My Last Day at Moz, My First Day at SparkToro
sparktoro.com
sparktoro.com
I feel like SEO has been an area that gets looked down upon from certain sectors. In the 10+ years that Rand built up the company, the industry changed a lot - and he's been a voice for consistently doing things authentically and in a way that makes the internet better.
You'd also be hard pressed to find anyone who has been so transparent in sharing everything they've learned along the way - a LOT of folks in digital marketing began learning from his blog posts and videos.
I'm pretty excited for all his next ventures, and looking forward to the book for his take on advice for startup founders.
Plus, the 'safer-events project' is in response to incidents that one would hope no one has to experience again.
(And despite some harder times, Moz seems to be on the up again; they have some top-class products, should have some interesting new tools over the coming year.)
Good luck to Rand and SparkToro!
He was the spark that ignited my interest towards getting out of the usual "let's not discuss difficult topics", and as usual his post is a fantastic example of how to be honest without being a jerk.
Aside from this, it's great to see him on a different journey, although I'm sure leaving Moz must've been hard.
A simple gesture that cost the company near nothing and acknowledged the long history of the departing founder.
I don't know if Rand asked, but it seems a simple item to offer.
>>> p.s. Moz is shutting off my old email address there; if you’d like to reach me in the future, drop a line to rand at sparktoro.com.
A founder's email address is still tied to a lot of accounts. Either as a login, or the contact email address, or the password reset email address. Sometimes you can't disassociate the email address with the account.
People who missed the memo about them leaving reach out to that email address looking for the founder/executive, and instead they reach someone who no longer works there.
If you're using something like Google Docs, a founder who retains their email address still has access to virtually all of the most important company documents - OR someone has to go through every document and manually remove them (but not even that will get them all).
If the founder leaves on good terms, it seems like not a big deal, but it ends up being a huge liability.
[I'm on the board of a non-profit who just switched executive directors, and we had to have a big discussion about this.]
If you convert a google account to an alias, you can solve the google doc issue (delete the account, which lets you transfer all the docs to another google account, then set up the alias).
Good point about missing the memo, but that could happen even if there was no email setup.
But I appreciate the comment and it does shed some light on the complexities of this. I still think it'd be worth it.
I'm sure it is bittersweet/complex for the departing founder as well--they get to continue to have folks email them at the same address they've had for years, but every email they receive is a reminder of the company they've left.
You don't close the account - you have it forward all email to someone else.
"Good point about missing the memo, but that could happen even if there was no email setup."
You set up an auto-responder. "Hey! I'm no longer with XYZ. If you are trying to reach a founder/the CEO, hit up abc@xyz.com. If you'd like to reach me for things unrelated to XYZ, email me at me@personalemail.com
Everyone has to make their own call, of course. I think the biggest factor is how long the organization has been around and (somewhat related) the complexity of the org.
Is it a 3 employee person shop that's been around for a year? Not as big of a deal. Is it a 40 person company that's been around for 10 years? Way more complex, way more things that could go wrong.
"I'm sure it is bittersweet/complex for the departing founder as well--they get to continue to have folks email them at the same address they've had for years, but every email they receive is a reminder of the company they've left."
You're also asking them to do free work. They now can't take a vacation from email without worrying they got an urgent email from a customer that was meant for the CEO... but went to them instead. If they're off email for a week, that could be catastrophic for a business relationship. By letting them keep their email, you're asking them to be on-call for you... forever. By taking their email away, you're relieving them of that responsibility and letting them move on with their life.
Honest question: How can you get basically fired [1] as an employee while still being the chairperson.
[1] The message is cryptic, but I read it that way. Here is the quote: „On a scale of 0-10, where 0 is “fired and escorted out of the building by security” and 10 is “left entirely of his own accord on wonderful terms,” my departure is around a 4. That makes today a hard one, cognitively and emotionally. I have a lot of sadness, a heap of regrets, and a smattering of resentment too.„
Any employee still needs the support of their managers and colleagues in order to retain their role, and if that becomes lost beyond redemption (which it clearly has in this case), your role as an employee is over.
But influence over the board is still determined by the size of your shareholding, so as long as Rand has enough shares and support from other directors, he can remain as chairperson.
The board and executive may indeed want him to continue as chairperson long-term, as he's still the identifiable figurehead of the company and knows its history better than anyone. Being a director/chairperson vs being a manager in a growth-stage company require very different credentials and abilities.
Weird that in his goodbye piece he says he did not leave entirely of his own accord: > "On a scale of 0-10, where 0 is “fired and escorted out of the building by security” and 10 is “left entirely of his own accord on wonderful terms,” my departure is around a 4...” That is something that the piece doesn't answer, probably something going on, but he still has major shares and influence in the company i am sure!
>>> On a scale of 0-10, where 0 is “fired and escorted out of the building by security” and 10 is “left entirely of his own accord on wonderful terms,” my departure is around a 4.
Never worked there, take this with a grain of salt, just the word on the street in startup land :)
https://sparktoro.com/blog/my-complicated-relationship-with-...
Somewhat complicating things, he originally published that post on the company's own website, as evidenced by this link:
https://moz.com/rand/my-complicated-relationship-with-no-lon...
[I do hope Rand will be happier in his new startup - it feels like he has been heading in a different direction to his former company for a while, at least from reading his blog.]
Moz did spend a bunch of $ on new stuff vs. core stuff-- but I think that was after Rand stepped away from the CEO chair. Certainly the layoffs were after that by several years. Not saying he bears ZERO responsibility, but hanging that on him seems pretty unfair. Here's his post about the strategic zigs/zags and layoffs: https://sparktoro.com/blog/moz-returns-to-seo/
Here's a quote from the post:
"I’m also really thankful that I wasn’t in a managerial position and didn’t have to make what were, I’m sure, insanely tough calls about who stayed at Moz and who didn’t. I feel guilty and awful for all who were in that position, and all those who are seeking jobs now. I remember what it was like when Geraldine and many of her coworkers were laid off and the feelings of doubt and fear, resentment and confusion that washed over us. My empathy and my heart are with everyone on both sides of this heart-wrenching process."
I had no inkling of its origins till reading this article.
I know there's nothing that can be done. Tagging [Not Mozilla] would be stupid.