Something from nothing
If I told you the five most important moments in my life, the thread between them all would be simple – I crafted something from nothing.
Whether it was a speech, a software product, a blog audience, a company, or a family – the same was true each time. First there was nothing. Then there was strategy. Then there were partners. Then there was something. And each time I was delighted!
Everything changed 9 years ago
Almost nine year ago my wife brought our daughter, and our first child, into the world. When that happened, everything – and I mean everything – changed. One of those changes included a conversation my wife had with me.
I could say that we had, but there was one person talking and one person listening. She said, “I would like you to step out of startups and join a company where you’ll stay in one place for more than five years.”
Many of you know this already, but I married up. She’s an incredible woman, wife, and mother. When someone like that asks you for something, you don’t hesitate. Even if she was asking me to do something that frankly, I hadn't done since high school.
From the time I was in college until we had Emily my world had been startups. And I loved everything about them because their goal was always the creation of something from nothing.
But I chose my wife and family over a career in startups. So I left my fifth software startup and looked for work elsewhere. It led me to Emphasys Software – a vertical market enterprise software company.
The last 8 ½ half years with Emphasys
Over the last eight and a half years, I've loved every minute of my time there. I've had the privilege of leading teams in R&D, marketing, product development, engineering and more.
I’ve helped the company go from being in two vertical markets to five – all the while creating new products that either allowed us to grow organically in our existing markets or step into adjacent markets.
It’s been a fantastic journey of learning what it means to be entrepreneurial within a corporation.
Getting involved with WordPress
Three and a half years ago our family moved to Southern California and I decided to go from being a WordPress user to someone who contributed back to the community (in my own particular way).
After a year of observing the community, my sense was that I could add value by writing articles for freelancers in the WordPress community, articles on pricing for product developers in the community, and comparison articles for end users in the community.
As my blog (chrislema.co) took off, and as I began speaking at WordCamps, I found that some of the WordPress product vendors were also interested in my product development background and I began providing some coaching.
A hobby that became more
My afternoon writing and evening coaching were a hobby that gave me an incredible amount of joy – much like my startup days.
And that’s when, six months ago, my wife started asking a different question on our date nights – “How do we get you to feel the way you do all day long, instead of just in the late afternoons?”
This was the woman who had asked me to step out of the startup world. Now she was asking what it would take to move more completely into it.
Reason 34,768 why I'm married to the most amazing woman on the planet. Sorry guys – she’s taken!
Melissa would say, “I can tell if you're doing your day job or your evening coaching, not by the time of day, but by the energy in your voice.”
So we began talking about what it would look like to step into the WordPress community full time.
WordPress will change your life if you let it
I'll be honest. My sense has always been that the community doesn't really need me full time. I'm a twenty-year software executive with deep product development experience. In many ways, that’s overqualified and likely priced out of the market.
In fact, many people only know me as the guy that writes blog posts and gives WordCamp talks. So explaining to the community what I do in my day job, and looking for full time positions worried me a bit.
Let’s be honest – I have told you before that I struggle with the impostor syndrome. So when I say it worried me a bit I meant I didn’t believe it was even possible.
But WordPress will change your life if you let it.
Karim Marucchi is more than Crowd Favorite’s CEO – he’s a good friend
As work slowed down at Emphasys, things came to a head where I realized I needed to either renew a commitment to Emphasys for the next several years – taking on some big new projects – or to step out and consider full time work in the WordPress world.
I started spending time with VeloMedia’s Karim Marucchi in a business capacity when I joined their Board of Directors last March. It became pretty clear, pretty quickly, that we complimented each other well and had enough similar experiences to see the world in much the same way.
He’s been asking me to join his company for a while. Only recently, with Melissa’s questions and a good decision moment at Emphasys, did I really consider it. As our families spent time together, and as Karim and I worked on various initiatives, it was clear that we enjoyed working together.
So as worried as I might have been about stepping into the WordPress world full time, I had a friend in the community that made the transition really easy by simply saying he wanted me to join them full time– without debate.
(There may have been some colluding going on, as I later witnessed Karim Marucchi and Melissa Lema talking in whispers in a corner at WordCamp Orange County.)
I’m leaving Emphasys and joining Crowd Favorite in mid-September
So it’s with great pleasure that I step back into the startup world.
It’s with great pleasure that I join my friend Karim, and all my friends at Crowd Favorite, to join their executive team. I’ll step into the CTO role, but focus on more than just their technology dynamics, as there’s still a lot of room for growth, performance improvement, and tons of opportunities to take WordPress and WordPress products into Fortune 500 enterprises.
My first day as a favoriteer will be September 15th.
You can hear my interview with Brian Krogsgard on Post Status and read his take on the move as well.