Written by Ben Koo | 19 December 2008

It is with a whole grab bag of emotions that I write this blog letting my friends, family, and thousands of fans know(not really), that I no longer work at Yardbarker. It seems like only yesterday that my time with the company started. I remember writing an impassioned email to the generic jobs email alias about why I would be good there even though there were no job openings that I fit. I remember getting an email and first call weeks after from the CEO, when I was very close to taking a job at Tesla Motors. On that first call I had to pick up in my cube and dart out my work’s back stairway and walk about 75 yards before I really felt comfortable to interview. I don’t know what I said during those first minutes while maneuvering to a safe place to talk, but somehow it was impressive enough.

I remember the second interview where I fell in love with the people, the company, and the vision. I remember being in New York when I got the job offer with a great friend who I sadly haven’t seen that much since.

Hours after getting YB job offer and having the best meal I have had in 2008. Also hours before I got extremely celebratory drunk...

I moved temporarily to Alameda when the company was in Emeryville and moved to San Bruno (it kind of sucks here) when the company crossed the Bay Bridge to San Francisco. My first day was 7 months ago and unfortunately yesterday was my last. It was a blur, and I had a one hell of a time. The people, the work, the perks, the experience and company culture were all top notch. I made a lot of friends, did some work I am extremely proud of, and have a lot of great stories along the way.

Me interviewing John Lackey

Unfortunately that journey ended on Tuesday. If you know anything about startups, you know it’s a very tough time to be one right now for a variety of reasons. The economy put Yardbarker in a tough spot, which trickled down to me. We had to layoff, and I knew it was an absolute necessity and that our jobs were fought for as hard as they could. I had the opportunity to stay on in a different role under different circumstances and was honored by the opportunity. It was a tough decision that I wrestled with, but ultimately the timing didn’t make sense and hence I am unemployed for the first time since I grabbed my diploma 30 months ago. I can honestly say I still consider everyone there a good friend and someone that I was proud to work with. I can say that just as emphatically about the people who also endured the same fate that I did this week. I think and hope they think just as fondly of me, and I am fairly confident they do.

I am missing a lot of barkers in this montage, but rest assured they're all people of the utmost quality.

Since leaving college, life has been an absolute blur and this is really my first time I’ve had to take a breath . I’ve accomplished a whole lot, worked my butt off, created my own opportunities, but now find myself in the unfamiliar position of being unemployed…and with lots of bills to pay. So now what? The plan for now is to try to find work at top tier of companies that I would be passionate the work I do. I have around a dozen in mind and over the next 2 weeks I’ll apply to them all and will look for other companies to add to the list. I will also be studying hard for the GMAT and begin the MBA application process for 2009 over the next couple of months. I have always wanted to go back to school, and now is a good time to try to make it happen. There are a lot of things against me, but I am confident when the dust settles I’ll have an opportunity to go somewhere that will make me more awesome then I already am.

 

 

I’ll be blogging here, writing for bucknuts, and catching up on a lot of things I’ve neglected (there is a lot) for over the past 2 years.  Some part time work, writing, and web endeavors maybe in the works as well. I am actually kind of excited to see if anything really inspiring pops into my head during this time of open ended freedom although am terrified of the financial obligations that loom over me. With all that said, I will leave you with a story from my past Back in the day when I was more committed/my mom was more stringent on my religion uptake, I attended Sunday School. Obviously anything involving me going somewhere while football is on early in the morning was destined to fail. At the end of my 4th grade year, the class had a final test in the form of a scavenger hunt. Questions were hidden all over the campus with possible answers pointing you to new places to find questions. If you picked the wrong answer, you would go to the wrong place and lose time against all the other kids participating.  I remember there being a grand prize of something really cool at the end for whoever got to the end first. I fell behind early and never seemed to be on the right track. I was going to end up being in a small contingent of students who wouldn’t even finish the hunt in time. At one point I was sooo lost, I found a nook of the campus I had never seen before. There was this park bench in the middle of a clearing of trees that looked like a serene place to sit down and gather my thoughts. It was near to the main road, but far away from everything where you could really relax and gather your thoughts.

After 5 minutes of day dreaming I got up to reattempt the scavenger hunt with renewed vigor. Before I left the bench I turned to tie my shoe and noticed a large envelope under the bench. I opened the envelope to find that I was at the finish line of the scavenger hut and that I was the winner of the test and its big prize. The teacher was in disbelief, yet could not phantom any other plausible reason for why I had won. I think it was in record time too. That was about 15 years ago when I was in a competitive rat race, where I lost my way yet somehow found what I was looking for. It only took a brief moment of serenity, reflection, and an untied shoe lace to lead me to my ultimate goal and I hope for that same type of luck to find me now 15 years later. Dude, this post makes me sound super religious, which is crazy.... Anyways, I love sports,web 2.0, and new technology. If you know of an opportunity, want to see my resume or talk to my references, or just want to chat. Feel free to drop me a line at beniskoo at gmail.com.

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