If you’ve bumped into me (or I’ve cornered you) in the last year I’m sure you’ve heard me talking about OpenID. You know that digital identity is something that I’m really passionate about and I truly believe this technology is going to have a significant impact on the web over the next few years. Empowering users to easily identify themselves, shaking up social networking and enabling relevant and compelling conversations are all on the horizon with OpenID as the foundation. As such, you can imagine how hard it is to write this blog post.
I have stepped down as CEO of JanRain as of Friday afternoon. As a father of two children under 3 years old, I really need to be home more. For the past year I’ve been traveling and commuting with a rough schedule for the wife and kids. My wife Kami has been absolutely heroic in her support of me and my work at JanRain but as a father and a husband, I’ve got to be there for them more.
I’d like to make it clear that this is an amicable split and I’m still on great terms with the team at JanRain. They are the leaders of a very exciting space, they have amazing technical and management teams in place and I know they will be successful in the direction they are headed.
I’ve had an amazing 10 months helping develop and participate in the OpenID eco-system and its been a pleasure getting to know everyone in the space. I’m amazed at the vibrant and diverse set of people that are making this all happen. Thanks to the OpenID community for being so fantastic.
I’m going to take a few weeks off and figure out where/what I want to do next. Its a good time to take a break, spend some quality time with the family and set a course for the future. Keep an eye on this space to see where I end up … :-)
I’m at Mix ‘07 this week doing a panel on identity and wrapping up any final threads. If you want to chat with me in person, find me on twitter or you can always find me at scott at my last name dot com.
Thanks again everybody.
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
14 comments
Comments feed for this article
Trackback link
http://kveton.com/blog/2007/04/30/leaving-janrain/trackback/
May 25, 2007 at 8:21 pm
Pingback from Blog by Kveton » Love those credit card companies
April 30, 2007 at 3:29 pm
xolotl
I totally understand your situation and think you’re brave to face your priorities.
It must have been an incredibly hard decision…but it probably only takes a quick look in Kami or your kids’ faces to know it was right.
Can’t wait to see what you do next!
April 30, 2007 at 3:37 pm
Dmitry Shechtman
I wish you the best of luck. I’m pretty sure you’ll go on changing the world wherever you go.
April 30, 2007 at 3:55 pm
mylid.net/jernst
Hi Scott, I do want to say that I have very much liked working with you in making OpenID happen, and hope to continue to do that in the future, even if you are not working for JanRain any more. Even as we are (were?) competitors, I very much respect your energy and vision and contributions to making a market happen. The OpenID community would not be where it is today without you. Thank you.
April 30, 2007 at 4:46 pm
metadaddy.ssocircle.com
Respect, Scott - you have your priorities straight. Best of luck in whatever comes next - Pat Patterson - http://blogs.sun.com/superpat/
April 30, 2007 at 5:25 pm
Jason Harris techcraver.com
Scott…congrats on making the wise choice! I look forward to hearing about your next move!
April 30, 2007 at 8:10 pm
Your dad
Will I guess we will be competeing for the best garden. Nothing beats working your thoughts out while planting your seed for the future. Dad
April 30, 2007 at 10:28 pm
Atom Dude
Best of luck Scott!
May 1, 2007 at 6:22 am
celarier.myopenid.com
Congratulations and all the best.
Being an avid gardener myself, can I interest you in a rhododendron or two for your garden? How about bocci up in my in-laws’ garden?
May 1, 2007 at 10:07 am
thuhn
Hi Scott, I remember we were talking by email about our families and not having enough time for kids and wife already a few weeks ago.
Anyway I would never have foreseen you leaving JanRain. This must have been extremely hard.
I wish you all the best for the future and also to see you back in the OpenID community pretty soon.
Best of luck!
Thomas
http://openiddirectory.com
May 1, 2007 at 6:34 pm
ctb
A very respectable move. I’m sure the tech community will see you back in action soon enough. Have fun!
May 2, 2007 at 6:49 am
Paul Kim
Good luck Scott. I’m glad we had a chance to meet up in Austin and I’m looking forward to what you do next.
May 2, 2007 at 8:53 pm
fred
Hey Scott, good luck with everything! You did a great and valuable job for the openid community during your time at JanRain much like you did for the whole open source sphere for a long time before. Thanks for all your work.
Say hi to your family from me. In German even, if you like :)
April 30, 2008 at 8:29 am
Jaap Haitsma
Good luck