Four Days and Counting

For 15 years I worked as a developer at a medium sized company. I watched friends go on to greener pastures and stayed. I was tempted by newly formed dot-coms with gobs of venture capital and still, I stayed. I watched the dot-com boom come and go.

Finally, I decided it was time to move on, so I started what I call a lazy search. I posted my resume and took calls. Finally, I interviewed with a VERY small dot-com in a suburb of Baltimore, Maryland. It was very small over here, in fact, there was one developer, three owners(President, CEO, CIO), and a Chief Operating Officer. The majority of their development was done in India, and they wanted an experienced Development Manager to build a domestic staff and wean us off of the Indian company.

I still remember my interviews. They were nice - kind of like talking to someone in a social setting for the first time. After interviewing with the lone developer and the COO, one was scheduled with the president, the majority owner.

Now, I have to say, I went into that meeting with my mind already made up - I was not going to jump ship for this company. Leave a company I've been at for 15 years for a very high-risk position with a start-up??? I'd have to be crazy. The big cheese, though... He made a compelling argument. He had big dreams. Almost before I knew it, my mind had been changed. I left my old, stable job for a brand-new one. And the last two years have been pretty good. There have been ups and downs in my relationship with the CXOs, but we were getting used to each other.

Anyway, we build the domestic team of developers and got rid of the 30 some-odd overseas developers. We launched two new web sites, bringing the total to four live sites. One of which was making a lot of money via Google ads, and three that were on the brink of starting to advertise and become revenue generating. Everything was looking rosy.
Yesterday I was laid off. "Revenue's way down. Finish out the week, then three weeks severance."

The purpose of this blog is not to throw stones at anyone. I knew the risks when I joined. I just figure I need something to do while I search for a job. Something that will get me out of bed every day. I plan on writing about what I do each day to land that next job and to take care of the other things that need to be done. The things that some may not think of - like call my mortgage company and my credit cards.

In this economy, if may take months to find the right job. My target is three months. With a bit of luck, I'll be in a new position by August 10, 2010. It'll be a fun summer.