Why I’m Leaving Spotify
As I recently approached my five year anniversary at Spotify, I had to ask myself the question — am I ready for five more?
I love the company. I love the product. I love our teams. I love my team. I couldn’t be more proud of the past five years of true, hyper growth. We’ve grown from 12 countries to 59. We’ve grown from 2 million subscribers to now more than 40 million. We’ve 10x’d the number of users globally — exceeding 100 million. We (so far…) have survived competitive threats from the two largest companies in the world — Apple and Google — all wanting to build a ‘Spotify killer.’
With that as a backdrop, why would I want to leave? Spotify is doing great and I’m leading a great team. I believe in our mission and I believe in our strategy. So, thinking as we do at Spotify, I took a more contrarian approach — what would happen in my life if I stayed?
When put in those terms, the analysis was very different. Was I ready to continue to travel globally at the same pace? Was I ready to miss more of my kids’ soccer games, ballet recitals, and parent/teacher meetings? Was I willing to put more pressure on my herculean wife Kate to manage our household by herself, so I could come home exhausted for the weekend, only to recharge for a week of work.
Working hard is hard work. And, I truly believe if you want to be on a winning team, you need to be your hardest working self. So, in looking at another five years on team Spotify, it started to become clear that maybe a change is in order.
When you’re younger, you never see yourself as becoming as old as you remember your parents when you were a child. Only recently was I with my brother, laughing about a story from our childhood when he reminded me that our parents were our age when that took place. That didn’t seem possible because in my mind’s eye, they were as old as dirt.
That was a real ‘holy shit’ moment for me. I’m not 12 and I’m not getting any younger and there’s a lot of things I’d really like to do that I haven’t done. I have a lot of passions that I haven’t even really begun to explore because frankly, I just haven’t had the time.
I’m passionate about our education system and how we can better use technology as a primary classroom tool — for all — not just elite private schools. I’m passionate about AgTech and the idea that ‘good food’ could be more affordable for all and that farming could become a growth industry. I’m passionate about the future of journalism and how we will fund the future of in-depth reporting in a world of snap stories. I’m passionate about the role of technology in creating jobs, not just ‘disintermediating’ people from them. Most of all, I’m passionate about the importance of giving back to my community — something that I haven’t had the time, nor made enough time to do.
Jerry Seinfeld said “life is about timing.” As a great admirer of his, and as upset as I was when he ended his show, he did it at a high point and as he said, he “wanted the end to be graceful.”
So, with a ton of hard work ahead, I’m handing over the reins to a world class team with a world class product so that I can do something very different. Thanks to Daniel for the opportunity to share in the journey of his great company. Onward!
