Taking the Plunge

Photo: Elena Kalis

In December of 2006, I was working at Microsoft and took a some time off to enjoy the holidays. During that time, I reflected on over a decade working and how the software industry has changed. I began to think about the moments in my life that put a smile on my face and the moments I tried to erase.

My fondest memories were those when I first started my career at Microsoft in the late 90's. Some of my happiest memories (the ones that put an instant smile on my face when I think of them) were

• playing Age of Empires on the corporate network

• playing Foosball to clear my mind

• being on a team that felt like a family

• leaving the country for the first time

• travelling the world

• getting my first passport

• speaking at industry events

Reflecting on those years made me feel like I wasn’t creating happy memories anymore. I love to work and it consumed more than 50% of my time and I wanted to be doing things that I was passionate about and more importantly surrounded with people that I can call my friends. This wasn’t just a job for me, it was my life.

In March of 2007, I finally left Microsoft in a mission to create the best place to work for myself. I didn’t care about how much money I would make nor did I care about whether my idea would be the next big thing. All I cared about was being happy again and surrounding myself eventually with those people who were looking for the same thing.

I left with a bucket full of optimism into a world that I haven’t been to before …