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Reminds me of a "self-demotion" that worked out well: That of a certain Allan Vermeulen [0] who, by some accounts, was the chief architect of Amazon S3 [1], and

Reminds me of a "self-demotion" that worked out well: That of a certain Allan Vermeulen [0] who, by some accounts, was the chief architect of Amazon S3 [1], and by all accounts, an engineer extraordinaire. Vermeulen managed the Platform Services group when he joined [2], and later moved to a CTO role with focus on the then very nascent Web Services initiative [3], but eventually "demoted" himself to an "AWS Engineer" role to actually build key technological pieces that would underpin a lot of distributed systems at AWS [4]. Not bad at all. [0] https://books.google.co.in/books?id=yG3PAK6ZOucC&pg=PT229 https://books.google.co.in/books?id=yG3PAK6ZOucC&pg=PT229 [1] https://perspectives.mvdirona.com/2016/03/a-decade-of-innovation/ https://perspectives.mvdirona.com/2016/03/a-decade-of-innova... [2] https://archive.seattletimes.com/archive/?date=20040418&slug=geniusal18 https://archive.seattletimes.com/archive/?date=20040418&slug... [3] https://web.archive.org/web/20091226191003/paulwallis.ulitzer.com/node/39815 https://web.archive.org/web/20091226191003/paulwallis.ulitze... [4] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QVvFVwyElLY https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QVvFVwyElLY

torgard 6y ago
Thanks for sharing! I had not heard about him.
rebyn 6y ago
Being a Distinguished Engineer is the highest there is for an engineer. He moved away from management and max'd out on the engineering track. https://college.lclark.edu/programs/entrepreneurship/fireside-chats/allan-vermeulen/ https://college.lclark.edu/programs/entrepreneurship/firesid...
- ignoramous 6y ago
  Yeah, and Amazon HR might be forced to create newer, higher rungs just for alv (and quite possibly a few others like James Hamilton and Eric Brandwine). The "self-demotion" is real though, especially since, according to the (much disputed) book, The Everything Store, alv declined Bezos' offer to lead AWS, and the job then of course was Andy Jassy's (who took over from Colin Bryar) which laid the foundation for him to eventually become the CEO-elect of one of the most enduring companies of all time. I mean, in an alternate universe, alv is the CEO-elect :) Imagine the scenes!
  - jackpirate 6y ago
    Amazon is great, but it's hardly "one of the most enduring companies of all time" yet. It's not even 30 years old.
    - qwantim1 6y ago
      It’s a prediction based on its continued meteoric rise and given its net worth.
      - tedeh 6y ago
        Just like Standard Oil I guess...
  - cercatrova 6y ago
    He probably made the right choice for himself, I suspect the CEO role is something he'd want nothing to do with, as it's all meetings, no coding.
amzn-throw 6y ago
alv is a role model to so many inside Amazon, because 1) His internal tech talks are fun, peculiar, and make complex concepts easy to understand 2) His contributions go far beyond "Just S3" - though that would be enough. His low level frameworks and concepts underpin almost all complex AWS distributed systems - from databases to messages. 3) he STILL Codes, iterating on ideas, and pushing scalability of distributed systems to the next level
tcgv 6y ago
Defines himself as a "techinical dude" in his LinkedIn profile xD - https://www.linkedin.com/in/allan-vermeulen-58835b/ https://www.linkedin.com/in/allan-vermeulen-58835b/
- LilBytes 6y ago
  "Roguewave Software" - Position: guy The chief of modesty.

torgard 6y ago

Thanks for sharing! I had not heard about him.

rebyn 6y ago

Being a Distinguished Engineer is the highest there is for an engineer. He moved away from management and max'd out on the engineering track. https://college.lclark.edu/programs/entrepreneurship/fireside-chats/allan-vermeulen/ https://college.lclark.edu/programs/entrepreneurship/firesid...

ignoramous 6y ago
Yeah, and Amazon HR might be forced to create newer, higher rungs just for alv (and quite possibly a few others like James Hamilton and Eric Brandwine). The "self-demotion" is real though, especially since, according to the (much disputed) book, The Everything Store, alv declined Bezos' offer to lead AWS, and the job then of course was Andy Jassy's (who took over from Colin Bryar) which laid the foundation for him to eventually become the CEO-elect of one of the most enduring companies of all time. I mean, in an alternate universe, alv is the CEO-elect :) Imagine the scenes!
- jackpirate 6y ago
  Amazon is great, but it's hardly "one of the most enduring companies of all time" yet. It's not even 30 years old.
  - qwantim1 6y ago
    It’s a prediction based on its continued meteoric rise and given its net worth.
    - tedeh 6y ago
      Just like Standard Oil I guess...
- cercatrova 6y ago
  He probably made the right choice for himself, I suspect the CEO role is something he'd want nothing to do with, as it's all meetings, no coding.

amzn-throw 6y ago

alv is a role model to so many inside Amazon, because 1) His internal tech talks are fun, peculiar, and make complex concepts easy to understand 2) His contributions go far beyond "Just S3" - though that would be enough. His low level frameworks and concepts underpin almost all complex AWS distributed systems - from databases to messages. 3) he STILL Codes, iterating on ideas, and pushing scalability of distributed systems to the next level

tcgv 6y ago

Defines himself as a "techinical dude" in his LinkedIn profile xD - https://www.linkedin.com/in/allan-vermeulen-58835b/ https://www.linkedin.com/in/allan-vermeulen-58835b/

LilBytes 6y ago
"Roguewave Software" - Position: guy The chief of modesty.