for Valleywag, Blogebrity, and Look Shiny. Pretty much everywhere would be a move up from Valleywag.

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