[geeks] anyone know about this? 72-core, 48GB computer?

[gsm at mendelson.com]

On Sat, Oct 03, 2009 at 10:55:23PM -0400, Patrick Finnegan wrote:

>Matt left SiCortex to go teach at a college.  I don't think that a 
>lifestyle change like that can be called "jumping ship".

It does not matter why he left. The fact was he left, and the team was broken.
The questions that the VC's were left with was how critical was he to the
operation of the company, how quickly and smoothly could he be replaced
and would anyone else leave?

A "lifestyle change", or a job change, or any other change is irrelevant,
what matters is he left. 

>Also, from what I recall, the company folded because one of their VCs 
>pulled out, and then the others followed suit.

What would you expect? They invested in a team, and the team no longer
existed. Obviously they felt he was critical to their success. 

Look at Gordon Ramsay. He probably spends the equivalent of a few hours a week
at each of his restaurants, most of it via the Internet. I can guarantee you
that while he is yelling at contestants in Hell's Kitchen, he is not in Dunbai,
or New York, or London. 

Yet if he were to quit the business, take a year off to teach cooking in
a "catering college" as he calls them, or sell one or all of the
restaurants, people would cancel their reservations and no one would make
new ones. 

Although he has competent head chef's at all of them, and even shuffles them
around without much effect in business, he is perceived as being the 
"guidling light" and without him, nothing. 

The sad thing I can name at least 2 of them, while I have never eaten in
any of their restaurants. :-)

If Matt (you must know him well to be on a first name basis) wanted,
IMHO to keep the company going, he could of taught one course using the
reason that he wanted to groom a new generation of customers. Leaving to
quit completely says a lot of bad things about a company, I'm really surprised
that he expected the company to continue after he left. 

Sometimes CEO's are real idiots, and have to leave before anyone besides their
parents, uncle or father in law will fund the company, but this did not 
seem to be the case. This company had gone far beyond that stage.

Geoff.

-- 
Geoffrey S. Mendelson, Jerusalem, Israel gsm at mendelson.com  N3OWJ/4X1GM