The tech CEO whose resignation letter went viral has found a new job

Max Schireson

(YouTube)
Max Schireson.

Max Schireson is the former CEO of MongoDB, the database software startup last reported to be worth $1.6 billion.

Though MongoDB grew its revenue 30 times and raised $220 million during Schireson's four years there, most people remember him as the man behind a resignation letter that went viral last year, when he stepped down from the CEO position to spend more time with his family. The impassioned letter got attention for its candor about the modern demands and realities of work-life balance in the tech industry.

But roughly 11 months after freeing himself from a grueling work life, Schireson announced on Thursday that he was back in a full-time position at the venture-capital firm Battery Ventures.

"I have been doing less work, but I am ready to ramp up that part of my life a bit," Schireson wrote in a blog post. "I'm starting a job as an Executive in Residence at Battery Ventures."

In his new job, Schireson said, he'll be helping Battery Ventures find attractive startups, while working with entrepreneurs to build the companies. He stressed, however, that he had no plans of using his new role to start another company or join a different startup.

Not as intense

"I love variety and intellectual challenge, so the idea of working across a number of exciting startups was appealing," he said in a separate interview with Battery Ventures. "I wanted to continue to have a balanced life, and this was an opportunity to engage with great companies without committing to an intense, CEO-like management role."

Schireson also wrote that he had been spending a lot of his time with family and friends over the past year. His professional activities have been "limited" last year, he says, which made him travel a lot less too. "I have 21,000 miles with United in the first 8 months of this year, down from 114,000 in the first 6 months of last year," he said.

In August 2014, Schireson wrote a blog post titled "Why I'm leaving the best job I ever had," explaining his intention to step down from MongoDB's CEO position to spend more time with family.

"As a male CEO, I have been asked what kind of car I drive and what type of music I like, but never how I balance the demands of being both a dad and a CEO ... Friends and colleagues often ask my wife how she balances her job and motherhood. Somehow, the same people don't ask me," he wrote at the time.

You can read his full blog post here.

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