I worked with Josh for over five years at Grooveshark. The day I applied for the job, he spent several hours pitching the company to me with rampant enthusiasm in hopes that I'd take a risk (and a huge pay cut) and come work with the team.<p>From the day I took the job, I watched Josh tirelessly run through his pitch time and time again, always with the same attention to detail, and the same level of genuine interest in getting to know each candidate. He was frenetic and unflinching in his desire to succeed.<p>Josh cared about his team, and he never let the negative chains of events that plagued Grooveshark over the years get the best of him. He kept a sticker on his desk that said, "this too shall pass", and even in the worst times, he'd give a wry smile and crack a joke to let everyone know that things weren't as bad as they seemed.<p>I spoke with Josh at a bar downtown about two weeks ago, and he was again in good spirits. He had a new idea for a startup that he was preparing to begin work on in earnest, and he seemed genuinely excited about his path forward. In talking about Grooveshark, it was evident that closing that chapter in his life was a weight off his shoulders.<p>Needless to say, I'm extremely sad to see Josh go. He was a dear friend and a hell of a human being. He opened countless doors for hundreds of people and helped create a true startup community here in Gainesville. Josh, you will be sorely missed.
My step-sister dated Josh for a while when I was growing up.<p>My few memories of him consist mostly of Josh explaining technology to me at the dinner table in slow, careful words so that a middle school kid could understand. I remember him laughing with me about the crazy/terrible things I had done to overclock my Android Dev Phone 1 at a time when no one else I knew thought that was interesting. I remember feeling really cool when he hooked me up with free Grooveshark premium to be nice.<p>It's strange. I haven't seen or heard from him in nearly a decade. He stopped dating my step-sister years ago. He likely wouldn't have remembered my name if you asked him.<p>Still, I feel like a friend is gone.
I interned at Grooveshark two summers ago; Josh incredibly changed my life for the better. The Summer with the Sharks program was transformative and catapulted me out of Louisiana and into the world of tech. He's such a happy and charismatic personality; the company outings, like going to Disneyworld, are some of my best memories.<p>Talk about a life gone too soon. I'm pouring one out for Josh tonight.
This news both both shocking and painful.<p>When I started my company, Josh was the first person to take a chance with our nacent technology.<p>When Grooveshark recently shut down, I sent him a note telling him how sad I was to hear about their great service being shut down, and referneced roosevelt's The Man in the Arena poem.<p>Josh wrote back:<p>> Thanks man… I appreciate the kind words and also absolutely love that quote.
> We’re not done yet… Grooveshark’s chapter is over but I’m at least happy to be free of the dark cloud and excited to move onto new things.
> Onward and upward…
> This is my personal email address by the way, so please do keep in touch.
> Best of luck with everything at Metrical… hang in there.
> Josh<p>Always positive, supportive and kind, he was a mentor to me despite our considerable age difference. I'll miss him.
Josh was an incredible man. He was an inspiration, and everybody that knew him admired him. Always friendly and helpful to everyone. He supported me professionally both while I was at Grooveshark and after I left, and I owe so much to him. This is very sad to hear.
To say that Josh had a positive effect on those around him is a severe understatement. I only conversed with him a few times over the last two years, but am left with a heavy heart this morning after seeing the pain of the Gainesville community.<p>My heart goes out to his girlfriend and all of those with tears running down their cheeks since last night. Rest in peace, and thanks for all you have done.
When will we realize that as entrepreneurs, founders and creators that we have to support each other?<p>Let's have an open door policy when a fellow entrepreneur reaches out to us to ask for help, advise or just wants to talk to someone who can relate to what they are going through in starting, running and growing a new business or just life in general.<p>There are those in our community who wake up and live breathe and are motivated by a mission to make an impact in the world. Its not all about the money. The true leaders of our generation are motivated by being of service to others.<p>It costs no money to make a friend in your own community and let's not try to be so cut throat. We are the ones fighting giants who are failing every day to adjust their strategies to adopt to a new generation who could care less of "how it's always been done."<p>RIP Josh. You will be missed by everyone.
Keep in mind that there are health conditions that can kill seemingly healthy young adults instantly - aneurisms, heart attacks, brain cancers, and others.<p>I'm reminded of one of my dogs dying of hemangiosarcoma - a cancer of the blood vessel linings that thankfully only happens to dogs, not humans. In many cases, the way we find out a dog has hemangiosarcoma is that the dog suddenly just drops dead. (In Rubu's case, it was three weeks from the first symptoms.) There are similarly fast and deadly cancers in humans.
Sad news.<p>Josh created a service that was a pleasure to use. I discovered so much music using it.<p>When Grooveshark closed, I moved to Spotify, which, IMO, has a very long way to go before it becomes what Grooveshark was in terms of music diversity.
As soon as I read the headline I was scared to read Josh's name in the article. I had the opportunity to interview him for a book, and I placed his interview at the very beginning of the book because I personally found it one of the most interesting. At the end of that phone call I thought to myself: if I was in Florida I would love to work with this guy. RIP Josh.
