.jpg "Why Facebook borrowed $100 million for servers")
Valleywag
The Facebook Prom was prophetic, signaling farewells, graduation, and the ending of teenage ties. As his colleagues were preparing to dance the night away at the Metreon, CTO Adam D'Angelo, a high school buddy of CEO Mark Zuckerberg, was saying his farewells. BoomTown reports that D'Angelo, 23, is leaving the company because "his responsibilities no longer fit well with his skills and interests." Even as the company tries to recreate a high-school environment to keep its employees tightly knit, Zuckerberg's own social network is fraying.
Cofounder Chris Hughes left a while ago to work on Barack Obama's presidential campaign. Another cofounder, Dustin Moskovitz, has been rumored to be on the outs with Zuckerberg, though Moskovitz attributes any disputes to normal friction between founders. And now D'Angelo — though not a founder, one of the small group who helped Facebook relocate from Zuckerberg's dorm room to Palo Alto — is gone, too. He may be leaving for his own reasons, but his departure is a sign that the company is fitfully growing up.
Comments
Typo: own reasons in place of "WON reasons"
Everyone I know over there has told me that Adam is a class act and universally loved. Too bad for Facebook.
It actually sorta sounds like he got fired.
Adam is a great guy and super-smart, but it's common for founding CTOs to move on once the company reaches a certain size, especially if they don't have that kind of experience.
The demands on a CTO for a medium-to-large company is much different than the demands on a CTO for a smaller company.
Adam created the Facebook platform and has known Zuckerberg since High School. This is odd.
@jfarmer: Yes, but echoing what others have said/implied here, they tend to be uh, "strongly encouraged to move on" by the companies, rather than decide on their own.
fitfully growing up = your mom's now on facebook
@jfarmer: By your standards Zuck would be out by the Series B.
This is not about whether Adam has experience for the job. This is about Zuck showing who is the boss and hiring execs who say: "Yes, Sir!"
"his responsibilities no longer fit well with his skills"
Zuck, are you reading this? I think you're way past that line as well, my friend. Take a bow and exit before the whole Facebook falls apart.
We sure like to complicate things here. How about his % has vested? When that happens, you move on.
@tripleoops: Company was founded four years ago as of February. On the standard vest schedule in the Valley, seems like D'Angelo could be done.
@ThatKid: Precisely my point, especially since 3-4 years seems to be the norm for founders/early employees.
His Specialties: algorithms, machine learning, distributed systems, optimization, scalability, decentralized networks, programming languages
(from [techwatch.reviewk.com] )
Doesn't include pleasing the boss! :-)
[img170.imageshack.us]
Is he the one that brought us $1 virtual puppies and ice cream cones???
So you've caught Zuck at a weak moment right now.
Just wait, facebook is the future of content distribution. You'll see.
@Nicholas Carlson: The ConnectU guys would suggest that none of these dudes created the Facebook platform, so I wouldn't give Adam that much credit. Interesting thing, the Wikipedia article on the ConnectU lawsuit doesn't mention the favorable ruling the ConnectU guys got just before Zuck settled. Funny thing that.
"This is about Zuck showing who is the boss and hiring execs who say: "Yes, Sir!""
Er... it sounds more to me like it could be time to go if you're 23 and the job has become so complex and large, everyone that works for you needs to be much older and more experienced than you..
@Bornean:
Which content exactly ?
The future of vampire and werewolf distribution ?
The future of embarassing drunken picture distribution ?
The future of identity theft distribution ?
Facebook jumped the net shark in November.
"his responsibilities no longer fit well with his skills"
he he - kids. Get ready for a whole life not fitting well with your skills and interests, unless you get rich enough to outsource everything and buy awesome boats and planes like Larry Ellison.
@Bornean: Yo, can you pass what you're smoking to me? Must be good stuff!
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