I'm likely to be on the wrong side of this argument, but part of my gets upset every time I hear about a founder leaving their fast-growing company. Great companies are built by the kinds of founders who don't just want to start something, they want to build and scale it into something world-changing.<p>Imagine Mark Zuckerberg leaving FB to "start something new". Imagine Bill Gates leaving MSFT early on to "experiment with some new ideas". Larry Ellison, Page and Brin, Jobs, etc all evolved with their companies. Why does it seem like this class of entrepreneurs is uninterested in seeing their companies out?
> After stepping down from CEO six months ago, my mind started to wander. The reason I left Blogger/Google when I did is that I felt it had reached a place where it was on solid ground and in capable hands (at the time, Jason Goldman’s as product manager). Though still an independent company, I realized Twitter may be at a similar point today.<p>Do people really mean it when they say this, or is it just a thing to say, the same way disgraced politicians claim that they're retiring to 'spend time with their family'?<p>I mean, i'm not suggesting that there's anything untoward going on, it's just that with a few rare exceptions i find it hard to believe when people (politicians, CEOs, message-board founders, or anyone else) claim that they've left because they looked around and, like the Old Testament God, saw that 'it was good', and decided that their job was done there. I have not ever been a CEO or anything obviously, but the concept seems unlikely to me. 'I'm tired of my responsibilities', 'the culture has changed too much', 'i don't like my co-workers', 'i've got a more lucrative opportunity lined up elsewhere', 'i want to raise my new child', whatever, i'd easily believe those. But that it's so charitable and grandiose as deciding 'it's done' seems foreign to me.
What an amazing position to be in. Most people have to struggle to raise money and attract talent. How big do you think the line is to fund and/or work at Ev's next venture? G'luck, Ev!
This is why I love this industry. This guy has created two groundbreaking/historic companies in a decade and now he is stepping up to bat for #3.<p>I don't know if he will succeed on the next one, or even on the one after that - but I do know that I wouldn't bet against him.<p>Love/Hate Twitter, have to respect @ev for his contribution to communication, the development of Rails and the evolution of the industry.<p>Look forward to seeing what comes next.
It seems the folks at twitter want to give @jack a bigger role, especially with @ev gone. However, I wonder if he doesn't want to focus on Square, which seems to be doing great things on it's own.
It's been 5 years and 8 days since work on Twitter started on March 21, 2006. Several other founding employees will be fully vested by now, so I'd expect a few more departures, particularly now that Ev has made it OK to leave.
It's pretty amazing to be part of two incredibly successful companies. If anything this is simply proof that you can get it done.<p>I'm sure it's tough to maintain control when companies become (or are acquired into) behemoths. I can't imagine all of the emotional turmoil being successful in entrepreneurial adventures can be in comparison to failure, quite frankly.<p>He can walk away knowing that he was at the VERY least part of game changing contributions to the world. And that's pretty neat no matter what he decides to do next.<p>And they say...3rd time is the charm.