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On Moving


December 23, 2012
I originally sent this out as an email to my family and best friends. The "too long, didn't read" version is that I am moving to San Francisco. I am taking a job at Stripe. I have a long-term passion for civic technology, but I want to learn thing from a engineering focused startup to do that well. I am going to continue my explanation in a dialogue, a favorite form of mine.

What's Stripe?
Stripe is a pretty amazing and cool payments company that makes it easier for software developers to accept credit cards online. You can think of them as taking the lucrative parts of Paypal and doing them a lot better than Paypal. They also have a lot of good ideas about the future of payments on the internet. They have big backers like Y Combinator, Sequoia, General Catalyst, Redpoint, and, well, oddly, the founders of Paypal. The more important question, though, is really "who is Stripe?"

Fine, fine. Who is Stripe?
They're an amazing group of people who are really smart and nice. At least much smarter and much nicer than me. They use phrases like "debate without animosity" on their hiring page, which is very attractive to me. Most importantly: 1) It's an incredibly flat organization, 2) they have a very cool culture which they are dedicated to keeping as they grow (If you want to learn more you should read about it here), and 3) They are an engineering-focused firm where I can thrive.

But, what about civ tech work? You were doing pretty well there weren't you?
Thank you for noticing! I am doing pretty well in civic technology and I think I am really putting out some cool ideas. In fact, I have some pretty good job offers in civic technology. Ultimately, though, the more I worked on civic technology, the more I realized I wished I knew more about and had experience in technology in the private-sector. I feel like a sort of false prophet — one who had read about revelation but who has never experienced it himself.

My passion is in and around using technology to innovate in the civic space, particularly within government. I feel the best long-term play to do that is to work at an engineering-focused, growing, tech company for a few years. Then I can tack back to civic tech.

Innovation rarely comes from people who are too far down the rabbit hole of any field. I can likely come back to civic tech after working in the private sector but there are only a few years (without a wife/partner and kids) where I am willing to work my ass off at a startup.

Cool! Makes sense to me...but what about Newark and Mayor Booker?
I am sure you noticed that Mayor Booker choose this week to attempt to make a Senate run in 2014. I am equally sure that he will do fine without me. Newark has been an amazing experience where I have gotten to see where the rubber meets the road, and I have gotten to learn about the amazing work that Mayor Booker and his team have done in the City. Great stuff is happening in Newark and Mayor Booker is going to have a ton to point to after his term ends. Having said that they understand that Stripe is arare opportunity and have no hard feelings about my leaving.

What are you going to be doing at Stripe?
I am going to be working on Risk where I...

...this sounds so boring!
No, no it won't be. They are a payments company which means there are a lot of interesting risk questions. More importantly, they view risk as being THE central question in their current and future products. About 25% of my time will be on detecting ongoing fraud issues using data analysis, 25% of my time will be in systematizing things I learn and then working with engineers to automate them, and a full 50% of my time is undefined. Part of that time will be used to improve my own data science and development skills, while the rest of it is to work with everyone else at Stripe to consider risk issues in the product development.

Ok, so does this mean you are going to make a ton of money?
I get asked this question a lot, which is weird because in other contexts people don't seem too willing to ask me about my compensation.

I have never felt well motivated by money —if I did I would have done different things with my life so far. Part of my new job is to literally to evaluate risk and I am optimistic about the potential outcomes of Stripe. But, it is unknowable. I do get some options, obviously, and I believe in the amazingness of the Stripe team. That's why I am joining it.

What is my Bayesian prior on the distribution of exits? I don't know, pretty good, but it isn't very meaningful. Ultimately, I don't really care. I am not taking the job for the exits but because of the people and the problems and what I can learn form both.

But, but, you're moving to San Francisco!
And soon too! I am starting at Stripe on January 7th and my last day in Newark is the last day of this month. Ultimately I am fairly confident that I want to live in New York City long-term, which is exactly the reason I want to go experience another city.

Will I see you again?
I'll be back, obviously — I am going to California not Valhalla.

Will I see you before you leave?
I hope so. I am planning to hold a farewell gathering (and birthday party) on Wednesday, January 2nd from 7-10, but at a location that I haven't decided. I'll let you know after Christmas. I hope you can attend! If not, let me know if we can get together some other time.

I have more questions...
I likely have more answers, shoot me an email.

Cheers.
Cheers.