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He's been on his way out for quite awhile, having stepped back from day to day operations in July '17. He wasn't the most professional leader and was widely bla

He's been on his way out for quite awhile, having stepped back from day to day operations in July '17. He wasn't the most professional leader and was widely blamed for promoting and perpetuating a toxic culture within Moz. This included publicly attacking people in the industry, openly mocking and punishing customers for criticizing his product(s), and politicizing honest feedback. In addition, blew a ton of money on pie in the sky ideas that led nowhere while letting the core product stagnate, only having to lay off 30% of their workforce. Never worked there, take this with a grain of salt, just the word on the street in startup land :)

webwright 9y ago
I've been in the Seattle startup scene for ~12 years and haven't ever heard him blamed for "promoting and perpetuating a toxic culture within Moz", so "widely blamed" doesn't seem accurate. I've also never heard of the other stuff you mention. If he was openly mocking/punishing customers, maybe you can provide a link where he did that? Moz did spend a bunch of $ on new stuff vs. core stuff-- but I think that was after Rand stepped away from the CEO chair. Certainly the layoffs were after that by several years. Not saying he bears ZERO responsibility, but hanging that on him seems pretty unfair. Here's his post about the strategic zigs/zags and layoffs: https://sparktoro.com/blog/moz-returns-to-seo/ https://sparktoro.com/blog/moz-returns-to-seo/ Here's a quote from the post: "I’m also really thankful that I wasn’t in a managerial position and didn’t have to make what were, I’m sure, insanely tough calls about who stayed at Moz and who didn’t. I feel guilty and awful for all who were in that position, and all those who are seeking jobs now. I remember what it was like when Geraldine and many of her coworkers were laid off and the feelings of doubt and fear, resentment and confusion that washed over us. My empathy and my heart are with everyone on both sides of this heart-wrenching process."
SyneRyder 9y ago
You can read about some of that in previous posts on Rand's own blog over the years. There's "My Complicated Relationship With No Longer Being CEO" from late 2015, written 2 years after he stepped down as CEO, where he admits regretting stepping down and his "displeasure and frustration" with ways the new CEO was running things: https://sparktoro.com/blog/my-complicated-relationship-with-no-longer-being-ceo/ https://sparktoro.com/blog/my-complicated-relationship-with-... Somewhat complicating things, he originally published that post on the company's own website, as evidenced by this link: https://moz.com/rand/my-complicated-relationship-with-no-longer-being-ceo/ https://moz.com/rand/my-complicated-relationship-with-no-lon... [I do hope Rand will be happier in his new startup - it feels like he has been heading in a different direction to his former company for a while, at least from reading his blog.]

webwright 9y ago

I've been in the Seattle startup scene for ~12 years and haven't ever heard him blamed for "promoting and perpetuating a toxic culture within Moz", so "widely blamed" doesn't seem accurate. I've also never heard of the other stuff you mention. If he was openly mocking/punishing customers, maybe you can provide a link where he did that? Moz did spend a bunch of $ on new stuff vs. core stuff-- but I think that was after Rand stepped away from the CEO chair. Certainly the layoffs were after that by several years. Not saying he bears ZERO responsibility, but hanging that on him seems pretty unfair. Here's his post about the strategic zigs/zags and layoffs: https://sparktoro.com/blog/moz-returns-to-seo/ https://sparktoro.com/blog/moz-returns-to-seo/ Here's a quote from the post: "I’m also really thankful that I wasn’t in a managerial position and didn’t have to make what were, I’m sure, insanely tough calls about who stayed at Moz and who didn’t. I feel guilty and awful for all who were in that position, and all those who are seeking jobs now. I remember what it was like when Geraldine and many of her coworkers were laid off and the feelings of doubt and fear, resentment and confusion that washed over us. My empathy and my heart are with everyone on both sides of this heart-wrenching process."

SyneRyder 9y ago

You can read about some of that in previous posts on Rand's own blog over the years. There's "My Complicated Relationship With No Longer Being CEO" from late 2015, written 2 years after he stepped down as CEO, where he admits regretting stepping down and his "displeasure and frustration" with ways the new CEO was running things: https://sparktoro.com/blog/my-complicated-relationship-with-no-longer-being-ceo/ https://sparktoro.com/blog/my-complicated-relationship-with-... Somewhat complicating things, he originally published that post on the company's own website, as evidenced by this link: https://moz.com/rand/my-complicated-relationship-with-no-longer-being-ceo/ https://moz.com/rand/my-complicated-relationship-with-no-lon... [I do hope Rand will be happier in his new startup - it feels like he has been heading in a different direction to his former company for a while, at least from reading his blog.]