I had been at Yodle for only a few weeks when I gave notice.
The new job was Director of Technical Operations at Peek. I expected to start by September 14. Yodle was disappointed, which made sense. They had worked hard to recruit me from Denver, and I had barely arrived.
I told somebody close to me, “So, it’s official.” It was the second time I had used that kind of language about a new job in less than two months.
The exit was awkward. I told Yodle the new role came with a raise large enough that it was impossible to turn down. The number I used was exaggerated. Money was the simplest explanation I could give, and I thought it would let the manager who recruited me save some face.
“I feel dirty doing it,” I wrote afterward.
That part still bothers me in the email. The offer from Peek was genuinely better for me. The title and work were a closer fit, and the opportunity was inside the kind of early startup I wanted to help build. I did not need to inflate the number. At the time I wanted a clean reason that would end the argument.
Yodle still asked whether I could consult after leaving. They liked what I had done in the short time I was there, and I did not want to abandon the systems I had touched.
Nothing at home was clean either. We had just finished the cross-country move. The couch had made it into the apartment, but almost nothing was unpacked. My first Peek paycheck would come monthly, which left a gap I needed to manage. I asked to hold onto a small buffer a little longer.
I was excited enough to mention that I got to buy a laptop for the new job. I was uneasy enough to explain the resignation in detail. Both were true.
The boxes stayed closed that night. The job changed again.