When Java was new, James Gosling and I gave a talk about it to a group that included Don. When we gave the talk I was in the process of leaving Sun for a startu

When Java was new, James Gosling and I gave a talk about it to a group that included Don. When we gave the talk I was in the process of leaving Sun for a startup. A couple of years later Don mentioned to me that the talk was the first time we met and, at the time, he couldn't figure out if I was really smart or really stupid for leaving Sun right after Java shipped. In 2010 we both agreed that in the long term, it was the right choice for me, but neither he nor I could have predicted that at the time.