Working at the same company for six years is a privilege that many do not get to enjoy. I’ve been extremely privileged to be able to do just that at Viddler from early 2007 until now.
My relationship with the Viddler team actually began before my first day as a team member. My friend and ex-coworker Mike Stickel and I ran a small company called ChanceCube that did some consulting for Viddler long before I ever thought I’d end up working there full-time. In 2006 the small team at Viddler was focused on creating a Flash-based video player that included comments that popped up along the timeline as you viewed a video. Mike and I helped Viddler conceptualize the UI for that player.
In 2007 when I visited Rob Sandie and Donna DeMarco in what was then a closet-sized office in Jordan Hall at Ben Franklin Tech Ventures near Lehigh University I saw that they had built what Mike and I had helped them design and it was way beyond our own expectations for how good it really could be.
It was during that initial visit that I knew I wanted to be part of the Viddler team.
Since that cold, cold day in January 2007 everyone at Viddler has worked very hard to first build a cool product, then build a viable business, an incredibly good team, a very reliable platform, and ultimately a sustainable company.
At every step in the evolution of Viddler and from every member of the team past and present I’ve been able to learn so much. It was a privilege to serve on the Board of Directors, to help recruit great talent, and to work with Viddler’s largest customers to accomplish their online video goals. Each of the various roles that I tried, and both succeeded and failed at, were challenging, fun, and worth the effort.
I feel it is time to do something different. I’m ready to do something new. I have many interests and the world of web video was only one of them. It will take a few months before my new team and I are ready to share what we’re working on butI’m very excited about what’s next.