It’s less than two weeks ago that Microsoft let Don Dodge go, along with 5,000 other employees. He parted gracefully, then soon posted:
Getting dumped by Microsoft was a life changing event…for the better. The future is very bright. The opportunities are amazing.
Don probably set a World Record in the speed of getting a new job offer:
Vic Gundotra at Google was the first one to contact me with an opportunity…90 minutes after the news of the layoff hit. That fast decisive action was refreshing, and such a contrast to the slow, secretive, bureaucracy at Microsoft
Not only the outreach was quick, but the entire hiring process concluded in days, which is highly unlikely for Google. Yes, Don Dodge is now with Google and it did not take long for him to dump the remainder of his Microsoft life:
- Thanks Microsoft Outlook, but I’m going to Gmail.
- Thanks Microsoft Office Office 2007, but I’m going to Google Docs.
- Thanks Microsoft Windows Mobile 6.5, but I’m going to Google Android.
- Thanks Microsoft Internet Explorer, but I’m moving to Google Chrome.
Yes, I’m sure Microsoft made the right move, getting rid of a well known public face of the company was all worth it, and now this very public slap in the face is just the icing on the cake. Well, Google was smart enough to turn Microsoft’s loss into their own gain 🙂
Congrat’s to Don for landing on his feet extra-fast, and – to paraphrase his blog title – moving onto The REAL Next Big Thing.
Zoli… I read Don’s original post and came away with a bad taste in my mouth. Sure Google is more exciting and all but it does seem a little unusual to instantly drop all those MS products for Google ones…. doesn’t seem overly authentic to me….
thoughts?
I agree Ben. He could have stopped with informing about his decision to join Google. The move from MS products to Google products looks a bit amateurish. All the reasons he has given are there for the past 3 years or so.
I guess it’s one of two things:
A: Don is switching out of loyalty to new employer
B: He has long wanted to switch but did not, out of loyalty to old employer.
C: He just tried it now and realized what he’s been missing all this time.
Yeah, I know, this was three 🙂
Fake Steve Jobs chimes in 🙂