To My LogRhythm Family,
I write this letter to my LogRhythm family, – the great collection of people who across the years built an amazing company powered by product innovation and an outstanding company culture, deeply focused on customer success.
It is hard to believe more than two years has passed since I resigned my post as Chief Technology Officer. What a hard decision that was. While hard, I have no regrets. I was able to spend time with my father as he battled cancer and be with my grandfather during his final days. Also, after 16 years of all-in effort, I was tired, and so was my family. Having time to recharge my batteries and give more time to Beth and the boys has been an incredible blessing.
Of course, it didn’t take me long to start thinking about what was next. Those of you who really know me, probably guessed I wasn’t ready to retire. You were right. Upon much reflection, I came to realize at the core I am an inventor, a builder. And what I enjoy building most is great software that solves hard problems that need solved. And so, I have decided to embark on building another company.
As I turn full focus towards my next venture, I feel a need to close out one last item from the incredible chapter of my life that has been LogRhythm – saying thanks to all of you!
What we built together as a team was special and rare. We built a company that felt like family. We truly cared about our customers and their success. We innovated and created incredible product. We advanced the careers and opportunity of the thousands of employees, partners, and customers who joined in our mission. We had fun together.
LogRhythm will always be in my heart and part of my being. You give me the gift of a lifetime and incredible memories. Following are some my personal highlights:
Ringing the Bell!
Our team-centric, customer-centric culture was rooted in our ringing the bell ceremony. Of course, those of you who were there in the days know it wasn’t a bell or a gong – it was the $15 triangle that Phil and I could afford at the time. Regardless, the “bell” rang loud as we celebrated as a team every customer we earned. We rejoiced and recognized that each customer was a “team” effort, not an individual effort. Each customer required engineers to build the features they valued, marketing to make them aware we existed, sales to consult with them, and services to deploy and make their experience successful. Once our sales volume picked up and we could no longer celebrate in person, we revised the tradition and it became the “virtual bell”, and those emails continued to encapsulate the spirit of LogRhythm, the team of LogRhythm.
Telling the Founding Story
As the company grew, we made the wise decision to share the founding story with every new class of employees. I will forever cherish welcoming each new class and sharing how Phil and I started LogRhythm. As a founder, it was incredible to see the new employee class size grow from 10 a quarter, to 20, to 50. It was surreal indeed. As amazing was the incredible collection of talented people we had attracted. We valued diversity and had people of all types joining the team, bringing incredible backgrounds and experience. The continued telling of our story helped cement our “why” with every new employee who joined in our mission.
New Hire Introductions
Each quarter, we would have our company meeting. We would gather in person and across the globe to get an update on the business. Andy would share our performance for the past quarter and various execs would provide updates. This transparency itself was awesome and unique! However, what I most enjoyed were the new hire introductions and anniversaries. As part of the meeting, we would ask each new employee to say a few things about themselves. Some quarters this was almost 100 people! Regardless, we took the time to meet everyone as a team. What I always enjoyed hearing most were comments like the following:
“I joined LogRhythm because I heard it had an amazing culture. I have been here two months, and I can tell you, they were right! This is an amazing place to work!”
This was incredible to hear, and important to hear. These unsolicited testaments to our culture, meant as a leadership team, and a broader team, we were staying true to our values and our culture was strong!
Anniversaries
As part of our company meeting, we would also celebrate Anniversaries. Phil, Andy, and I would take turns recognizing the tenure and accomplishments of employees who had reached tenures surpassing 3 years, and eventually 5, 7, and then 10! As part of this ceremony, we would look back at the employee’s path through LogRhythm. I loved recognizing and celebrating the path and success of you all. I especially loved seeing how the business we had built had enriched your lives and opportunity. For many who joined LogRhythm, their professional paths were already set upon success. However, for others, LogRhythm forever changed and accelerated their career trajectory and opportunity set. This was amazing to see and celebrate!
And all the Other Times…
While these are some of my favorite memories, there are so many other amazing events and times we shared as a team: Tube to Work, Logtoberfest, the Biggest Logger!, Golden Nugget Awards, President’s Club, Sales Kick Off, The Whiskey Club, Beers at Boulder Brewery, White Elephant gift exchange, Halloween Costume contest, and more. What an amazing ride and experience it was! How blessed I am to have shared these experiences and been part of such an amazing culture and team.
Thank you!