My New Job

When I announced my retirement almost 3 years ago, I got three reactions:

1. "I cant imagine staying home to feed the cats and watch TV." Those folks couldnt be more wrong. I dont have any cats, and I barely had time to finish a couple of video games, let alone watch TV. Instead, I wrote 3 books, traveled a lot, started a consulting business, got married, had a baby, and in general lived a pretty good life that never left me feeling bored or unfulfilled. My personal experience is that the kind of people who make those statements are people lacking in imagination: they cant imagine leading a self-directed life, so they imagine a life of boredom if they left work. 
2. "Youre too young to retire, youll be back at work." They were partly right. Writing books is significant work, and my consulting business was also work, as is getting married and coping with baby.
3. "Would you ever consider leaving retirement?" My response was "Of course, for an appropriate role and an opportunity that gets me excited enough."

My life has been full enough that I didnt think that there would be an opportunity big enough to get me excited. However, when I met the team at Quark Games, it was quite clear that this was a team that was something special. Passionate about games,with lots of talent (both engineering and otherwise), I was impressed by their designs and vision for what the next generation of games are going to look like.

So when the team asked me to join as the VP of Engineering for the company I was delighted to say yes and prove that yes, there are opportunities that will get me to return to the workforce. (I did discuss positions at other Silicon Valley startups, and yes, I am happy to report that Silicon Valley is as full of opportunity as ever for those of us for whom big companies are undesirable work environments)

Yes, Quark Games does have job openings, including engineering positions. All engineers will report to me, so if youve enjoyed working with me in the past or you know my management philosophy and like it, consider applying for a job!

This has implications for my negotiation business. Effective immediately, I will take on no more new customers. If youre an existing customer, dont worry, I wont abandon you. I will keep on your case until you are satisfied or give you a full refund. Existing customers who basically treat me as a sounding board for financial advice dont have to worry either --- I will keep servicing your requests as theres no conflict of interest with my new job. My books will always be available on Amazon and on-line.

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