Good perspective from Dave Winer about the news that Matt Mullenweg is on leave from Automattic:

I didn’t want to be the CEO of a tech company, and I expect that being the CEO wasn’t really a good fit for Matt either. A CEO’s job is very different from being a developer and idea guy which Matt clearly sees himself as. Something has got to give, either you’re a good CEO and the product languishes, or you focus on the product, and the company is unmanaged.

This applies to Micro.blog too. I’m not a good CEO and not a good boss. I try to make the web a little better by helping people blog.

@manton I often tell people the reason I work for myself is because I’m both a bad boss and a bad employee. I just like to help people.

This is the way.

@manton Resonates with me as well, after being a VP of a startup and leading 130 engineers I realized I didn’t like the job and wasn’t very good at it. I’m much happier leading a small non-profit, coding, bringing my vision to life at Runestone Academy. Democratizing textbooks for the next century

@bnmnetp Very cool! I used to work on e-books in the very early days of digital textbooks. Always felt good to be even a small part of education.

@manton I think ambition is a big factor. If you and stakeholders are satisfied with enough, you can find a way to make it work. On the other hand if the chase is for ever more wealth then it can’t work.

@frankm Good point. Growth just for the sake of more wealth feels corrupting. I’ve always related more to the famous Walt Disney quote, “we make money to make more movies.”