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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

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.

jerf 9y ago
Nothing terribly interesting needs to have gone down. Someone who is the right fit to lead a company from a scrappy three-person startup to a large established tech company, and enjoys it the entire time, is a unicorn among unicorns.
mbrock 9y ago
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?
- throwaway84742 9y ago
  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.
  - seba_dos1 9y ago
    That's probably not the best solution for both the person (you hardly get any mental rest just by working a bit less) and the company (which probably needs a CTO, otherwise there wouldn't be one).
p3llin0r3 9y ago
I mean if you have "enough" money and are not enjoying the job, I could see stepping down.
dahdum 9y ago
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.
- k__ 9y ago
  Maybe he doesn't want to be that person? Founding a company is much different from running it. I'd consider founding exiting for the first years, but later rather boring.
- hinkley 9y ago
  More than that, he's put his energy in the same company for most of his professional life. Nobody wants to be a one trick pony. Even if you are successful beyond your wildest dreams, people want more than one act in their lives. If I had founded docker, I'd be retiring now[1], because I've done other things and this might feel like the cherry on top. But he's only 34. [1] If I knew how, which I don't. At best I'd switch fields and start over on something else I care about.
lallysingh 9y ago
Why? He has the money and the product does what he wants. If the community he's help build around the product is in good shape, why do anything else?
rando444 9y ago
If everyone had that kind of mindset, Elon Musk would still be running PayPal.
- throwaway84742 9y ago
  Not a good example. Musk was ousted from his CEO position there.
rconti 9y ago
And many of us would. I'm not a founder or a visionary, but I often commented of my former CEO "If I had hundreds of millions of dollars and was in my mid-70s, I sure as hell wouldn't still be running a company, I'd have retired ages ago" ..... followed closely by the comment "and maybe that's why I don't have hundreds of millions of dollars!" Not everyone has the desire to persist in that same role, particularly as the company evolves with size. For some, the money allows you to walk away and pursue passions that are independent of a need to make money. And/or maybe his passion is starting a new project that MIGHT be a business that MIGHT make money, just like Docker once was.

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.

jerf 9y ago

Nothing terribly interesting needs to have gone down. Someone who is the right fit to lead a company from a scrappy three-person startup to a large established tech company, and enjoys it the entire time, is a unicorn among unicorns.

mbrock 9y ago

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?

throwaway84742 9y ago
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.
- seba_dos1 9y ago
  That's probably not the best solution for both the person (you hardly get any mental rest just by working a bit less) and the company (which probably needs a CTO, otherwise there wouldn't be one).

p3llin0r3 9y ago

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

dahdum 9y ago

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.

k__ 9y ago
Maybe he doesn't want to be that person? Founding a company is much different from running it. I'd consider founding exiting for the first years, but later rather boring.
hinkley 9y ago
More than that, he's put his energy in the same company for most of his professional life. Nobody wants to be a one trick pony. Even if you are successful beyond your wildest dreams, people want more than one act in their lives. If I had founded docker, I'd be retiring now[1], because I've done other things and this might feel like the cherry on top. But he's only 34. [1] If I knew how, which I don't. At best I'd switch fields and start over on something else I care about.

lallysingh 9y ago

Why? He has the money and the product does what he wants. If the community he's help build around the product is in good shape, why do anything else?

rando444 9y ago

If everyone had that kind of mindset, Elon Musk would still be running PayPal.

throwaway84742 9y ago
Not a good example. Musk was ousted from his CEO position there.

rconti 9y ago

And many of us would. I'm not a founder or a visionary, but I often commented of my former CEO "If I had hundreds of millions of dollars and was in my mid-70s, I sure as hell wouldn't still be running a company, I'd have retired ages ago" ..... followed closely by the comment "and maybe that's why I don't have hundreds of millions of dollars!" Not everyone has the desire to persist in that same role, particularly as the company evolves with size. For some, the money allows you to walk away and pursue passions that are independent of a need to make money. And/or maybe his passion is starting a new project that MIGHT be a business that MIGHT make money, just like Docker once was.