Next chapter

It’s been almost three years and a half since I joined Instaply, that’s the single longest period that I’ve ever stayed at a job. I can say in total honesty that it has been the best experience in my career, so far. I feel very different from who I was a few years ago, as many of you may have noticed. If I’m a better human being now, it’s mainly because of the great people I’ve worked with during those years and especially thanks to Fabien, an awesome leader who will guide this company to the huge success it deserves.

Together, we grew this company from 3 people to almost 30 (and still growing) by hiring super smart and experienced people. We went from less than 50 users to hundreds of thousands, and now we have dozens of paying customers. It’s the biggest achievement in my career so far and I’m very proud of it.

Even though the road ahead is still long before becoming the next big thing, I have the feeling that my mission is now accomplished. Today, Instaply needs specialists, people exceptionally good at one particular thing. I’m not one of these guys. I’m a generalist who likes doing many different things. Unfortunately, at this point in time, the way Instaply has evolved doesn’t allow me to fully express my potential anymore. That’s why I made the decision to leave Instaply and move on to another challenge. I don’t blame anyone for this. I’m actually very happy that I learned a bit more about who I am and what I want in my life. I also feel great about the fact that I was able to make myself useless to the company. Without me, Instaply will still be a tremendous success and one that I’ll be proud of for the rest of my life.

I still don’t know what will keep me busy during the next few years. I am sure of the following things:

• I want to be my own boss again;
• I want to work on creative and innovative projects that solve real world problems (with a stronger interest in energy, health and education);
• I want to go outside and meet people from very different backgrounds (not only tech people);
• I want to help others as much as others have helped me in the past;
• I don’t want to set any limits.

As a first step towards these goals, I just opened a consulting agency called Diogeno with my wife Sandra. Our goal is to help companies of any size to build their mobile and web projects by providing them advice and resources to get them done. We want everyone to take advantage of the experience, the network, and the skills we acquired during all these years in Europe and the USA. If you’re interested and think we could be of any help for your business, don’t hesitate to contact us at hello@diogeno.com. We look forward to working with you!