

Xobni VP Engineering leaves for own startup - immad
http://www.gaborcselle.com/blog/2008/07/new-company.html

======
skmurphy
There are some strange sentiments in the announcement on
[http://www.xobni.com/blog/2008/07/23/xobni-is-growing-
adding...](http://www.xobni.com/blog/2008/07/23/xobni-is-growing-adding-
technical-teeth-and-saying-goodbye-to-a-good-friend/)

"And while we are sad to see Gabor go, his departure is a big opportunity for
Xobni." It's spin to present the loss of a technical founder as an
opportunity. The fact that they couldn't keep him in a CTO role, distinct from
a VP of Engineering role, speaks volumes. And it's an insult to characterize
it as an "opportunity."

The blog entry goes on to list requirements for the new VP "The right person
will:

    
    
       champion our engineering ethos, [CTO]
       deliver a fantastic product, [product manager]
       on-time. [product manager]
       be an able manager [vp engineering]
       who excels at rapid company growth. [vp engineering]
       know how to ship desktop software [product manager]
       know how to add or remove process [CEO]
    

This is probably at least three people: a VP of engineering, a CTO, and a
product manager. And I think the last is more properly the province of the
CEO. Their detailed position description at
<http://www.scribd.com/doc/4062717/Xobni-VP-Engineering> has this sentence:
"they must contribute as an architect, but still get their hands dirty
coding." Those skills don't normally come in a package with an excellent
manager who understands process and rapid company growth. This is the VP Eng
vs. CTO split in a rapidly growing technology driven company.

~~~
notauser
> deliver a fantastic product, [product manager]

Yes.

> on-time. [product manager]

> know how to ship desktop software [product manager]

No, no, hell no.

Product managers define what they think the customer wants (scope creep).
Project managers get something that is good enough out of the door (scope
supression).

It's possible for one person to do both jobs, but that doesn't make them the
same thing.

~~~
raganwald
"Product managers define what they think the customer wants (scope creep).
Project managers get something that is good enough out of the door (scope
suppression)"

Brilliant, speaking as someone who has worn both hats at different times, that
is the dichotomy in a nutshell.

------
maxklein
The real story behind this: The top management at Xobni does not want to
implement much needed changes to the flawed product. Gabor has been making
suggestions, but the company has already become slow and sluggish, and there
was a lot of conflict between the two. Some words were exchanged, and now
Gabor is leaving. The real story is that internally, one other person (at
least) is no longer actively involved in the project...

~~~
danw
Is there any way to substantiate your claim?

~~~
notauser
There hadly ever is, but as this is what life is like at 95% of companies
(including small companies) the probability of this being correct is pretty
high.

------
bprater
Why would he leave at the zenith of Xobni? What is a year or two more? Would
you leave -- even if you had aspirations of doing your own startp?

~~~
ardit33
It seems that there is some kind of conflict in between. I see no other reason
for somebody to leave. Maybe hiring somebody from yahoo as "adult supervision"
was not such a great idea. Who knows?

Ps. I'd love to hear more on what happened. Maybe in few months, after his
trip, Gabor will write some more about this, and the real reasons he left.
Maybe we can all learn some more from his experience.

~~~
edw519
_I'd love to hear more on what happened_

Wouldn't we all?

But I suspect all these people have too much class to give us the real dish.

~~~
curiousgeorge
there are classy and non-classy ways to say "fuck you".

------
rokhayakebe
"Those who know don't talk. Those who talk don't know". I simply hope that his
shares were vested.

------
dataman85
He is also an angel investor in Xobni. So he will see some payout when they
flip.

------
ispy
I dunno if anyone else saw this when it was first posted but I noticed that
there was a comment that said, "Don't let the door hit your ass on the way
out". forgot who it was posted by. it's been deleted since then...

~~~
ed
It's worth pointing out that the comment was clearly a joke from a friend of
Gabor, and that it was probably deleted because it could be misinterpreted.

------
newt0311
Whatever the reasons, good for him (and it is very likely that he already owns
some equity so he gains even if xobni gets bought out later though not so
much).

~~~
gscott
He mentions he is taking some substantial time off, likely he sold his equity
to others in the company and will live off of that for awhile.

It is a hard transition from a "scrappy start-up" to a more mature start-up. I
could imagine at one point he is super important, in every meeting, helping
direct the focus of every little thing, then as the company expands you get
pushed out to the side a little and treated more like an employee. The fact is
he was/is an employee, but it is hard to not think of yourself as a little
more then that when you have had so much involvement for so long.

