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As Heroku Boss Flees to Olive Farm, Where's the Platform Cloud Going?

27 points by joeyespo 14y ago

jameskilton 14y ago
The article makes a fleeting mention that Byron Sebastian had been working more on the Salesforce side of things than on Heroku. With that knowledge, I'm not at all surprised that he left. This leaving isn't a mark against Heroku.
codesuela 14y ago
This article makes it sound as if Heroku is about to be shut down but being the leader in PaaS offerings (at least for non enterprise type environments) I highly doubt this is going to happen. I can't imagine the stress Byron Sebastian has been through and I think taking a break is more then legitimate
ChuckMcM 14y ago
Maybe he just decided, "Ya know, I've got enough financial security to just not worry about this any more." and executed on that insight. Given his position and the acquisition, I would not be surprised if this move left a lot of money on the table but for many the difference between $25M and $50M [1] isn't $25M, its three years of not sleeping well because of the stress. [1] Pulled out of my hat, I have no insights into Byron's situation.
bgilroy26 14y ago
None of the punches here really land. The "oh so hard to explain" charge is particularly ridiculous: however much you would be spending on Dev Ops, that's how much it's worth to support Heroku's effort to automate the process.
dmix 14y ago
Ugh, tech news is slowly turning into mainstream press. They try to find a controversial angle on everything.
pbiggar 14y ago
AFAIK, there has been almost no exodus from Heroku since its acquisition, which is pretty damn uncommon (see Facebook/Google IPOs for example). In fact, there seems to have been an influx of new awesome developers, which implies it's not just golden handcuffs. I asked a Heroku employee about this, and he attributed it to their awesome culture. It really seems everyone loves it there. Certainly, every Heroku employee I know (sample size: 12ish) has an excitement that doesn't mesh with the tone of this article.
starpilot 14y ago
He quit to be a farmer? Is this the story of the fisherman and the businessman? http://www.lifeprinciples.net/SuccessatLife.html http://www.lifeprinciples.net/SuccessatLife.html
- thepumpkin1979 14y ago
  What a Delightful Story, Thank you Sir.
seanmcdirmid 14y ago
Sounds like Bill Berry, who retired from REM to become a farmer...just because that was actually his dream. When you are young, you can't really imagine why anyone would not want to be in the thick of it. But an idyllic life is very much a good exit from that.
- samstave 14y ago
  And the lead singer from Tool who left to make wine... in Arizona.
  - ironchef 14y ago
    Maynard didn't leave tool. He's still part of tool, a perfect circle, puscifer, as well as caduceus vineyards (which you mention), and runs an organic place in AZ last i knew. source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maynard_James_Keenan http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maynard_James_Keenan
    - samstave 14y ago
      Sure, sorry I wasn't emphasizing the leaving of the band (which I was wrong on) as much as the adoption of farming...
dlevine 14y ago
It's important to understand that Byron Sebastian wasn't a founder of Heroku. He was an executive who they brought in later to run the company (because the founders were busy writing code and making the platform awesome). Unlike with other companies, the emphasis was never on the CEO, but on the technically brilliant founders (Lindenbaum, Wiggins, and Henry). It sounds like he accomplished his goal by building the company and selling it, and now it's time for him to move on. The developers are still busy building an awesome service. Echoing what other people have said, there has been no exodus. Throughout its history, Heroku has focused on building an awesome place to work, and they have continued to do this, even at Salesforce. I worked out of the Heroku office for a few weeks (pre-acquisition), and it seemed like a great place to work. Everyone was super-friendly, and seemed to be working on things they truly loved doing (plus, they had a beautiful office that was extremely well-run). I would predict that there are no major staff changes in the foreseeable future.

27 points by joeyespo 14y ago

The article makes a fleeting mention that Byron Sebastian had been working more on the Salesforce side of things than on Heroku. With that knowledge, I'm not at all surprised that he left. This leaving isn't a mark against Heroku.

codesuela 14y ago

This article makes it sound as if Heroku is about to be shut down but being the leader in PaaS offerings (at least for non enterprise type environments) I highly doubt this is going to happen. I can't imagine the stress Byron Sebastian has been through and I think taking a break is more then legitimate

ChuckMcM 14y ago

Maybe he just decided, "Ya know, I've got enough financial security to just not worry about this any more." and executed on that insight. Given his position and the acquisition, I would not be surprised if this move left a lot of money on the table but for many the difference between $25M and $50M [1] isn't $25M, its three years of not sleeping well because of the stress. [1] Pulled out of my hat, I have no insights into Byron's situation.

bgilroy26 14y ago

None of the punches here really land. The "oh so hard to explain" charge is particularly ridiculous: however much you would be spending on Dev Ops, that's how much it's worth to support Heroku's effort to automate the process.

dmix 14y ago

Ugh, tech news is slowly turning into mainstream press. They try to find a controversial angle on everything.

pbiggar 14y ago

AFAIK, there has been almost no exodus from Heroku since its acquisition, which is pretty damn uncommon (see Facebook/Google IPOs for example). In fact, there seems to have been an influx of new awesome developers, which implies it's not just golden handcuffs. I asked a Heroku employee about this, and he attributed it to their awesome culture. It really seems everyone loves it there. Certainly, every Heroku employee I know (sample size: 12ish) has an excitement that doesn't mesh with the tone of this article.

starpilot 14y ago

He quit to be a farmer? Is this the story of the fisherman and the businessman? http://www.lifeprinciples.net/SuccessatLife.html http://www.lifeprinciples.net/SuccessatLife.html

thepumpkin1979 14y ago
What a Delightful Story, Thank you Sir.

seanmcdirmid 14y ago

Sounds like Bill Berry, who retired from REM to become a farmer...just because that was actually his dream. When you are young, you can't really imagine why anyone would not want to be in the thick of it. But an idyllic life is very much a good exit from that.

samstave 14y ago
And the lead singer from Tool who left to make wine... in Arizona.
- ironchef 14y ago
  Maynard didn't leave tool. He's still part of tool, a perfect circle, puscifer, as well as caduceus vineyards (which you mention), and runs an organic place in AZ last i knew. source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maynard_James_Keenan http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maynard_James_Keenan
  - samstave 14y ago
    Sure, sorry I wasn't emphasizing the leaving of the band (which I was wrong on) as much as the adoption of farming...

dlevine 14y ago

It's important to understand that Byron Sebastian wasn't a founder of Heroku. He was an executive who they brought in later to run the company (because the founders were busy writing code and making the platform awesome). Unlike with other companies, the emphasis was never on the CEO, but on the technically brilliant founders (Lindenbaum, Wiggins, and Henry). It sounds like he accomplished his goal by building the company and selling it, and now it's time for him to move on. The developers are still busy building an awesome service. Echoing what other people have said, there has been no exodus. Throughout its history, Heroku has focused on building an awesome place to work, and they have continued to do this, even at Salesforce. I worked out of the Heroku office for a few weeks (pre-acquisition), and it seemed like a great place to work. Everyone was super-friendly, and seemed to be working on things they truly loved doing (plus, they had a beautiful office that was extremely well-run). I would predict that there are no major staff changes in the foreseeable future.