If I were to list all the great bands/music I discovered on Grooveshark, and all the music from my childhood that I rediscovered, I would surely run into some kind of comment length limit here.<p>RIP man, your work touched lives.
Just awful. My condolences to his family and friends. Josh accomplished more in 28 years than most do in a lifetime, yet he had so much of his life left to live. Life is precious, and we can't waste a second of it.
Sad. Grooveshark always allowed me to find stuff I had a hard time finding otherwise. Good memories with my son when he was between one and two dancing in our little apartment living room to music from grooveshark. Condolences to family and friends. I don't know him, but he made something that has a part of several really good memories.
It's no small understatement to say that I, and countless others, would not be where we are today without Josh, his mentorship, and his kind spirit. The world is a little darker today without him, but his influence will make it shine brighter still. Thanks for everything you taught us Josh, I hope you've found peace.
I only knew Josh through his creation, Grooveshark, and it was truly an excellent company. I was very sad the day it shut down. From those who knew him personally he sounds like a true mensch. I wish I had the opportunity to know you, Josh.<p>"No man is an island,
Entire of itself,
Every man is a piece of the continent,
A part of the main.
If a clod be washed away by the sea,
Europe is the less.
As well as if a promontory were.
As well as if a manor of thy friend's
Or of thine own were:
Any man's death diminishes me,
Because I am involved in mankind..."<p>I'll be saying a prayer and pouring one out for you tonight.
<i>... toxicology results will take two or three months.</i><p>Wow, for people close to him, waiting for the results, that time must feel like an eternity. Why does it take that long?
I've never known him. I'm not from that side of earth and I never knew about Grooveshark. But I feel I've lost him; we've lost him. With teary eyes, my good wishes go to all who share this loss in substance or in spirit.
Rest in peace Josh.
This is really sad. I study in UF while Grooveshark was taking off. I never met Josh but Grooveshark was creating a great startup vibe in Gainesville. I kept using it long after I moved to Seattle. Condolences to family and friends.
So sad. Not just the loss for his family and friends, but to lose an entrepreneur with all that wisdom that comes from the experience he had. We may have also lost the several more great startups that he would have created. RIP.
Ugh :( ... He was one of our favorite customers, and an insanely nice guy. Every time we got new company schwag, we'd swap! We were all a bit floored upon hearing this. My condolences to his family and friends.
Sad day. I'm good friends with Josh's younger brother and study at UF. It was definitely clear that the two of them shared the same sense of wonder and awe when it came to technology.
I never knew him and scarcely used GrooveShark. But reading through these comments it is clear we've lost a wonderful guy. Very sad this happened to him. Rest in peace, Josh.
Fuuuuuuck. Sometimes I think I have a good handle on death, and what it means. Sometimes I think I understand it. Sometimes I think I don't fear it.<p>Then something like this happens and, just, _fuck_. I don't know how to handle it. Someone my age, doing something very similar to me, just dies. That's it. Story's over.<p>A few weeks ago I told my CEO that I intended to quit and pursue a dream that I've been wanting to pursue for a long time now. My boss seemed pretty surprised -- it's a really good job after all, with good pay, at a good company. I gave him an argument that began with, "I'm going to die. Not like, I'm going to die soon. I don't have a disease or anything. I don't know when it's going to happen, but it could happen soon." And then I went on to talk about pursuing said dream.<p>At the time it felt like a really silly argument -- like, I'm not even thirty yet and I'm thinking about how I'm going to die someday. Then something like this happens. And death feels so much closer, so much more real. Like a nightmare just waiting around the corner, ending my story before I'm done with it.
I know the knee-jerk reaction is to assume foul play, but I knew him a little bit and he was as healthy as an ox. Or at least he was several months ago the last time I saw him.<p>I don't know, but it would shock me to the bone if someone could truly get angry enough at a man like him, to try and hurt him. He knew like we all knew, Grooveshark was never going to last, but it reinforced the point that Napster proved and I think that was always one of the major goals of the project.<p>That being said, I wish all the best to the Grooveshark family. It's never easy to lose someone like that, it always is hard.
Josh taught me that people, above everything else, are the most important part of a company. Sage advice that may seem obvious but too many fail to remember.<p>I only knew him briefly, but I'm grateful for the chance to have known him. The other commenters are right, he was an incredibly positive person, and he did change Gainesville for the better. A great loss. My thoughts are with his friends and his family.
"Lori Greenberg, his mother, said Monday he had no health problems and she was told by police who investigated Sunday night that there was no evidence of foul play, injuries or drugs."<p>Then.. what the hell happened?<p>I don't want to play conspiracy too hard here -- could be she's hiding some health issues? but given the recording industry's links with aggressive legislation (TPP, piracy laws), this makes me wonder:<p>"Several record companies had sued the online music streaming service over copyright violations."