Stories of Twenty-Fifteen – Week 4

Here’s this week’s story:

Title: Saying Goodbye to Chrome
Story:
I started out in the Chrome team around 2008. It’s hard to nail down the exact date because I worked for Sundar for a while before that and there was no official transfer date. One day I was on the Mac team and also supporting Gears and next thing I know I was the PM for Mac, Linux and ChromeFrame.

I remember joining Sundar’s org and hearing about Chrome day and night and feeling like it was Sundar’s special baby. I used it and I didn’t think there was anything special about it. I remember wondering why he thought it was all that magical and why he thought it was going to be so important.

And he was so right.

As it turned out, Chrome is awesome. I mean the single best product I’ve worked on so far in my life. I’ve loved the product, the team, the management, the users, the work, all of it. Of course, there were many things I didn’t like. Many things I didn’t understand and likely never would, but still, I’ve loved Chrome for such a long time, now. It’s been something I’m incredibly proud to be a part of. Something I’ve felt a strong sense of belonging with and something that’s felt so very familiar.

And yet. The last few years have also had a lot of tough moments. I’ve had times where I felt I was no longer learning, I was no longer inspired by my own work, I was feeling frustrated and trapped. And I don’t want to feel any of those things. I was scared to move. I knew how special Chrome was and I knew there was a high chance I’d regret moving. But the things I wanted to change weren’t really going to for a long time. So since they were here to stay, I had to figure another way out.

So I made the tough decision to finally say goodbye. It mostly fell on my lap. It started with an email from Caesar, went to Ryan and then randomly ended up on Holly’s lap. And I churned and churned and followed an instinct that I am still not sure of but it felt brave. (Let’s see if it still does a year from now or if it will feel stupid.)

It was time to move on but I know I will miss it dearly and I am so thankful to Chrome.


Stories of Twenty Fifteen is a project for 2015. You can read more about it here.

3 comments to Stories of Twenty-Fifteen – Week 4

  • Jean Schmuker

    Karen–I am really enjoying your stories of 2015. Taking the time to go deeper with the story seems to be very meaningful and something I want to start doing myself.

  • Louise

    I love this layout. And it makes me want to find out what Chrome is and use it! That change was super brave of you and I do not believe for a moment it will ever not have been the correct choice to have made, given the information you had to make the decision with at the time you made it. I hope your new job is both challenging and fun. Again, great layout!

  • Stacia

    I’ve used Chrome for quite awhile now, and I really like it too. (And, shhh, I work for one of your competitors so don’t tell LOL.) Hope that you’re enjoying your new product group! Tell us about it when you’re ready to. Always interesting to hear what you’re up to. 🙂

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