April 15, 2015 proved to have quite a trifecta effect on me
1. Tax day – As always, IRS have taken their annual pound of flesh from my checking account
2. Vishu – a traditional festival of my home state of Kerala, marking the start of zodiac calendar
3. Announcement that I will be leaving MongoDB by the end of April
MongoDB is an amazing technology – and it is of course a successful company with a lot of money in the bank and a lot of customers and users. But none of that is its secret sauce – it is the people in this company that makes it a very special place. We have an extraordinary high quality of talent in the employee base. That is also the part that makes leaving MongoDB quite painful for me.
Max Schireson, who was the CEO at the time, hired me into MongoDB on April fool’s day last year – and it has been quite the ride since then.
I started here as the VP of Global Channels (even played a prank on last April 1st that I am joining as VP of social media, and some folks believed it too ). A couple of months later, I also took over business development function as well and then Global services got added to my portfolio when Dev Ittycheria took over as CEO . Each one was a unique challenge, but I was fortunate to have a team that considered no mountain high enough for us to take. Long story short – we had a blast and the results speak for themselves . I am proud of what the channels and services teams have accomplished and I will be cheering for them as they meet and exceed even bigger goals in future.
I have no doubts that MongoDB will be a hugely successful product and company. There are many possible routes to that success – and Dev and I have two rather different approaches we feel are best for the company to get there. We discussed this at length, and eventually we mutually agreed that it makes sense for me to leave by end of this month after finishing our first quarter. I wish Dev, the leadership team and the board the very best, and look forward to celebrating their success .
The biggest thanks I owe today is to my executive assistant , Kaila Hecht. Without Kaila’s skills managing my schedule (and travel, expenses and a hundred other things) – I would honestly not have done very much productively in my time at MongoDB. I don’t know how she does it given my insane schedule – but she is a wizard (and its her first time being an EA ) and she is the most pleasant person one could meet. Thanks for everything Kaila. I will be blessed to find another assistant like you . You will go places. I should also say a big thanks to Eimear McVeigh who has always found me time with Dev any time I asked.
One of the things that make me super thrilled on my way out is that the person taking over the leadership of Global Services is my dear friend Richard Kreuter. He is a consultant’s consultant and is one of the most fun people in MongoDB. If anyone can beat me in competitive sarcasm, that would be him too. Services at MongoDB is just getting started – Richard will take it to much greater heights. Not only does he have an amazing team of consultants ( it will be a challenge to keep recruiting A+ players like we have been doing – but I am sure that is how it will happen going forward too) , he has a world class ops team with Ozge, Andrea, Jackie and Chuen. The only way for services team is upward !
One of the things that I have not done very well in past jobs is having strong women leaders in my team – and I am incredibly lucky to have two amazing women leaders in my team now as my direct reports. Ozge Tuncel is our director of business operations, and Sheena Badani is our director of tech alliances. Ozge is a Wharton MBA and Sheena is a Harvard MBA – and both schools should be incredibly proud of these two young ladies as their alumni. Now I am firmly convinced that I will recruit and develop more women leaders in my team in future.
When I think about our channel leaders, the word that comes to mind is “variety”. There is nothing in common at first glance between Ravi, Robert, Gullaume and Rajiv. Each is a unique character with high level of skills – and yet magically they all work together to consistently nurture the vast ecosystem of partners. I would be remiss if I did not thank the colleagues who left the team – Luca, Koby, JP, Adam, Brendan, Heather and many others who all played a part in getting the team to where it is today.
Then there are our technology magicians – the partner tech services engineers who made things actually happen on the system and explained concepts clearly to our partners. Edouard, Joe, Buzz, Tug , Aveek – you guys are awesome and I owe you a lot of beer still !
There are way too many teams and individuals to thank by taking names – so I am not going to try doing that. You know who you are – and please know that its been my honor and such a privilege knowing you. I will gladly go to battle any day with you on my side .
Last but not certainly not the least – a special thanks to all the partners and customers that make MongoDB successful. Many of them are folks I have done business with in past – and I hope to continue the relationship in future too.
So what is next for me ?
I honestly do not know. Once Dev and I took the decision, I reached out to a handful of my friends and mentors to let them know . And that has resulted in a few good conversations with potential employers these past few days. I must admit that the thought of starting something on my own – within IT, or may be something more fun like my dream Indian Restaurant – has also crossed my mind. Only time will tell how all this will play out and where I will end up with my next adventure.
But first I have a couple of weeks left at MongoDB to wrap things up. And then hopefully I can get a bit of a time out before starting the next chapter of my career. There is a lot of sleep, family time, reading and music to catchup – and hopefully I can personally show my young dog in person at a dog show finally. I will keep you posted . Wish me luck !
