jmagar

Let's set the stage here, as I'm sure most will be expecting a nice motivating pitch about why you should quit your job. My purpose here is to find a way to keep one of our bright young stars from doing just that.

He wants to execute on his planned startup, and I want to provide all the same opportunities a startup offers, within my organization, so that there is no need to look elsewhere for it. So what motivates the decision to fire your boss? And I do believe that people don't quit their jobs, they quit their boss. But we should not get side tracked by the "quit your boss" thread: his decision to do a startup was made before he was hired, and he very openly shared his plans with us and we made our offer anyway. He signed, and now the deadline he set on day one is approaching.

Is it the opportunity to make more money? Possibly over a long distant event horizon, but his startup is unlikely to match the salary potential of the next two to three years.

Is it ownership / equity? Stock options are available, thus it is possible to use this incentive to keep him within our engineering team.

Is it responsibility? His career path can include that too, and I'd be happy to start transferring more on to his shoulders.

Is it influence, decision making, and direction setting? Well, we kinda fall down there. Many cooks in this kitchen, and most have greater influence than is available to him. His voice is heard of course, and great ideas are easy to spot no matter who they come from, but if he expects his voice to win out every time I can't provide any assurances that it will be so.

Have I missed anything?

Let's not forget the other things that corporate life provides that Start Ups simply can't compete against: we've got cash which means all your standard developer care and feeding: snacks, beverages, free lunches. With cash comes profit sharing, job security, benefits, paid vacations, etc. We've got lots of people in the office too and that adds to your daily life experiences: co-workers become friends become family. And he's got me, and many others, as advocates within the company trying to show that we are invested in his career and will support him no matter which path he chooses.