Goodbye HotJobs!
We're running a piece by BIll Arruda on Monday in TheLadders.com Weekly Newsletter titled "How to leave your job with grace." I always love Bill's commentary and insights because they are so spot on.
#6 in his list is:
Prepare your 'So-Long' email. You will want to publicly acknowledge those who have been helpful to you in your career. Include your new contact details to make it easy for your colleagues to stay in touch. A client of mine who is extremely articulate and has a very commanding speaking style created an audio version of his 'So-Long email.' It was on-brand for him and enabled him to deliver something that was memorable and exactly what people in the company expected from him.
Which got me to thinking about my so long e-mail at HotJobs. I spent a lot of time crafting it and received the warmest response from the extended team. I think Bill is so very right. This is a very important part of setting your brand and leaving a great legacy behind.
So, here in full, is my so-long e-mail (with the subtle Douglas Adams intro....):
From: Cenedella, Marc
Sent: Friday, April 19, 2002 2:23 PM
To: everyone@hotjobs.com
Subject: So long, and thanks for all....
Dear HotJobbers,I joined HotJobs two years ago to head up business and corporate development. As those of you who remember the Bryant Park location can recall, space was limited. So my first eight days I didn't actually have a desk - I had to come in early to find out who was sick or on vacation and grab their spot for the day. (And I still feel a little guilty about hoping the art director's cold would last just *one* more day :)
But that was okay, because the job was so cool: doing deals with other web sites, buying and selling companies for HotJobs. Hours of negotiating, inches and feet of paper documents, and of course, lots and lots of e-mails! Well, thousands of hours, a mile of paper, and countless "your mailbox has exceeded your storage capacity" messages later, we actually sold the company to one of the world's premier brand names. And now that I've completed my job, my time to move on has come. Today is my last day working at HotJobs, and the first day of the rest of my life as a proud HotJobs alum.
What an extraordinary group of people! And what great things we have achieved! The experts would say that it just simply does not happen that a company can grow from $4 mm to $20 mm to $100 mm in revenue in the space of three years. But each of you, fortunately, were too damn busy building HotJobs to listen to the experts. I believe you are, and should be, tremendously proud of what we've accomplished. And I want to thank you, and especially the founders - Richard, Dimitri and the whole crew - for inviting me to be a part of it.
I am particularly indebted to Christopher Jones, Alex Douzet, and Edward Harrison, who have made my time here so enjoyable. A partial list of their achievements - building the #1 newsletter in the HR business, dropping the cost of resume acquisition by 99.7%, leading us to #1 in MediaMetrix traffic, selling the company twice in one year :) - gives you some idea of the scope of their abilities and commitment. When you work with great people everyday, it doesn't really seem like work any more, does it?
I can't tell you how happy I am that we've brought HotJobs into the Yahoo family. A global brand, a huge presence, and a wonderful assortment of businesses that will work together with us to make HotJobs into something even greater than it is today.
Our loathed competitor has nothing on us. Myself and the senior management team spent 6 months inside the belly of the beast, as it were, and let me tell you - they *should* be scared. You guys are better. Much better.
And so as I leave you to head on to my future, remember what we have done and be sure to teach the next generation of HotJobbers about who we are and what we are made of. We need more Vossens and Lelongs and Kochs and Grandefelds and Lees and Grossmans and Brockmans and Dimitriadises (Dimitriadisi?) and Antens and Speros and Pomeroys in this company because we have a big job to do. And OK, sure, probably a couple more Haires too :)
The horizon is bright with opportunities, and you my fellow HotJobbers, are called to your destiny. Slay the beast! Take the market! Kill the Monster!
And always, always, always.....
Rise up!
Marc
Re-reading this today is a bit poignant for me. As the guy behind the deal (let's face it -- waaaaaay behind! -- the CEO and Board ultimately decide whether or not to sell a company, but as head of corporate development, I did push and prod in the spring of 2001 for us to do a deal and hence, felt a great responsibility for it) I definitely wanted it to work out well for all my soon-to-be-former colleagues.
And I really did believe that we had set HotJobs up for success by marrying it to one of the world's premier internet brands (at that time, THE world's premier internet brand.)
So it's sad that the energy and optimism of this e-mail haven't been justified by subsequent events. HotJobs has dropped to a distant third. 9 out of 11 of the top people at HotJobs were gone within 6 months, and the remaining stragglers have now left. And the place has lost that old HOTJ feeling -- the manic, exuberant, juvenile atmosphere of "hey, let's put on an internet company!"
I had drinks with one of the new HotJobbers the other night, and none of the history has been passed down. None of the tradition, none of the pride or legacy, none of the crazy celebrations, none of the misguided sense that we deserved to be #1. And so it's sad to see that loss. Because what's been lost isn't just the spirit of HotJobs, but a beautiful, inspiring example of the entrepreneurial best in all of us.
And for that, we are all the poorer.
