Acquired By Google

[DarkEL]

Big News for me

The startup that I've been working at for the last three years was acquired by Google today.  http://techcrunch.com/2011/09/02/google-zave-networks/

Adding on to that news - I decided that it was a good time to part ways and so I declined the offer to join Google. Lots of reasons for that but short answer is that as a software developer - I would have been incredibly excited to join Google ten years ago - today however, I just don't see it as a good fit for where I want to go and what i want to do over the next few years.

[Isgrimnur]

Congratudolences.

[leo8877]

Congratudolences.

Haha!

You could have been rich!!

[DarkEL]

Haha!

You could have been rich!!

Laff - yes because the quickest way to become rich is to become another cog in a giant machine.   

[DarkEL]

BTW - that response was supposed to sound more tongue-in-cheek and not snarky.

I made some money from this deal but not life-changing money. On the plus side - I've also proven to myself that I can build something that will be desirable to other companies (I was the chief architect and director of development there)

[Azhag]

Awesome DarkEl! Now how are you going to show your love to GT??? Vita's all around? 

[ATB]

Google is supposed to be a sweet place to work.  Why not give it a chance and see what comes of it?

[Laner]

I wouldn't mind working for Google, if for no other reason but to have it on my resume.

Regardless, congrats!

[DarkEL]

Google is supposed to be a sweet place to work.  Why not give it a chance and see what comes of it?

I thought about it. Really did. I don't want to get into any mud-slinging - but you know how they say that people don't leave jobs, they leave bad management.....

Things might have gotten better there over time, but honestly I was tired of it and ready to move on. I had already made my decision about where I was going next even before all the talks about acquisition got serious, and so I postponed my plans to leave until after the deal was done for the good of the company. Plus staying would have required a relocation within the next 12mos to Boulder.

On the plus side - even without Google on my resume as an employer - I think that having on there how I was so key in the design and implementation of a software product that was acquired by Google and that I chose not to go along in the acquisition should still look pretty darn good on the resume or during the interview.

Google did have some very nice perks - and they made me wonder if i was making the right decision.

But in the end - I made the decision that I wanted to focus on a few things over the next year or so.
1. I wanted to really invest in myself and try to go from being a good developer to a truly great developer.
2. I wanted the opportunity to do some work that wasn't just about making a company money, but to do some work that would inspire me and make me feel that I was somehow using my talents to improve the world.
3. I wanted to devote time to preparing for launching my own products in the next couple of years.

So I made sort of an unconventional choice to meet those goals - and I accepted an offer to join a consulting company named ThoughtWorks - which made me feel like it offered the best opportunity for me to meet these goals.

It's stuff like this that really tipped my decision towards them -- http://www.thoughtworks.com/mission-and-values

[SkyLander]

2. I wanted the opportunity to do some work that wasn't just about making a company money, but to do some work that would inspire me and make me feel that I was somehow using my talents to improve the world.

One of these days I would like to get there.

[DarkEL]

2. I wanted the opportunity to do some work that wasn't just about making a company money, but to do some work that would inspire me and make me feel that I was somehow using my talents to improve the world.

One of these days I would like to get there.

Another company I was strongly considering was a startup in San Francisco that's working to fight childhood obesity with a device that measures kids movement and gives them online rewards for their activity. Really wanted to take that job but just couldn't make the numbers line up with the cost of relocating family, higher cost of living, etc.

[gellar]

Google is supposed to be a sweet place to work.  Why not give it a chance and see what comes of it?

I thought about it. Really did. I don't want to get into any mud-slinging - but you know how they say that people don't leave jobs, they leave bad management.....

Things might have gotten better there over time, but honestly I was tired of it and ready to move on. I had already made my decision about where I was going next even before all the talks about acquisition got serious, and so I postponed my plans to leave until after the deal was done for the good of the company. Plus staying would have required a relocation within the next 12mos to Boulder.

On the plus side - even without Google on my resume as an employer - I think that having on there how I was so key in the design and implementation of a software product that was acquired by Google and that I chose not to go along in the acquisition should still look pretty darn good on the resume or during the interview.

Google did have some very nice perks - and they made me wonder if i was making the right decision.

But in the end - I made the decision that I wanted to focus on a few things over the next year or so.
1. I wanted to really invest in myself and try to go from being a good developer to a truly great developer.
2. I wanted the opportunity to do some work that wasn't just about making a company money, but to do some work that would inspire me and make me feel that I was somehow using my talents to improve the world.
3. I wanted to devote time to preparing for launching my own products in the next couple of years.

So I made sort of an unconventional choice to meet those goals - and I accepted an offer to join a consulting company named ThoughtWorks - which made me feel like it offered the best opportunity for me to meet these goals.

It's stuff like this that really tipped my decision towards them -- http://www.thoughtworks.com/mission-and-values

Good on you.  Congrats on the successful exit and good luck with the new gig.

[Toe]

It's stuff like this that really tipped my decision towards them -- http://www.thoughtworks.com/mission-and-values

Cool, I work for one of the companies in their client portfolio, based in Nashville.

[Purge]

2. I wanted the opportunity to do some work that wasn't just about making a company money, but to do some work that would inspire me and make me feel that I was somehow using my talents to improve the world.

They really think outside the box. I read somewhere that they pioneered making hot-dogs out of babies.



Congrats!