One Door Closes as Another One Opens

There have been a few posts I have seen recently on folks making moves around the industry so I guess it’s time for mine.  I don’t think it is any secret to people that I am moving on from Tintri after this week.  The last year was certainly a learning experience for more reasons than I think most people would care to know.  At the end of the day the Tintri technology truly is some of the best out there.  It does what it does very well.  Sadly the recent months, with the Bankruptcy filing has left many looking for other opportunities.  While I was spared both times, once in March and again in June, I decided it was time to take control of my life again.  I can honestly say I would never wish that anyone have to see the downward spiral of a Chapter 11 first hand.  It’s not fun, it’s a lot of stress on you, your family, your co-workers, and your customers.  In this case specifically just watching how some of it unfolded and was handled for me personally was just enough.  It has come time to close that chapter of my life like many others I worked with at Tintri that were some great people.  So what is next?

The funny thing is I was considering a lot of options from working at Lowes, to focussing on some other business ideas to working with Julie full time on STK Promotions.  The day that Tintri announced the major layoffs I was actually let go before lunch like everyone else, via E-Mail.  I made one single post on LinkedIN that over the course of the week ended up ave over 23,000 views.  However, about 4 hours after being let go, I was called and told I was a mistake.  I was still being kept on and I was employed along with about 50 other people at the time.  By that time it was not worth removing the post as it started to at least generate some interest.  The funny thing was that I was starting to question my own value around the industry.  Let’s face it, I’m 44 going on 45 and not getting younger.  I think I have said before in posts that learning gets a little harder to do as I get older.  There is new things coming at us all the time and sometimes it gets harder to keep up.  I was truly not sure if I was going to be able to find another job after having just left VMware over a year ago.  This was never my intent to stay somewhere for a year and then move on, so I was actually worried about myself and my family.

What I  learned in that week was that my network of people truly is a family.  There were a lot of people that reached out just to wish me well, but more people came forward with ideas and places to go look along with introductions to new people, recruiters, and headhunters.  I started to think, maybe this will not be so bad or as hard as I thought it would be.  At the end of two weeks of E-Mails, phone calls, texts, and direct messages I ended up having two offers to chose from.  It was not an easy decision but I decided to join Cohesity working with Aaron Delp and his team.  It’s a bit of a mixed role, which I like as it gives me from freedom to work on many things.  I have to thank Aaron and Rawlinson for being there from the time of that first post about being let go, and coming to the table to talk right off the bat.  I am in the same boat as last year starting a new role with a new company and new technology to learn.  That should not take long, but I am excited about the opportunity to keep working on some cool stuff.  I always want to be a person that is able to have an impact and I think this is a place where I can for some time to come.

What comes after this is as always a mystery of course.  I have some short term and long term plans I’d like to achieve for sure, and some day I would like to do something completely different.  Until then, onward and upward with Cohesity and I will once again be at VMworld in a different color shirt.  I am truly blessed and humbled by the response to the situation and the conversations I had to get to a resolution.  I do wish Tintri well in their rebuilding process, and I hope at some point it can move forward with a great technology, I just personally need a little more stability than what is there now.  I wish the people there the best and I even told some of them to give me a call again when things get put back on track.  You never know what can happen in a year or two.

About Chris Colotti

Chris is active on the VMUG and event speaking circuit and is available for many events if you want to reach out and ask. Previously to this he spent close to a decade working for VMware as a Principal Architect. Previous to his nine plus years at VMware, Chris was a System Administrator that evolved his career into a data center architect. Chris spends a lot of time mentoring co-workers and friends on the benefits of personal growth and professional development. Chris is also amongst the first VMware Certified Design Experts (VCDX#37), and author of multiple white papers. In his spare time he helps his wife Julie run her promotional products as the accountant, book keeper, and IT Support. Chris also believes in both a healthy body and healthy mind, and has become heavily involved with fitness as a Diamond Team Beachbody Coach using P90X and other Beachbody Programs. Although Technology is his day job, Chris is passionate about fitness after losing 60 pounds himself in the last few years.

2 comments

  1. Congratulations on the new role and well said!

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