Thursday, April 21, 2011

My New Job

Returning to my old blogging format (heh heh, I referred to blogging like it was still a thing), here is a list of 8 things about my new job, and some about my old job, and some about other stuff.


1. Today is my last day at Lookout Mobile Security.

When I started at Lookout 2 years ago (and it was called Flexilis) we were 10 people working in a loft apartment near Skid Row in Los Angeles. Skid Row is a real place, and it's a lot like you might imagine if you listen to the band. Nobody had ever heard of us, but the CEO was planning on announcing the official launch of the company in a feature article in the New York Times. I was like, "yeah, good luck with that," then this article appeared and I was like "oh, never mind."


Then we launched a great product and got 7 million users and thirty something million dollars in venture funding and forty some employees and we were suddenly the market leader in the mobile security sector. This was all pretty impressive, especially since the "mobile security sector" wasn't even really a sector when we started, and our main platform, Android, wasn't really a platform. Remember the G1? It's been a big 2 years.


Some other things happened in those two years. I married my dream girl Kestrin and we moved into a lovely house in the Los Feliz neighborhood of Los Angeles. Flexilis became Lookout and we moved the company to a lovely office in the SOMA district of San Francisco. See where this is going?


For the last year and a half or so I've been getting on a plane every other week, leaving my pretty wife and little doggy and two cats at home, and staying in hotels in San Francisco to be close to the company. There were some bright spots of this arrangement. I got to visit my family in San Francisco a lot. Being gone half the time let Kestrin and I kinda ease into the first year of marriage, which was nice. I got to work at home half the time, sitting in a sunny little writer's hut in the garden behind my house. I got hella Southwest miles. But I knew at some point I would need to fully engage with Southern California, and today is that point.


The company is thriving now, and my original one-man PM and Design department has grown into a four person team plus some open reqs. (The company is hiring, email me if you want an intro. I think I still get a finders fee. I should probably check on that.) We also have a full engineering management structure and a big marketing department. My leaving won't devastate anything, and some people probably won't even notice (that's a good thing), so I feel like I'm free to go. I will now transition from employee to happy shareholder. The company will thrive and grow and dominate, and I will cheer from afar. Go team!


2. I'm joining the best mobile design agency on earth, Iconmobile.

They probably designed something you used today. They're in Santa Monica (and Berlin and Seattle and Beijing) so I'll be closer to home, or sometimes much further away, but it will be fun in any case. I'm working on a really cool project that I will tell you all about when I find out how public it is. When it's done you'll almost certainly use it on a daily basis. I'm really, really excited.


At this point you might be asking, "But Jonathan, what does this mean for ME." Well that's a selfish question, but I'll answer it anyway.


3. If you live in LA, this means that we'll be hanging out more often.

Especially if you live on the west side, since I'll probably be killing time some evenings to wait out the traffic. Scott and I are also getting the Hipster Timeshare going, where he gets keys to our east-side guest room and I get the code to his sweet pad on the beach. Which basically means that whenever their's traffic on the 10 I'll be hosting a beach party in Venice.


4. The RVIP Lounge will be rolling in LA more often.

This summer we're doing a full test of the late-night public transportation system, giving free rides on a semi-set route from Echo Park through Silver Lake and over to Hollywood. Details forthcoming at www.rviplounge.com


5. The RVIP Lounge will visit San Francisco for the first time ever to celebrate this transition.

We think it will be next weekend. Get ready.


6. If you're a designer you can come work with me at Iconmobile.

Visual design, interaction design, user experience design, front end code, project management. On-site in Santa Monica is preferred, and the company will temporarily or permanently relocate the right people. Drop whatever you're doing and come live in the sunshine. We can ride beach cruisers and go surfing on our lunch break. Join us. Email me for details.


7. If you live in LA, we'll be celebrating this transition over drinks this weekend.

Maybe Friday night at Tiki Ti. Watch Twitter for specific.


8. As soon as I hit the Publish button I'm going to walk in to the kitchen at my office and get a beer.

I'm going to keep drinking them till I go to sleep. I'm thinking we should meet up at the Burrit Room at 9.