Resign with Dignity

I wrote the following letter about three hours after Live Picture CEO Kate Mitchell announced that the company would be moving from small, scenic Scotts Valley in Santa Cruz County to overcrowded and urban Silicon Valley, which would be a long and treacherous commute over the mountain road Highway 17 for most of us employees. I copied it via email all the way up the chain of command from my project manager and manager to the President, as well as the Human Resources Manager.

Mitchell had been hired by former Apple President and major Live Picture investor John Sculley to prep the company for its Initial Public Offerring.

I usually advocate working within your company to bring about positive change, but sometimes one just doesn't have the power to knock sense into the boneheads at the top; when that time comes, it is time to resign with dignity.

More details on my immediate reaction to Mitchell's announcement can be found at The Santa Cruz County Computer Industry Index - I hopped on the search engines and started locating other local high-tech employers, and sharing them with my coworkers.

Mitchell "resigned" about the time the company had a reverse 7-to-1 stock split (privately traded stock, including the stock I own) and canceled its IPO. Live Picture's assets were eventually purchased by MGI of Toronto. I receive regular news of Live Picture's bankrupcy proceedings because, as a stockholder, I receive official notifications of court hearings and the like from the bankrupcy attorneys.

For more analysis of Live Picture's demise, and the risks of high-tech business in general, please read The Valley is a Harsh Mistress.

In the end, I felt it was necessary even to leave Santa Cruz. After paying $1275 a month for a two-bedroom duplex with a one car garage and only a tiny front yard, and with the median new home price running over $400,000 in Santa Cruz, with traffic so gridlocked one could not drive downtown from 4 to 6 PM to get a coffee, I left for Newfoundland in the Spring of 2000 where I was married to a Canadian woman. Right now we're waiting for the closure on the purchase of our first home in coastal Maine. Even though most of the time I have been a software engineer I have been earning good money, I could never hope to own a home in Santa Cruz.

Are you sick of commuting? Consider consulting - once you're secure in your business, you can work anywhere.

My Resignation from Live Picture, Inc.

Date: 04:55 PM 8/13/97 -0700

Friends,

I was quite distressed to hear that Live Picture will be moving to Silicon Valley. I'm writing to say that I will resign if it actually does. I really like working for Live Picture and wish that my employment could continue, but I'm determined not to ever again live in a big city or commute to one.

I live in Santa Cruz because of the quality of life here. I lived in Los Angeles before moving here and I was quite miserable there. I came here to escape big city life, and I'm very determined to continue living in Santa Cruz. I have been here twelve years - it has become my home.

I did commute to Silicon Valley for several years. I spent many hours stuck in traffic, and had two accidents on highway 17. Spending so much time so far away from home made me feel out of touch with my community.

During the job search that led to my employment here I became very determined to work in Santa Cruz. The objective on my resume said emphatically that I wanted a job in Santa Cruz County. I advertised my skills rather widely on the Internet, and I sent out many resumes, both directly to companies and to headhunters. I got many inquiries for jobs over the hill, some of them very highly paid or very interesting, but I turned them all down.

I did pursue one position working on AppleScript at Apple. I was willing to consider this because AppleScript is a specialty of mine and I was eager for the opportunity to work on it. I was offered substantially more money to work at Apple than I was offered here, but in the end I turned it down. I'm glad I did.

Good programming jobs are very scarce in Santa Cruz County. I don't know if I will be able to find a new job here. But my skills are heavily in demand in the industry in general - I may start my own business contract programming out of my home.

It saddens me that Live Picture is moving, not just because I will be leaving, but because a substantial source of quality local employment is leaving. Live Picture is very special being here because it offers real, quality work where it is also good to live. In Silicon Valley, Live Picture will be just another software company, one among thousands, surrounded by subdivisions and highways from horizon to horizon. There won't be much of anything special about it anymore.

I'm very concerned that Live Picture, the product, has serious bugs. I am committed to remaining employed here until I can fix the bugs and LP 2.6.1 ships. I'll stay on after that if no other opportunities arise, but I will be looking for other work. Whatever happens, I will resign when the company moves.

Sincerely,

Mike Crawford

Michael D. Crawford    Business: crawford@livepicture.com
Software Developer     http://www.livepicture.com/
Live Picture, Inc.     Pleasure: crawford@scruznet.com
                       http://www.scruznet.com/~crawford/
Tilting at Windmills for a Better Tomorrow 

(Note that the scruznet email and web page disappeared in the dot-com crash; please use crawford@goingware.com to contact me.)

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