I'm leaving Flowplayer

I've resigned from Flowpalyer, the company I founded back in 2007. The decision to leave was not easy to make. Flowplayer has been my number one priority for ten years, and I'm finding it difficult to let it go, but still, I think it's the right choice for me.

Flowplayer merged with a Swedish online video company a year ago, and after that, my role has significantly changed. I used to be the CEO and also a developer (and a sysadmin, a secretary, and everything in between) and did my best to keep the company profitable and growing. The merge gave us more resources, and I stepped down from the CEO role and also gave much of my other responsibilities to other people in the company. That is something I wanted to do, and I don't have any regrets about it. But after successfully offloading many of my duties I started feeling a bit empty and began considering my options to take on some new opportunities.

I've always been a developer in my heart. Programming has been the only kind of work that is fulfilling for me and activities, like management and similar paper-pushing sort of work, has never felt like "real work" to me. After the merge, I was able to move away from the dark side of management and was able to concentrate more on work that is meaningful for me.

Since our merger, I have been on a mission to learn all the latest technology and honing my JavaScript and node.js skills. All this has been refreshing and highly motivating. It has been great to get back my mojo in programming -- I'm more productive as a coder now, and I think I'm also producing better-quality results.

What is the real reason that pushed me to resign? Here is a list:

• I've been working in Flowplayer for ten years, and it's time to explore other stuff. It has been the longest streak I have ever been in the same company. Before Flowplayer, my most extended period in one job was 3,5 years.
• I think Flowplayer is in good hands and can move forward and grow without me.
• My plans for the upcoming projects are exciting and highly motivating.

My opinion is that if you start questioning whether you should move forward, it's time to move forward. Change can be difficult, but it's a way to grow as a professional and as a person. I've changed jobs several times in my life, and every change has been for the better.

I've decided to continue as a freelance developer, and see where it takes me. I've already started planning my next steps in this space and will post updates here in my blog about this. Having an online presence is essential for a freelance worker, and I'm planning to post more about work-related topics in the future.