Moving…
This is a hard post to write. I’ve been sitting here staring at the screen for about 15 minutes trying to craft-fully articulate my points but nothing is coming to mind, so I’ll just spit it out:
I’m going to be in San Francisco full time starting in the fall.
I’m still in denial so I’m not calling it a “move”. The fact is, I’m keeping my place in Boulder, and will be back as much as I can, but as far as work is concerned, I’m full time in SF.
The decision, while being incredibly difficult, wasn’t a hard one to make. SimpleGeo has been on a great ride since Joe and I founded it last year. And when we decided to open up a San Francisco office, it was because there was so much great talent that we felt like we were missing out on. Not the least of which was our two senior team hires, Rob Bailey in BD and Jeffrey Kalmikoff in Product. We couldn’t have hired them for Boulder, simply put.
A few weeks ago, Joe and I spent a full week with the rest of the team in San Francisco. Dubbed “Hack Week”, the point was to get in a solid cadence as a team and get as much done as humanly possible. The simple outcome was that Joe and I were way more productive as a result of being in the same physical place as Rob and Jeffrey. After that week, I was questioning how much more productive and successful we might be if the whole senior team was in one place. That questioning led to a discussion at the board level, and ultimately a decision to move HQ to San Francisco. We’re going to continue having the Boulder office for sure, but it will move to an engineering-only facility.
Now, with all of that off my chest I’d just like to say a few things:
I love Boulder. I love Boulder. I love Boulder.
Leaving this place is a near impossibility for me, as evidenced by the fact that I’m not calling it a “move” and I’m not selling my place. I will be back here as much as humanly possible, but obviously to not detriment my time with SimpleGeo.
Also, I still whole heartedly believe that Boulder is a fantastic place to start and run a successful company. Previously with Socialthing, we started, built and subsequently sold the company without a hitch, in Boulder. I firmly believe that you can be as successful in Boulder as anywhere else, if not moreso for many reasons, such as the supportive startup community here.
I’m going to continue to give back to the community that built me up so much. I’ve learned more here than I think I could have in a lifetime without Boulder. With that, anytime that I’m in Boulder (which will be about a week a month, and weekends), I’d encourage the locals that want to chat, meet up, get advice, give advice, etc. I’m more than happy to do that.
And while I’m sad to “leave”, the decision is absolutely the right one. Joe and I are doubling-down on our commitment to SimpleGeo and believe that the best move is to have all of the senior team in one place. We’re so excited about the coming months. They’re littered with product launches, a new website, new support methods, and a lot more. This is tough, but exactly what we should be doing, so I’m ok with it.
See you soon, SF!
