From our recent business trip to Tokyo together, October 2007 |
This is a post I've been needing to do. It's personal, but very important to me.
As many of you know,
Barak resigned from Six Apart as the CEO recently. And I want to take a moment to acknowledge all that Barak has meant to me.
I'm not going into how he was central - obviously along with Ben and Mena - in creating Six Apart. And I usually don't talk about work on kokochi because Six Apart is so online and blogged about anyway. Search any name/product and you'll find a bunch of stuff.
What I want to say first and foremost is, Thank you, Barak.
I've had a lucky streak with great jobs. When I left my last job in Tokyo to
begin a life with Dav in SF, I left a job that I originally thought, upon entering my very own office on the 21st floor smack in Tokyo, "This is my perfect job!!" However, Dav prevailed. Our 'plan' was that I'd move to SF, and I'd get a crappy job to preoccupy myself with for a few months while he elegantly exited his job. Then we'd travel the world. What we didn't expect was that I'd get a job that I really loved.
I met Barak back in January 2003 at the
first Tokyo Movable Type meet-up. Frankly, I didn't know Ben and Mena (sheesh; I misspelled Mena's name!), and took a picture with them to show Dav that I did indeed go to this "blogging whatever" meet-up that he said I should go to. :) I did, however, chat with Barak for quite some time as I missed SF. He was from the Bay Area and super friendly to indulge me in conversations about it.
When I arrived in SF to get my 'crappy' job, I only got responses from jobs in Silicon Valley, but that was way too crappy of a commute. So I sent an email to Barak letting him know I was in town, and that if he knew anyone with whatever sort of job, I'd be game. He emailed back to meet for breakfast. I arrived with wet hair and no resume. I was meeting to get some contacts about crappy jobs, mind you. As we chatted, he asked if I was open to Six Apart...as in the company that had allowed me to moblog in Tokyo. Sure! It beat a crappy job by any measure.
He suggested I meet Mena right then. I arrived in the tiny San Mateo office soon after. Mena was already busy with the day's work, with no idea why I waltzed into her office. Then Barak pretty much left us. Who knows?...somehow Mena and I clicked. Maybe because I didn't know what I was getting into. Maybe because I actually used Movable Type and loved it, but still had no idea about the significance of it, so I wasn't gaga. Anyway, I walked out of that office with a job (responsibilities TBD...or in start-up speak: everything).
That's the context about how I came to work for Barak - and Ben and Mena. After Maile, the office manager, I was pretty much the only one who dealt with "all that other stuff" other than creating the product, making giant partnership & budget decisions, and maintaining our servers. My 1st desk was literally between Barak and Mena. I came very close to saying (or maybe I did say) "shut up; I gotta concentrate" to Barak and Mena as they discussed whatever they discussed. I'm sure there was valuable information being passed, but I didn't care. I had very active issues to deal with.
So...what am I trying to share? It's been a ride. A fantastic and amazing ride. I've seen in front of my own eyes how a company comes to existence. I've seen how much it takes to bring a concept to support millions to do what they want to do. It's a helluva lot of work. And Barak guided us all to where we are now.
OK...enough of the work aspect. What I REALLY want to say is that Barak is a great leader and a wonderful person to work for because he's just...well, Barak. I mean, Maile confused Barak for a handy-man because he was fixing stuff like light bulbs when she was interviewed. Barak taught me (just by being himself) how important it is to care about everyone. Products don't happen. It's the employees who make it happen. I had never had the experience where I pretty much got to do whatever I wanted to do. I had very little guidance, but lots of support and belief. I thrived. And that was an eye-opener. I've never felt so connected to a company.
On our recent and last trip as Six Aparters together to Tokyo, I expressed to Barak how I never imagined what this job would be. And Barak being good 'ol Barak said, "you made your position." In my mind, I was just doing what I could where I saw a need. But yes, Barak letting me figure out what was needed was huge for me. You see, I've been raised in a culture that lauds following. And I got to spread my wings enough to realize what I - as an individual with my specific background and experience - could offer. That's a pretty darn good boss to work with.
Most of my work has been behind the scenes - where I prefer. I don't have target numbers or product releases to show. In particular, my strength has been working with the Japanese team, advocating their needs, and providing details about work in the SF office. I've been a bit out of it from maternity leave, but am re-establishing relationships.
In that recent business trip with Barak and Chris - to introduce Chris as our new CEO - many expressed how grateful they were for the work Barak has done. What I totally didn't expect was a nice acknowledgement of the work I've done over the years (almost 4!!). I was floored and super touched to know I had made a difference in helping the two offices (cultures) work together. I bring this up because 1) it meant A LOT to me and 2) I would never have known such work, that perfectly fit me, even existed if it hadn't been for Six Apart...and Barak.
So, thank you, Barak. It has been life-changing. I sincerely hope our paths cross again.
p.s. I do also want to say that I'm quite excited about Chris as our new CEO. Joining him on the recent trip to Tokyo allowed me to get a sense of how he approaches things, and I'm looking forward to working with him. Getting to see how a CEO shift influences a company will be a rare experience too. There is palpable excitement in the company about new ideas and energy.
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