And Vijay Says... 
wishing you well on your future endeavours! I enjoy reading your blog a lot. Thank you Vijay.
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Thank you !
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All the best Vijay..Just realized that we studied in the same school in Trivandrum …:-))
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Christ Nagar alumni are all over the world
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Nice Meeting You here…
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All the best Vijay. I am sure, you will do well in anything you put your heart in.
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Thanks Saud
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Good grief no restaurants….please! It’s a big world–you’ve flown over and landed on a lot of it — has a lot of opportunity for Vijay. Looking forward to seeing what’s next.
All the best, Mark
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I am pretty convinced by now that Restaurant is a non starter…multiple people drowned me in data that proves the unattractive nature of that option
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That’s only because they like you Vijay -:)
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yes – and I am grateful that I have such friends
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Vijay – Very best wishes & all the luck (you don’t need it).
This April brought in change for me too … although nothing exciting like you. Guess your next blog will tell if you followed your heart and open Indian Restaurant or get into technology product or service company or maybe (wild guess 😉 back to MotherShip.
BR,
Somnath
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Vijay – Wishing you very best wishes & all the luck (you don’t need it).
This April brought in change for me too … although nothing exciting like you. Guess your next blog will tell if you followed your heart and opened Indian Restaurant or follow a technology product or service company or maybe (wild guess 😉 back to MotherShip.
Somnath
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Good luck, Vijay!!
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Thanks Hardik
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All the best Vijay , love reading your blogs and the honesty in your writing. Looking forward to hearing about your next step and belated Vishu greetings !
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Thanks Shyam
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Why do you give these kind of news always on April !! IS this the month of Change? If so, i will do it.
Jokes apart, on a serious note..please give me an opportunity to work with you. I will resign and come along. You are a STAR 🙂
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Thanks buddy – I am not sure if what I did was courageous or reckless . Only time will tell 🙂
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Good Luck Vijay on your next chapter in this wonderful journey we call ‘LIFE’. Among other things we have in common is a thought that also crosses my mind lot of times – to open an Indian Restaurant :-). I am a foodie and love all kind of foods – especially South Indian.
All the best my friend and where-ever you go, you will shine.
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Surprised by news….I remember what you told to me.. Love the job not the company 🙂 Way to go… Good Luck…
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thanks mahesh
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Good blog. Too long. I only read half of it. Well, wherever you land, they’ll be lucky to have you.
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Thanks Neil – I agree this was too long 🙂
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Tell the truth…. Vishal is calling? Infosys is waiting? 😉
Good luck with whatever you decide!
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Good grief – no ! He never asked me to join, and I never asked him for a job.
But thanks Vitaliy ! its been a while since I have seen you
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Hi Vijay. It’s been awhile indeed. But not much (if anything at all) have changed for me since then, so I feel like we had our Crowne Plaza Palo Alto breakfast just yesterday 🙂
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wow…cant believe that was almost 2 years ago !
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I am sure that whatever the next step is, you will kick butt there too!!
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Thanks Derek
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I am very happy for you, Vijay. I have always been impressed with you and your work. Let’s catch up.
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Thanks Alex…the feeling is mutual. I have always enjoyed our conversations and my occasional chances to brief you in past. I look forward to catching up
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Vijay, my friend ….. YOU can do anything !!!!!
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Thanks Fishy – you are the best
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Infosys, here I come 😉
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hehehehe…no
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Your candor is always refreshing and while your articulate way of expressing yourself is not unexpected, this news is/was (for me at least). I follow your career with interest and delight. I can’t imagine where you next will land, but wherever that be, it will never be boring for those around you!
The very best and hoping you indeed take some time to recharge, to rest yourself, to enjoy your family, your privilege of sleep time (hope you grant that to yourself), extra curricular activities, your dog show. You know many of us will be cheering you from the sidelines.
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The news was unexpected – I never thought it would end so quickly either Marilyn. But then such is life. Its such a blessing to have friends like you
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Best of Luck Vijay !
You sound as exciting leaving mongoDB as you were when you joined it . That I think is the sign of true leader, always believing in himself and future ahead. I am sure whatever you do in future will be interesting but I wish we get our regular dose of your thoughts here.
Thanks !
Aditiya
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I am not excited to leave – I am quite sad to leave. But it was not a hasty decision and I believe that was the right thing for me and the company at this point in time. Given a few good people like you read my rants, I will keep ranting here on the blog 🙂
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Good luck vijay !
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Thanks Pradeep
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