PARIS -- The founder of Internet-based virtual world Second Life has said he is stepping down as the company?s head because he doesn't like managing real people.

Philip Rosedale told AFP during a Friday stopover in Paris that he will continue to work full-time for the social e-network, but that he is more interested in "invention, technology and strategy" than "people management."

"It's my decision," said Philip Rosedale, who quits the role of managing director in mid-May. He has named digital communications executive Mark Kingdon as his successor.

Rosedale set up San Fransisco-based Linden Lab and Second Life in 2003, which now employs some 250 people.

It has attracted more than 10 million subscribers, although only five percent are considered active users.

Rosedale said that his new appointment, announced on Second Life on Thursday, was "one of the few people with the right profile" to drive the company into a new phase.

"I was looking for someone who could do the job better than me," he added.

Rosedale admitted there is room for improvement at Second Life and that it was a "very complex" concept.

He said people had to devote lots of time and work to understand it, which explained the high churn-rate.

However, he was quick to point out that Second Life was not changing bosses because it had problems.

"We're about to become a big company," he stated, adding that 250,000 people surf this escapist universe each day, with some 55,000 users making money from selling products through Second Life.

He also outlined a 15-percent increase in online activity in the first quarter of 2008, compared to the last quarter of 2007.

Kingdon, who holds an MBA, was previously a partner at PricewaterhouseCoopers.