The Winds of Change

Well, Spring has sprung and with it there are huge changes in my life. After a somewhat rocky December an employment opening came available down in Austin so once again I took the opportunity to go and see whether or not it might be a good fit for me. I had actually looked at a position back in September of last year with a division of AT&T called Wayport that makes wifi hot-spots; McDonalds, Barnes & Nobel, Starbucks, etc. That position was good, but the financial end just didn't line up for a transition without a huge dent in our savings. This time around however it turns out that this job is a good fit, it's located in the area that Colette and I want to live in, and it might actually provide growth opportunities in terms of my career down the line. It's with a company called TippingPoint, which is now a division of 3com, soon to be a division of HP.

It has been an exceptionally hard decision to make. Back in June of 2007 I made my first move away from a big corporate entity to Prodea Systems and have worked there for the better part of 3 years. That time has been extremely valuable time as I have learned much that I would have not had the opportunity to learn elsewhere, certainly not at Nortel Networks. That and taking on a big role in a smaller company demands that you take on more responsibility. Prodea is small, with about 88 employees across the whole of the company. TippingPoint will be slightly larger, with several hundred employees, I believe a little over 300 at this point.

I think the things that makes it most difficult are the friendships that I have built with the team there over the years. A few folks there are people whom I have come to respect over a decade or more of time spent working with them, some of them are people who I have met more recently and have come to admire and respect through the 3 years of work-hard/play-hard time spent at Prodea, and then there are the Ansaris, Anousheh, Hamid and Amir, who are very unique and gracious people in and of themselves. I will miss all of them dearly and wish them only the best of wishes and sincerely believe that they are on the path to success with the product after enduring what has been a very difficult period in the world economy.

I'll also miss the product itself. I can say that building a product from scratch is somewhat like having a child. It's born, you nurture it, you watch it grow, you put your heart into it, you make mistakes with it, you hurt for its shortcomings and failures and you revel in its successes and vibrancy. For me, this is how my job has always been, as odd as that may sound. I am very much tied to the things I work on, it's just who I am. The greatest part of the Prodea product has been seeing its potential and watching that unfold. Sometimes I would steal the chance to just play with the product; browse my media, share photos and videos, etc. but the best times... the VERY best times where when I made it do something that it had never done before; the first performance demo; 2 HD streams, 2 SD streams, voice call, Pandora.. all simultaneously, the first file share of a photo album, the first web services for media, first IM to my TV from a jabber client, media import from drag and drop... etc. Fun fun fun stuff. I will miss that aspect of my job dearly. The Prodea product is a remarkable and fun system to work on.

Finally I will miss Dallas. I have spent the better part of my young-adult lifetime here. I have lived in Dallas since 1994, 16 years including this one. I have made a tremendous number of friends to whom I can honestly say I owe an unpayable debt. I cannot thank them enough for all the good times, all of the laughter, all of the mischef, all of the support. I know that Austin is just a stones throw down the road, and I do plan on making a poker game or two over the next few years (I'll need the money), but it is far enough that the trips won't be frequent. For that I am sorrowful. I will miss you all dearly.

On the bright side... I have a great number of family members down in Austin; Craig, Tiffany, Avery, Jillian, Kendal, Steve, Savannah, Seth, Leslie, Bennie, Michelle, Millie, McKenzie, Reilly, Ben, Courtney, Cooper, and then just down the road Jake, Tisha and their kids, not to mention Colette's family in the Bernie, San Antonio area. Who wouldn't want their children growing up with their family, 20+ whom are all collocated within a few miles of one another. I still have a bond with my cousins; Michelle, Jason, Jake, Drew, Sarah simply because we grew up within proximity of one another and did things together every now and then. I want that for my kids too, and they won't get that here.

So, time to take the plunge. Time to take the job in Austin, fix up the old broken-down house, and make the big move. This next year will be a big one... one that stretches every aspect of my being, my wife, my children. I have great expectations and great anxiety all at the same time. In the end I know that God is watching, directing, goading ;) and that it will all turn out just fine.

Here we go...