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Au Revoir

blog.docker.com

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Re: Au Revoir

#41

Post by romanhn »

hartator wrote: post #23

It always amazes me how you can convince a founder/CEO is not right man for the job, and slowly push him away. Companies that succeed are driven by burning vision, not by day-to-day operation people. It might make feel the companies run smoother for some time, but day-to-day executives are harmful to a company core vision leading to boring companies if they manage to sustain profitability in the long run at all.

There is a reason why most startups don't go big - burning vision is not even close to being the right formula for success. Running a company of 10 people is VERY different from running a company of 100, which is VERY VERY different from running a company of 1000. Just like precious few individual contributors are comfortable with and able to contribute meaningfully in this wide range of environments, it doesn't make sense that a CEO is somehow exempted from that. The day-to-day operations are in fact incredibly different and present unique challenges.

Note: I'm not saying this is what's happening here, just responding to the general comment above.

Re: Au Revoir

#43

Post by peterwwillis »

I think their blog being hugged to death is a good example of how this technology (read: web backend tech in general, not containers) is still too complicated for people in general to use it for simple cases, like scaling the load of otherwise static content. (It's wordpress, but still) We need solutions that require less resources and smaller learning curves.

Re: Au Revoir

#44

Post by throwaway84742 »

mbrock wrote: post #36
throwaway84742 wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Having read this I wonder what really went down. I get that his shares are fully vested, but personally I would not walk away from such a role at a company with this kind of growth and mind share.

Isn't it really hard to know what you would or wouldn't do in such a situation? What if he's just kinda tired, you know?

He’s in a position where the rational and realistic response to being tired could be as simple as delegating more and saying “from now on I’ll be working 3 days a week”. Our CTO doesn’t even show up for weeks at a time.

Re: Au Revoir

#45

Post by codingdave »

hartator wrote: post #23

It always amazes me how you can convince a founder/CEO is not right man for the job, and slowly push him away. Companies that succeed are driven by burning vision, not by day-to-day operation people. It might make feel the companies run smoother for some time, but day-to-day executives are harmful to a company core vision leading to boring companies if they manage to sustain profitability in the long run at all.

CEOs that succeed also have the correct burning vision. CEOs with a flawed vision often drive companies into the ground. I'm not talking about anyone specific here, just noting that many founding CEOs hold too tightly to their own personal vision rather than adjusting it to the market's demands to create a solid direction.

Re: Au Revoir

#46

Post by p3llin0r3 »

throwaway84742 wrote: post #25
jf wrote: post #10

I was able to get the page to load, here's the text of thet post: "Today I’m announcing my departure from Docker, the company I helped create ten years ago and have been building ever since. A founder’s departure is usually seen as a dramatic event. Sadly, I must report that reality is far less exciting in this case. I’ve had many roles at Docker over the years, and today I have a new, final one – as an active board…

Having read this I wonder what really went down. I get that his shares are fully vested, but personally I would not walk away from such a role at a company with this kind of growth and mind share.

I mean if you have "enough" money and are not enjoying the job, I could see stepping down.

Re: Au Revoir

#47

Post by dahdum »

throwaway84742 wrote: post #25
jf wrote: post #10

I was able to get the page to load, here's the text of thet post: "Today I’m announcing my departure from Docker, the company I helped create ten years ago and have been building ever since. A founder’s departure is usually seen as a dramatic event. Sadly, I must report that reality is far less exciting in this case. I’ve had many roles at Docker over the years, and today I have a new, final one – as an active board…

Having read this I wonder what really went down. I get that his shares are fully vested, but personally I would not walk away from such a role at a company with this kind of growth and mind share.

He’s put his heart and soul into the company for 10 years, is wildly successful, and doesn’t think he’s the best person for this next phase.

I don’t think any back alley drama needs to have happened.

Re: Au Revoir

#48

Post by discussedbefore »

This guy led Docker's marketing-first approach here on HN: https://news.ycombinator.com/user?id=shykes

https://hn.algolia.com/?query=author:shykes%20docker&sort=by...

I put CloudFlare in a similar boat, but CloudFlare seems more tech-savvy (apart from one giant screw-up that cemented marketing-first for me).

I'll always be sad that marketing wins.

Re: Au Revoir

#50

Post by c_r_w »

eruditepanda wrote: post #40
c_r_w wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Whereas effective leaders are required to manage not only the day-to-day, but turning the core vision into an actual business plan that can pay employees rather than just burn VC money. My experience is the opposite; I've worked at two companies where the founder has returned to be CEO and in both cases they were highly ineffective.

I'd concur, the generalization of one being better than the other just doesn't fit. I've worked for companies that fit into both situations and it really comes down to whether the founder had the skills to begin with or whether they were willing to admit that they needed help on the day-to-day operations & maintenance, etc.

Agreed. There is this concept of the wheel of energy, people tend to be good at different parts of the wheel:

Starting Growing Containing Completing

Founder types tend to be amazing at Starting, and sometimes at Growing. But at a certain point, you need to bring in the people who are better at the Growing/Containing phase. IMHO most Founder/CEOs don't have this distinction and can't see how what makes them terrific at the beginning hobbles the company as it tries to become a stable business.

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